14th January 2025 “Appalachian Wanderings” by Tony Field
2025 got off to a thunderous start with Cambridge Branch member Tony Field treating us to more of his magnificent movies of American railroads. This evening’s selection was taken from two of Tony’s visits to the Appalachian Mountains (in 2007 and 2014) and covered the former Baltimore and Ohio line from Washington to Cumberland and the summit at Sand Patch (the “Summit of the Alleghenies”) and the former Pennsylvania Railroad line from Johnstown to Gallitzin Summit and down to Harrisburg.
We set off from Point of Rocks, where we saw a Westbound three-coach Maryland Area Rail Commuter (MARC) commuter working heading towards Frederick and the now quite rare sight of a General Electric 6,000 horse power CSX locomotive (No. 649), triple heading with a General Electric (GE)-built C40-8 (No. 7600) and an Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) SD70MAC locomotive (No. 4512). We followed the line along the course of the Potomac River to Harpers Ferry, passing through the remote Duffields station to Martinsburg with its delightful former Baltimore & Ohio workshops and roundhouse.
The vast Cumberland Yard was seen next, with busy traffic of coal, liners, car carriers and general merchandise. AMTRAK were also present with General Electric Genesis locomotives 39, 82 and 1 triple-heading the ‘Capitol Limited’ from Chicago to Washington DC.
After Cumberland, where the gradient to the summit at Sand Patch begins and a 30 mph speed limit is in place for freight trains, helper engines (bankers) are a feature of almost every freight train. EMD-built SD50-2 Co-Co No. 8537 and SD40-2 No. 8142 were regular performers in this role, with sustained full throttle from these and the train engines for many miles.
After views at the summit we visited the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, a 16-mile preserved line running between Cumberland and Frostburg. The line was abandoned in the early 1980s shortly after its takeover by CSX, but restored to operations in the early 1990s thanks to local county and city funding. On duty was 1916 Baldwin-built SC-1 Class 2-8-0 No. 734 which we saw making its way round the spectacular Helmstetter’s Curve (named after the occupant of the farm house around which the curve ran), followed by views at the Frostburg terminus.
Moving further North, onto Norfolk-Southern territory, Tony covered the former Pennsylvania Railroad line from Johnstown to Conemaugh, Cassandra, Lilly and Gallitzin Tunnels and Summit, then round to the Horseshoe curve at Altoona. Five locomotives with two and sometimes four helpers were not an uncommon sight on the procession of long double-stack container trains and coal trains, which contrasted with the once-per-day five coach Amtrak ‘Pennsylvanian’ between New York to Pittsburgh. The views from inside the Horseshoe Curve were marvellous, with Tony’s movies perfectly capturing the squealing flanges, horns and full-throated roar of all the locomotives in unison. After the Horseshoe we called in briefly at Tyrone, Mapleton and Rockville Bridge before finishing in Enola Yard, Harrisburg.
An amazing evening was enjoyed by all present with the sound of upwards of 20,000 horse power of full-throttle traction ringing in our heads for days after! Our thanks went to Tony for a fantastic evening of high-power traction, the like of which can only be found in the mountainous regions of the USA.
Follow this link for a playlist of the video content of Tony’s presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1XBg8MK3E7rVW8hFaIMCJAW_2Yka2g3o