Eastern Railroad Discussion > A few from Oakland, MD and Environs...

A few weeks back over Memorial Day weekend, Mrs Pittsburghmike and I enjoyed a nice long weekend in the mountains of western Maryland. There was plenty of relaxing, hiking, and good eating, but we also found some time here and there to shoot a few trains:

1. Saturday morning,before doing some hiking at Swallow Falls State parl, we caught an empty train just east of Altamont, MD.
2. After our hike, I got a nice tip that a loaded drag had just left Keyser on the old WM Thomas Sub heading for Mt Storm. We headed down into the Potomac River Gorge to Intercept him at Blaine, which is across the river from Kitzmiller, MD.
3. Even though our highway route was longer, we were easily able to beat the train to the classic shot at Gormania.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/16 13:48 by PittsburghMike.

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Jumping ahead again, he slowed for the yard limits at Bayard, allowing us to get a number of nice shots:
4. Crossing the Potomac on the east end of town.
5 & 6. Head end and helper passing the old WM yard/train order office.
 

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The train pulled clear of the switch west of town to allow his reverse move up the steep and twisting Stony River Subdivision, another former WM line that allows CSXT to serve the Mt Storm power plant at the top of the mountain. The line features numerous horseshoe and reverse curves (although there are difficult to show with all the tree growth) very similar to the famed DRGW Crater Loops out in Colorado..
7 & 8. Several miles up the hill, the train is in the middle of its second horshoe curve at North Branch. The B875 helper crew is now in the leads, with the road crew showing hard on the rear.
9. Just a bit up the road, the railroad has made another loop as the train contines to climb.
We left the train here so we could head back to Oakland and enjoy a nice dinner after a very satisfying day!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/16 13:58 by PittsburghMike.

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lucky you - right place at right time!
i think that 437 & 934 duo shows up on sand patch cam 6/25 7:38 AM on eastbound coal drag 
great shots thanks for sharing



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/16 14:11 by bigkidpgh.

Sunday, Mrs Pittsburgh slept in while I rose to see what I could find on the Mountain Sub. Ulimately, I was able to shoot a drag at 3 spots all featuring classic B&O structures and still make it back for a leisurely breakfast.
10. An N782 drag rolls past the classic B&O station at Oakland.
11. The sun peaked out at just the right moment at Mt Lake Park, where the old tower still stands, although unused.
12. Climbing up Deer Park Hill to Altamont, the old tower here hangs on, although it looks like a stiff breeze could knock it down.

Thanks for looking!

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VERY NICE....!!  Thanks for sharing.

You did very well. Great shots Mike. U better get down sometime and shoot some of the old B&O CPL's on the Bridgeport Sub. They may not be long for this world.

Randy

Lol, that is Chris's job ;-)

Posted from iPhone

Nice series of shots. 

I see that they have powered up the crossovers at Mountain Lake Park after many years of being hand throw crossovers.  Based on the shot of the signals at Altamont, it looks like CSX has extended Rule 261 reverse signalling east of Rinard, too.  Does anyone know how far east the reverse signalling extends now?  Does it extend to West Keyser or all the way to Beall Street in Cumberland? 

Great shots Mike as usual.. Hope to see you in August at the Inn for the Abeles Week Festival.....

All very nice images - thanks for sharing!

S_W

Wonderful stuff!

Congradulation on IOTD.
Mike in Asheville

One of my most satisfying posts during my railroad career was to be in charge of operations on the then new Cumberland Coal Business Unit, that incorporated all of this historic, ex B&O territory. 

What wonderful luck and fantastic shots, Mike!

Jon

Absolutely beatiful shots! I always wonder about those areas in rural WV. Thanks for sharing.

Matthew