Eastern Railroad Discussion > Maryland Midland running through fields of gold (and green)

Tuesday, 6/28/22, was a lovely day to be out chasing the Maryland Midland's Union Bridge, MD-Highfield, MD. job, which runs through one of the state's primary agricultural areas.
Although MMID mostly hauls cement, lumber, and stone, there is still one agricultural customer on the Taneytown branch.

An added attraction was MMID'S latest acquisition; Bay Line 3065, orig. WMRY #3798, bringing up the rear as a pusher.
Here is #3065 bringing up the rear at Keymar, and the entire train passing rolled hay bales in Graceham, MD.

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Near Sabillasville, MD. the tracks ascend on a 1.8 % grade up through a valley filled with farms, all of which seemed to be bustling with activity. 
Within 2 weeks, photography here will be blocked by growing corn.
Video has wind noise in the second half.

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#3065 lends its muscle pushing 30 cement loads and dragging 8 empties from the NVR plant in Thurmont, MD.
As WM #3798, it was no stranger to helper assignments.

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Upon arrival at Highfield, MD. MMID does their pickup down at the former Fort Ritchie, just to the west, while CSX local L151 picks up the outbound train consist.
Later, UBHF rumbles downgrade at Lantz, MD. with the #3065 isolated at the rear of the lashup due to its lack of dynamic brakes.

Pics and video by Warren W. Jenkins
Apologies to "Sting" for the thread title...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/22 05:15 by bigsavage.

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Thanks for sharing. They grow corn that far east? (I live in Indiana.) Just kidding.

Victor B.

Superb photo essay. But that video...that's an absolute killer, especially the audio track (despite some wind noise).
/Ted

Really nice views of lush eastern green fields. If you want to see corn drive across Iowa. 
Go

Great photography and video.  Geographically speaking, it's interesting how the Blue Ridge Mountains form a wide band across Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginias, yet they gradually narrow down into a thin strip by the time they get to Maryland and peter out entirely in Southern Pennsylvania.   

It's this strip that the Maryland Midland crosses between Union Bridge and Highfield.

If MMID has to use four locomotives, including a pair of six axles, to pull 38 cars, how in the world did the Western Maryland get the job done in its heyday?  Granted, freight cars were smaller then, but WM's traffic surely was heavier than MMID's, and the locomotives, up until the six axles arrived on the property, were smaller and less powerful.  ​

inrdjlg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great photography and video.  Geographically
> speaking, it's interesting how the Blue Ridge
> Mountains form a wide band across Georgia,
> Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginias, yet they
> gradually narrow down into a thin strip by the
> time they get to Maryland and peter out entirely
> in Southern Pennsylvania.   
>
> It's this strip that the Maryland Midland crosses
> between Union Bridge and Highfield.
>
> If MMID has to use four locomotives, including a
> pair of six axles, to pull 38 cars, how in the
> world did the Western Maryland get the job done in
> its heyday?  Granted, freight cars were smaller
> then, but WM's traffic surely was heavier than
> MMID's, and the locomotives, up until the six
> axles arrived on the property, were smaller and
> less powerful.  ​
The Western Maryland Railway had all kinds of diesel engines and they used to use F units and various GP units, sometimes 4 to 6 at a time to handle large freights on that line.  Up until the Chessie System took them over and downgraded their operations, the WM locomotives were well maintained, which is one of the reasons that the WM never purchased any GP-30's.  When the GP-30's came onto the market, the WM did not need any new power since they still had lots of older power in tip-top condition.  I am one of the lucky people who can remember the WM as it was and I rode many excursion trains on this line going up to Hagerstown and beyond with 12 heavy-weight passenger cars, mostly former B&O cars, carrying more than 600 passengers with two F units pulling the train.  Those were the days.  See the attached photo from Mr. William Howes, Jr. attached.
Thank you to Big Savage for your outstanding coverage of the Maryland Midland (the former WM main line).
John in White Marsh, Maryland

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Great coverage - I'm glad 3798 is still around. It is like hear good news about a friend.
Bob

John, I'd have to agree with your assessment there.  I don't throw away much railroad stuff, so I still have the May '71 issue of Trains Magazine that included Jim Neubauer's article about hanging out with WM's George Leilich as ex-Nickel Plate 759 powered a couple of Alpha Jet freights across the middle portion of the railroad.  Jim went on to point out what a well-kept property the WM was, then concluded with coverage of an NKP 759 passenger excursion down to Baltimore.       

The WM actually ordered five GP-30's in 1963, but by that time EMD was ending production of the GP-30 so the order was changed to five of the new GP-35's. The #501-505 (Class DS-28) were delivered black in December 1963. We have records in the WMRHS archives.

inrdjlg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great photography and video.  Geographically
> speaking, it's interesting how the Blue Ridge
> Mountains form a wide band across Georgia,
> Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginias, yet they
> gradually narrow down into a thin strip by the
> time they get to Maryland and peter out entirely
> in Southern Pennsylvania.   
>
> It's this strip that the Maryland Midland crosses
> between Union Bridge and Highfield.
>
> If MMID has to use four locomotives, including a
> pair of six axles, to pull 38 cars, how in the
> world did the Western Maryland get the job done in
> its heyday?  Granted, freight cars were smaller
> then, but WM's traffic surely was heavier than
> MMID's, and the locomotives, up until the six
> axles arrived on the property, were smaller and
> less powerful.  ​

Due to a comment we heard on the scanner before this train's departure on Tuesday, there may have been a problem with the 2060, so the 3065  was probably an "insurance unit" that also makes switching the trailing point switches at Thurmont easier.
Today's UBHF had 41 cement loads and 5 empties with the same horsepower combo as Tuesday; three 3,000 hp units and  one 2,000 hp unit. This is more in line with the usual hp-to-loads ratio we see here on the MMID. This formula calls for 11-12 cement loads for a 3,000 hp unit, and 7-8 loads for a 2,000 hp unit.

The MMID has grown tremendously in traffic the last few years. The 3 major traffic sources have all increased, with the stone trains recently being lengthened using converted coal hoppers.
Union Bridge - Keymar can see at least 6 train movements/day, also weekend stone trains have been observed.
The line from Keymar to Finksburg, just west of Emory Grove, is probably busier than it  was under the last years of WM and then Chessie control until 1983. Hurricane damage closed the WM line to through traffic from 6/1972 - 11/1974, and again from summer 1975 until 1989. The line only saw locals between Highfield-Westminster during those years.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/22 16:43 by bigsavage.

Nice video with great foreground!
Regards, Jim Evans

bigsavage wrote:

>>>  The line from Keymar to Finksburg, just west of Emory Grove, is probably busier than it  was under the last years of WM and then Chessie control until 1983.

Interesting for you to mention the last years of WM.  Here I go referencing another article in Trains Magazine - I think it might have been Don Phillips who authored it?  It was a two-part article around 1977 or 78 about Chessie System's takeover and abandonment of much of the WM.  Regarding the segment that today is the MMID, the article said that when Hurricane Agnes washed out the main line, WM had been running freights WM-6, BT-1, and several coal, coke, and grain trains per week, all of which had to be detoured over the Dutch Line.  

The lead photo from one of the articles showed a westbound WM train of imported coal starting around the horseshoe curve.

The busiest WM line segment was reportedly the portion from Big Pool to Hagerstown, as it also saw B&O moves, plus the Alphabet Route business that went north to the Reading at Lurgan.  

   



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/22 09:35 by inrdjlg.

inrdjlg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bigsavage wrote:
>
> >>>  The line from Keymar to Finksburg, just west
> of Emory Grove, is probably busier than it  was
> under the last years of WM and then Chessie
> control until 1983.
>
> Interesting for you to mention the last years of
> WM.  Here I go referencing another article in
> Trains Magazine - I think it might have been Don
> Phillips who authored it?  It was a two-part
> article around 1977 or 78 about Chessie System's
> takeover and abandonment of much of the WM. 
> Regarding the segment that today is the MMID, the
> article said that when Hurricane Agnes washed out
> the main line, WM had been running freights WM-6,
> BT-1, and several coal, coke, and grain trains per
> week, all of which had to be detoured over the
> Dutch Line.  
>
> The lead photo from one of the articles showed a
> westbound WM train of imported coal starting
> around the horseshoe curve.
>
> The busiest WM line segment was reportedly the
> portion from Big Pool to Hagerstown, as it also
> saw B&O moves, plus the Alphabet Route business
> that went north to the Reading at Lurgan.  
>
>  
May and June,1980 TRAINS, by Don Philips
Part 2 had photos from Victor Hand and Bill Rettberg, Hand took the Sabillasville curve shot you're referring to.
8,250 HP in those 5 units, probably the same if not more in the helper set. 

Gonut1 Wrote:
> Really nice views of lush eastern green fields. If
> you want to see corn drive across Iowa. 
> Go

Just a WAG, but I think bigsavage was more interested in the railroading aspect. But thanks for the Iowa travel tip. BTW, PM me if you'd like some tips about where to go to watch paint dry.
/Ted

Gonut1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Really nice views of lush eastern green fields. If
> you want to see corn drive across Iowa. 
> Go


Should be knee high by the Fourth of July.