Looking for any Info on Chessie Era Sand Patch

Here are a couple videos that may help...

There are books out there on that part of the RR in earlier days. Have you checked at train shows etc ??  I have videos but not of that early.  It is a great place and will make a nice layout.  You are from the Burgh ??

jim pastorius posted:

There are books out there on that part of the RR in earlier days. Have you checked at train shows etc ??  I have videos but not of that early.  It is a great place and will make a nice layout.  You are from the Burgh ??

Catnap: I have a few Chessie books covering the area but those DVD's are a must have.

Jim: I will look at the next show I go to as well as my LHS and the Internet. Yes, I was born about 20 years too late to really experience the industrial empire the city was though!

I missed the end of steam because of college and the Army but was an industrial salesman for a long time in western Pa. so I saw a lot-but didn't take pictures !!   Let me check my library and see what I might have.   You had the Wild Mary in that area, too.

Prior to the Chessie era the WM had a presence in Fayette and Somerset Counties. In the years following the creation of the Chessie System in the early 70's C&O and WM power could be seen closer to Pittsburgh, basically wherever you see a CSX train today.

Some of the footage on the DVD's is grainy and the there are parts where the sound is overdubbed. Back then I think everything was filmed using a projector like video camera because you can hear it running in some of the scenes. Each video is around 60 minutes and gives the viewer a rare glimpse into a bygone time. It's pretty neat and I just love to pipe in the sound through my stereo and turn it up as if I was trackside too!

My preference would be to model both the B&O and =WM= but I simply don't have the space and the Chessie System is my favorite RR and Sand Patch is my favorite grade so it's kind of a no brainier haha. Plus, it sounds kind of dumb, but I love the look of B&O CPL's! I do plan to run plenty of =WM= power, such as the F's (they were retired in Sept. of '79) as they often showed up on the B&O after the takeover. My goal is to hopefully begin work after school lets out in June.

Exactly what years do you plan to model because there were a lot of changes going on. 

Between 1977-1984.

Michael,

Try the Reading 2101 DVD/video - it may be called "stomping at the Sand Patch".  It has a ton of video of 2101 both pacing the train from the side and a helicopter from above as it pulls 18 heavyweights up the grade, unassisted.

As a Bonus it has video of the AFT (American Freedom Train).  Well worth the price.

Francine

Will have to check my books to see the time period. I think some of them are before that.

IMO, the 2 best books dealing with Sand Patch are:
"CHESSIE SYSTEM - Cumberland Action" by Thomas A. Biery, all-color, still available from White River Productions.
Mr. Biery has photographed Sand Patch from the 1970s-90s, in the same fashion as the legendary William Price during the 1940s-50s.
"Sand Patch, A clash of titans" by Charles Roberts, 1994, copies start at $45.00 from Amazon books.
Excellent  history of the trackage, infrastructure, historical anecdotes and photos.
I started railfanning Sand Patch in 1976 after getting my drivers license, the WM stopped running by May of that year from Frostburg to Sand Patch, however trackage stayed active through Meyersdale to the east end of the Salisbury Viaduct, where the Blue Lick spur split off to serve a coal loader. This means coal trains could still be seen on your model of Keystone Viaduct.
2 interesting things to possibly include on your layout:
Salisbury Jct. on the west side of Meyersdale; small yard leading to a branch line that extended to the area of Salisbury, PA. This branch had several spurs servicing coal loaders, and connected with a short line extending into Maryland, the Castleman River RR. 2 miles of this branch was still active as of last report.
Behind the old B&O depot in Meyersdale, a spur track remained until about 1981 to serve the last shipper in town: PENN TABLES,INC. this company made laminated table tops and occasionally received box cars of raw wood, and shipped finished product to furniture makers. I worked at this firm in 1978 after high school, and loading/unloading a box car was a totally manual operation. The building itself was built of yellow brick, 2 stories, with loading docks for rail cars and trucks. It was razed about 10 years ago, I have photos of this if interested.
Finally, while not of the Chessie era, there is a new book entitled: "B&O RR, Steam on the West Slope" this is a photo book featuring the collection of Irvin R. Walp, authored by Thomas K. Kraemer. This is available through the WMSR gift shop in Cumberland, or from RR TRAX STUDIOS, BOX 995, Cumberland,MD., 21501. This book is all B&O steam in the 1930s-40s in the Meyersdale area.
Please e-mail me if I can be of further help, Warren W. Jenkins