WMSR 1309 a few late photos

Lots of work left to do.  Hopefully she will be done by July.

If it is completed by July I hope to head out in August to shoot her.  Hopefully can can come along again Ed.  I had a great time chasing the 734 with you a few years ago.

Great photos on the progress of the #1309.  The new cab looks perfect. Thank you for posting.

Looks like they had to do more patchwork around the firebox door than originally planned.

J 611 posted:

Looks like they had to do more patchwork around the firebox door than originally planned.

Yes. Lots of things in the firebox that they had not planned on.

Thanks for the update Ed......The WMSR Group made a trip down to Huntington, and our President let them into see, and do some photos, and measuring  of the 1309's Twin Sister, the #1308.........I hope that they can get the 09 back in Steam again.........

Do you think they will have it done in time for July 1? Also, I have been reading a site about the WM and all the track that was ripped up in 1976, the guy has hiked parts of it in Maryland and WV, and PA. It is not all walkable. Bridges with just girders, blocked off tunnels, and overgrown ROW, private property, Cumberland Airport built a runway right across the ROW near Welton Tunnel, and filling in the cut by the tunnel blocking off the tunnel bore. The other end is not blocked off though. Most of the railroad is gone west of Hagerstown except for the WMSR, and the Durbin Greenbrier south of Elkins and a portion existing somewhere north of Elkins for a stretch. How is it that the section from Ridgely through Cumberland to Frostburg survived past 1976 but most of the other sections west of Hagerstown were ripped up?

Robert K posted:

How is it that the section from Ridgely through Cumberland to Frostburg survived past 1976 but most of the other sections west of Hagerstown were ripped up?

The answer is the coal "boom" of the late 1970s. When the through trains stopped using the Connellsville line, a strip mine started loading hoppers where the main had been cut just east of Borden Tunnel. This location was about 3 miles west of where the WMSR trackage currently branches off the former WM main (Switch #9) to go into Frostburg. This operation lasted about 3 years, IIRC. The trains came in 30-car cuts, and were winched through the loader one at a time.

There was also the 2 brickyards on the former Cumberland & Pennsylvania (C&P) RR trackage down to MT. Savage, these locals used the double switchback at Switch #9, this was at most 2-3 days/week.

All this traffic dried up by 1983, CSX subsequently sold the WM line to the City of Cumberland after removing the C&P trackage from Switch #9 to MT. Savage. The WM  tracks from Switch #9 to Borden Tunnel were removed in 1988 and relaid on the former C&P grade to Frostburg. The relaid 132 lb. rail from the WM main was a real improvement over the 90lb.  rails that had been removed back in 1972.

As for the Ridgeley area, Chessie briefly toyed with the idea of using Knobmount Yard as a coal train only facility, but then started using all the available tracks for car storage. This also kept the Ridgeley car shop (future WMSR shop) in operation for a few years, thus making it available for eventual use by WMSR.

After service to the last remaining customer on the Ridgeley trackage ended in 1995, most of the tracks were taken up, except for a wye with short tail tracks, suitable to turn the WMSR engines.

Ed, looking at the photos of the new cab and it looks great. Do you know if there was anything salvageable from the old one? Windows, grab irons, wood etc?

I can't wait to see it, hear it, smell it, and have a ride behind it, buy the T-shirt, then buy a Legacy model of it for my layout.

Nothing much was saved from the old cab, perhaps some grab irons, not sure about that.

The cab is going to get all new wood, I'm told a fella who is a good carpenter has volunteered to do the work.

The window slides where re-done in stainless steel,  I'm not sure if the window frames where any good, but what's left of them or new ones will get new glass

Siting in the weather for all those years really took a toll on the cab.

There where heaters in the cab, either hot water or steam, don't remember what I was told, that will not be replaced, they say no need for them in her excursion service.

Ed

Thanks, Ed. 

https://www.facebook.com/notes...ut/10154877172027970

I know that MTH has never produced a Premier 2-6-6-2 but I'd be the first to pre-order a model of the #1309.

Obsidian posted:

I know that MTH has never produced a Premier 2-6-6-2 but I'd be the first to pre-order a model of the #1309.

I thought Sunset/3rd Rail has already announced the C&O H-6 models, and is currently accepting reservations/orders.

Sunset/3rd Rail did announce one. It's somewhere around $2200 as of last writing. They don't really mention it in their recent email updates--you'll only find the announcement/reservation form by poking around on their website. 

I suspect reservations are going to be slow for this one until the real thing is up and running. Then we might see some "hey, we've got reservations running for a model of this one" messages

---PCJ, (who only knows this because of prior interest)

RailRide posted:

Sunset/3rd Rail did announce one. It's somewhere around $2200 as of last writing. They don't really mention it in their recent email updates--you'll only find the announcement/reservation form by poking around on their website. 

I suspect reservations are going to be slow for this one until the real thing is up and running. Then we might see some "hey, we've got reservations running for a model of this one" messages

---PCJ, (who only knows this because of prior interest)

There were 6 total reservations (2 and 3 rail) a little while back. I agree that reservations will be slow until the real one is running.