There's been no posting for the past week, as there is no such thing as a working vacation at Cold Spring Shops. We honor the tradition of the summer mine shutdown here. Off to coal country, but not to work as a summer replacement.
Amtrak 30 Capitol Limited, Chicago to Cumberland, Maryland, 29-30 June 2011: Genesis diesels 123 - 86, baggage car 1206, transition sleeper 39043, Superliner sleepers 32054 - 32037, diner 38059, lounge 33031, coaches 34062 - 31003 - 34010. The train is properly marshalled for coach passengers to reach the lounge without having to pass through the diner. Amtrak now use the upstairs roomettes in the transition sleeper as revenue space. The bedroom end of the car is converted into crew space, and the lower level room space is a common room for the crew.
Leave Chicago 6:10:14, pass Hammond - Whiting 6:49, engrossed in dinner and conversation with tablemates through South Bend, Elkhart 9:21:29 - 9:24:00, Waterloo double stop 10:10:10 - 10:14:54, bedtime; note Pittsburgh departure 4:45, Connellsville 6:29:20 - 6:30:05, shower up and breakfast; delayed account trackwork at Cumberland west limits, Cumberland about 9 am.
Cumberland is a convenient stop for travelers destined to historic sites in the upper Potomac River or neighboring places, as there is a rental car agency just across the tracks from the station. It's also possible to rent a car at Harrisburg, but Amtrak's Chicago to the East Coast service is threadbare: one train daily Chicago to New York or Boston; the Capitol Limited daily to Washington, D. C., connecting to the Pennsylvanian at Pittsburgh for Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Trenton, and New York; and the try-weakly Cardinal via Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Charlottesville to Washington and the Northeast Corridor. But perhaps I should not carp. Last year's Western trip would be disrupted or impossible this year thanks to flood, fire, and level crossings.
George Washington once made camp in Cumberland, and wherever George Washington was, the Freemasons are likely to follow.
As more than one defender of the society has noted, it's a strange secret cabal that so publicly identifies its lodges.
The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad uses some of the trackage of the Western Maryland Railroad, a line opened in 1912 on roughly the same course as the Baltimore and Ohio. There's something about those redundant railroads. Like the Chicago Great Western, Western Maryland has its legions of devotees and modellers. Much of the railroad grade is now a biking and hiking trail. The Cumberland station is well-preserved, and the excursion train runs with steam power at weekends. The weekday power is a former Reading GP-30, the last attempt by Electro-Motive to attempt to style a freight locomotive.
It's uphill to Frostburg, and the railroad handles checked baggage and bicycles and sells one-way tickets.
Don't think about this trail as the ultimate roller coaster ride. There's a 15 mph speed limit, and the trail crosses numerous roads as well as the railroad a few times along the way.
The line makes a horseshoe curve around the Helmstetter farm. This location is popular with Western Maryland enthusiasts for photography. When the barn burned a few years ago, enthusiasts assisted the family with the cost of rebuilding.
The uphill end of the line is at Frostburg, on the Cumberland and Pennsylvania line. There's a turntable at the very end of the line, important for having the steamers facing the right way, and convenient on diesel days. The train lays over for 90 minutes or so at Frostburg, time enough for a look around town for a coffee house or chow. If you go away from Grinders on the main street hungry, it's your own fault! One of the church buildings along the main street has been converted into a coffee house.
There's more to this adventure, but not today.
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