A Ride on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
Nov 9, 2019 19:35:04 GMT -5
NickelPlate, methuener, and 2 more like this
Post by brian4321 on Nov 9, 2019 19:35:04 GMT -5
It was a perfect fall day, not too hot, not too cold. Just a light, cool breeze to keep from getting too warm while the sun’s warmth created a cozy feel. What a great start to the day. Heading West on I-70 and I-68 as we came down off the mountain and approached Cumberland, the view was spectacular. Although the leaves were past their peak colors, there were still reds, yellows and golds bunched among the browns.
We arrived in Cumberland at 9:30 with plenty of time to locate the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) building and pick up the tickets, and then wander around before returning to board at 11:00. The line began to queue at 10:30 and it was a nice orderly line starting at the boarding ramp and weaving along the side of the station. A conductor came out at 10:45 and said if you have a yellow ticket, please form a line over hear, otherwise stay in line. Chaos erupted and people began pushing and shoving. There were two large groups of people and we later found out that both groups had a birthday boy/girl. Finally, boarding began and it was more orderly than a few minutes earlier. The one large group of Chinese boarded first and occupied the 3rd car from the front. The second group of Indians boarded second and occupied most of the 2nd car from the front. The rest of us boarded afterwards. There were some seats available at the front of the 2nd car, so we took them. The first car had no windows and people were warned that it would be noisy and cold, so think twice before sitting there. After everyone had boarded and found seats, the diesel horns sounded and away we went. Both party cars were quite festive during the journey to Frostburg.
As we left town, the scenery unfolded into wooded fields and hills with farms and some houses here and there. One odd thing I noticed was multiple long lines of ropes zig zagging among the trees at various spots along the route. At first, I thought it may be a handhold for getting up/down the hill, but there were several spots were the slope angle was slight and would not require a handhold. Someone said it might be to keep the deer away from the tracks, but the deer could easily jump the rope. Plus, the rope wasn’t parallel to the tracks, but angled away. Someone joked that this could be the Cumberland Valley’s version of a corn maze. Definitely a mystery. Does anyone on the TD forum have any idea about the purpose of the ropes?
After an hour or so, the train pulled into Frostburg and everyone offloaded for an hour in town. There are two ways to walk to town, via a steep road or taking 80 steep steps up the side of the hill. We got a good workout going up the steps. Frostburg is a quaint little town with lots of history. We visited a few of the museums and then found a bench to enjoy our lunch. The bench was in the shade and we began to get chilled, so decided to walk back to the depot and take photos.
The return trip back to Cumberland began around 2:00 PM and due to rising temperatures, a lot of people moved from the rear of the train to the front car with no windows in order to take more spectacular photos. Back at the Cumberland depot, we took a few more photos and departed for home. Next time we’ll stop in Berkeley Springs to browse the consignment/antique stores and then have dinner at Tari’s restaurant.
We arrived in Cumberland at 9:30 with plenty of time to locate the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) building and pick up the tickets, and then wander around before returning to board at 11:00. The line began to queue at 10:30 and it was a nice orderly line starting at the boarding ramp and weaving along the side of the station. A conductor came out at 10:45 and said if you have a yellow ticket, please form a line over hear, otherwise stay in line. Chaos erupted and people began pushing and shoving. There were two large groups of people and we later found out that both groups had a birthday boy/girl. Finally, boarding began and it was more orderly than a few minutes earlier. The one large group of Chinese boarded first and occupied the 3rd car from the front. The second group of Indians boarded second and occupied most of the 2nd car from the front. The rest of us boarded afterwards. There were some seats available at the front of the 2nd car, so we took them. The first car had no windows and people were warned that it would be noisy and cold, so think twice before sitting there. After everyone had boarded and found seats, the diesel horns sounded and away we went. Both party cars were quite festive during the journey to Frostburg.
As we left town, the scenery unfolded into wooded fields and hills with farms and some houses here and there. One odd thing I noticed was multiple long lines of ropes zig zagging among the trees at various spots along the route. At first, I thought it may be a handhold for getting up/down the hill, but there were several spots were the slope angle was slight and would not require a handhold. Someone said it might be to keep the deer away from the tracks, but the deer could easily jump the rope. Plus, the rope wasn’t parallel to the tracks, but angled away. Someone joked that this could be the Cumberland Valley’s version of a corn maze. Definitely a mystery. Does anyone on the TD forum have any idea about the purpose of the ropes?
After an hour or so, the train pulled into Frostburg and everyone offloaded for an hour in town. There are two ways to walk to town, via a steep road or taking 80 steep steps up the side of the hill. We got a good workout going up the steps. Frostburg is a quaint little town with lots of history. We visited a few of the museums and then found a bench to enjoy our lunch. The bench was in the shade and we began to get chilled, so decided to walk back to the depot and take photos.
The return trip back to Cumberland began around 2:00 PM and due to rising temperatures, a lot of people moved from the rear of the train to the front car with no windows in order to take more spectacular photos. Back at the Cumberland depot, we took a few more photos and departed for home. Next time we’ll stop in Berkeley Springs to browse the consignment/antique stores and then have dinner at Tari’s restaurant.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
Cumberland station:
Ticket office
Caboose:
Reefer
Engine pulling into Cumberland station. My whole body was vibrating from the noise. Almost like standing next to a large stereo speaker, but this baby really packs a punch.
Fall foilage
Line of passenger cars stretching out behind the engine:
Frostburg station
Engine in Frostburg
Passenger car in Frostburg:
Toured several museums. Does anyone recognize this game?