Western Maryland

The Christmas season is upon us once again, a time for putting up festive trees decked out with shiny ornaments, drinking hot chocolate next to a raging fire, and singing carols as the countdown to the big day progresses. For many steam railroads across the country, December is Christmas train season, and is always one of the busiest times of the year as families and railfans alike delve into the spirit of the season on a relaxing ride in an iron horse-drawn carriage. Such is certainly the case for the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, as the annual "Polar Express" excursions are among their most popular trips, drawing in hundreds of people each year for a magical journey to the North Pole! The trips take passengers on an incredibly scenic ride through the Allegheny Mountains, departing from either end of the line in both Cumberland and Frostburg, MD. We visited the Western Maryland to chase the Polar Express excursions departing from Frostburg, headed up by their iconic articulated steam celebrity, 2-6-6-2 Mallet #1309!
Ferrying up the mountain from Cumberland each day, these excursions traveled about 8 miles east of Frostburg to the North Pole setup near Lap at Milepost 174, and the equipment moves when combined with the Polar Express runs themselves give us a chance to hike in to some harder to access locations along the old Western Maryland Railway main line. We see #1309 working hard on the steep mountain grades as she fights around sharp curves and slices through several rock formations on her runs to Frostburg, thrilling those trackside and riding aboard the colorfully lit coaches. #1309 is seen at some iconic spots on the 16-mile run, including the Narrows and Helmstetter's Curve, as well as plenty of places that only the most dedicated photographers know where to find! As a fitting finale, we'll watch #1309 blast through the dead of night on the day's last trip, as Santa Claus makes another round of collecting Christmas lists, and posing for pictures! Enjoy the sights and sounds of steam on the Western Maryland as #1309 tackles the mountain once again!
#1309 was built by Baldwin in 1949 as part of an order of 10 H-6 class Mallets for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. There she hauled heavy coal trains through the mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia. She would become the last steam locomotive built for domestic use by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, as it would merge into the short-lived Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation in 1951. #1309 and her sisters served the C&O proudly, until she was retired in 1956 and would spend the next two decades in storage at the C&O's roundhouse in Peach Creek, WV. In 1975, #1309 was moved to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD where she was cosmetically restored and placed on display, a state in which she would remain for nearly 40 years. The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad purchased #1309 in 2014 and she was moved by rail via CSX to WMSR's yard in Ridgeley, WV in July of that year. Over the course of the next 7 years, it would take thousands of hours and nearly 3 million dollars to complete the restoration of #1309, along with suffering a great deal of economic losses. Despite all the turmoil, on New Years Eve 2020, #1309 moved under her own power for the first time in 64 years! Testing would commence throughout 2021, before her public debut in December of that year.
Special Thanks to ‪@APSL2018‬ For Providing the Lighting For the Nighttime Shots!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays From Big Banana Productions!

[@wolfgangpfeilergartenbahnd6530]

Simply fantastic Western Maryland steam locomotive #1309. A great video, thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas. Many greetings from Germany🎥👍👍👍👍🎄🎄🎄🎄☃☃☃☃🎅

[@chendersonrailproductions704]

Merry Christmas! Great video, Was good seeing you again trackside. Gave me ideas for my next visit

[@TheBigBananaRailfan]

Thanks Christian! Great seeing you too! I still have tons more shots that I still haven’t done yet lol. Merry Christmas!

[@amtrakandcsxrailfanning164]

awesome video and catches on this railroad with there polar express runs with this big steamer nice whstle action too

[@lashendawest7509]

Great catches and awesome video evan

[@johnuhelski8613]

Well done Evan, Great vid , love that stack talk !!

[@TheBigBananaRailfan]

Thanks John! The crew really delivered with her all weekend!

[@jlebaron1]

nice video! Seems like a lot of extra power for that train? Thanks for sharing!

[@TheBigBananaRailfan]

Thanks! Although #1309 is a fairly powerful locomotive, the diesels on the rear were most definitely needed on the steep grades on the C&P section of the railroad in the last two miles to Frostburg, which heavily exceed 2%! Especially on a wet day like we had on one of the days filming these runs! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@jlebaron1]

@@TheBigBananaRailfan guess I can't blame the railroad for not wanting to overwork it's vintage equipment, what a beast of a locomotive! I imagine the diesels help on the return trip too with their dynamic braking.

[@brianfalzon6739]

Merry Christmas 🎁🎄