We started the day, Saturday Oct 31, in Rockwood, PA on a bicycle ride to Frostburg and back. Weather was iffy from the beginning. When we left Pittsburgh it was already raining. Rockwood to Garrett to Myresdale was O.K., then light rain started for the trip up and over Sand Patch and the Big Savage tunnel.
At the Myersdale Western Maryland Station.


We made Frostburg at 1:45 PM with the weather clearing and the temperature starting to drop. Trip back was cold and windy. Head winds down Sand patch made it almost as hard as up. Good day for all considering what the weather could have been like in late October. We saw the Amtrak Capitol Limited at the Keystone Viaduct.

Not so good a day for the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Stuck on leaves with only one pusher.





The rain and wind quickly bring the leaves down. Picture from track level above the Frostburg Great Allegheny Passage Rails to Trails parking lot.



After 2:00 PM, normal depart time back to Cumberland 734 still slipping crawls into Frostburg.









Still slipping.


I was surprised. As bad a day as they were having they still spun the engine on the TT but the train was too long to move the locomotive back to the front for the return trip.















Late depart from Frostburg it was dark by the time we got back to Rockwood.
Great day though, three young men completed the cycling merit badge 50 mile requirement. Nate, the youngest, even got style points for the double flip header he did going down the switch backs at the Frostburg station.
Oh to be that age again.

Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest lighting was very poor most of the day and I opted not to carry the camera most of the trip due to the rain.

Mike CT

Mike,

These pictures (and commentary) are just great. You need not apologize, though! I live in upstate New York and have always told my friends from milder, calmer climates not to let the weather hold you hostage. Get out, have fun and just do it! Mix in family, friends, rail fanning or anything involving trains and it rarely gets better.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

What a change in the weather one day can make!

Here's 734 today

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=302514

Eight cars, and the caboose, all alone, no helper. Not a cloud in the sky.

Ed

And what a change in the weather a couple months can make & still, no clouds!







Larger views, if you need the big picture, may be viewed HERE.

Above photographed in February, 1999 during a Carl Franz photo charter.

In Bob's top photo, of the passenger train in the snow, Me and Mrs. Mullan are with the folks in the right on that little hill. I don't recall that being a Carl Franz photo charter, however.

This will be my last post for a few days. My ISP is cutting me off today. No more dailup, should be getting DSL late in the week. It took almost twenty minutes for all of Mike's photos to load. Looks like the leaves gave the fellas a hard time.
It wasn't just the Scenic, either. We have a scanner in the house, heard the Huntington CSX dispatcher ask a crew if they wanted him to get in touch with the trainmaster. Turns out they were having trouble with leaves somewhere up on 17 mile grade. First time I've heard that one. Got busy, don't know what the resolution to their problem was.

There will be another photo charter on the Scenic today, looks as if the weather is still going to be good. Still can't afford to go!

Ed

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ed Mullan,

Ed, you got me on the top photo. I photographed that one the day after the photo charters during a special run for the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners, AAPRCO, during their Winter Quarterly Meeting, held in Cumberland that year.

They made a special run up to Frostburg. Did the usual luncheon meeting, and then back to Cumberland. Nice short four coach consist on a much warmer & sunny winter day than the actual photo charters which were run Thursday, Friday & Saturday.

The Thursday trip was a unique event as it followed an 8" ice & snow storm in the area. Thursday ended up being a very foggy day and featured a rare engine derailment at Woodcock Hollow Road. The pilot wheels somehow found their way to the ground due to an ice buildup at the crossing. This abruptly cut short the days activities. By the time we got rerailed and the diesel got to us, there was no time to continue to Frostburg. We just headed back down to Cumberland.