western maryland railroad time again

John, it's really not that bad ; I only had to hold my breath for about a minute. ; I could have been out in 45 seconds if I wasn't shooting the video.

They are occasionally run in the summer, but not very often because the sun is horrible in the middle of the day. ; The way around that is to shoot sunrise, take a break in the middle of the day and then shoot again at sunset, but that requires two crews which is usually expensive. ; I'll let you know if I see anything, but right now the ones I know about on the east coast are:

Strasburg 2/18-19
Cass Railfan Weekend 5/16-19

I'm attending both of those. ; There is another charter in Pennsylvania that is rumored to be 5/16-17 but it hasn't been confirmed yet. ; I've heard a couple of rumors of fall charters, but nothing remotely definite yet.

 

Thanks, I will give the May weekend a thought, but probably a no go since I used all my days for Pixelmania.

 

734 has had timing issues for quite some time. ; I assume they're waiting for her next 1472 day inspection in 2015 to correct that and the ever present steam leak at the cylinders.

 

Cass is probably to far to attempt without vacation days. ; The best way in is to take 81 to Staunton, VA and then take 250 to 28/92 to 66, but I don't recommend driving those in the dark

 

you do fine to staunton as it's all interstate, 250 to the state line isn't too bad, but just about when you think, hey i got this handled, the real west virginia shows up, you know, that place where you drop to about a 25 miles per hour average, and all of a sudden the last 70 miles takes 2 1/2 hours

 

Beautiful railroad shots as usual Gary!

 

West Portal of Brush Tunnel: ;





Coal Tipple:



Trimble Road Signal Bridge Eastbound:



West Sunnyside:

 

Sweet stuff Michael, love that second one and the last. ; They are wall worthy!

 

Top notch, Gary & Michael


Sent from my fabulous iPhone 4

 

Thanks guys!

Here's a few more "Ghost Train" shots in the fog. ;

Helmstetter's Curve on Saturday Morning:



Rt 40 Bridge on Sunday Morning:





A shot of the caboose as the train passed the photo line at the bridge:

 

Nice work there Michael. ; I like the second of the two on the Rt 40 bridge, the steam is blocking the railing from the walkway, and you get just a little more of the locomotive.

 

Thanks, John!

 

nice michael, i really like that ghost train look of the 2nd rt 40 bridge, it would have been nice to do sunday, but it's a long drive, as it was i hit such dense fog that i only made allentown saturday

 

Thanks Gary! ; I completely understand not wanting to do that drive Sunday night.

 

Here's the last few from this trip.

734 arriving at the station Saturday morning:





Helmstetter's Curve Westbound on Saturday afternoon:



A shot of the photo line with the train heading east on Sunday afternoon:



I didn't need any more cloudy shots at Helmstetter's Curve, so I elected to do some panning practice Sunday afternoon:



And finally, a couple of shots of the Western Maryland Station at night:

 

Nice stuff Michael, that last one of the station at night is outstanding. ; Great idea using B&W for that, really helps with the mood.

 

Thanks, John!

 

exceptional! ; As some others had mentioned as well, great use of the B&W treatment!

 

Thanks, Jay!