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After 6 long and challenging years undergoing an extensive ground up rebuild, ex-Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 “Mallet” #1309 turned its wheels for the first time in well over 60 years in December of 2020 on the rails of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, a feat that many thought might not have been possible. The engine, dubbed “Mountain Thunder” by the WMSR paying tribute to the state of Maryland and stablemate locomotive #734, is the last locomotive that the Baldwin Locomotive Works produced for a domestic railroad in the United States, entering revenue service in 1949. Its life on the C&O was relatively short, as steam locomotives were soon enough phased out during the transition to diesel locomotives as main motive power, and the engine was retired in 1956 after only 7 years of service. Eventually the engine ended up under the ownership of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, and then finally in 2014 the engine was given a new lease on life as the future primary motive power on the Western Maryland Scenic. Fast forward to 2022, and we see the 1309 decked out in a stunning Western Maryland appearance, complete with the classic fireball that adorned the Western Maryland’s locomotives over the years. This video features the large 2-6-6-2 at the point of its first photo charter of its excursion career, hosted by Trains Magazine, as well as being the first articulated steam locomotive in well over 50 years to pull a freight train on the mainline out of Cumberland, Maryland, around the famous Helmstetters Curve, and up to the town of Frostburg. Now, please enjoy this video brought to you by Blue Comet Productions!
This video was filmed February 26th to 27th, 2022.
An extra thanks goes out to Max Harris!