WMSR C&O #1309, no more up-dates.

No surprise there if true with a rebuild this complex.  They should take there time and do it right.

Jack,

When I was at the ill-fated April 2nd 734 charter the new superintendent John Garner told me that the rebuild for the 1309 will definitely not be done by the fall or even the winter of this year. They are now shooting for spring/summer of 2017.

I'm sure many including me have opinions on why it keeps getting pushed back, but according to professional word from the WMSR they want to get everything correct with the locomotive so that they don't have to spend unnecessary funds on her due to doing something half-a**. This makes sense considering the WMSR doesn't have the markets to continuously fund a failing and breaking down locomotive.

Apparently, back in the 90s when the 734 was restored, the CMO at the time was told by the railroad to 'get her ready as fast as possible' in order to return steam back to the line. Well, apparently, again from volunteers and employees at the WMSR today, that really was a wrong move because since then they have had to fix countless items on the 734 that shouldn't need to be fixed if done correctly in the first place.

I'm sure Ed can expand upon this and/or correct me if I got anything mistaken since he's much more familiar with their operation than I am.

Greetings all;

I don't know about now, having not been there for two months, but I can tell you that Kevin Rice won't allow things to be done in a substandard manner.  We had a crack team supporting the rebuild, with help from (in no particular order) Mark Ray, Scott Lindsay, Mike Manwiller, Robert Franzen, and Strasburg (as well as others, too); there wasn't a reason why things wouldn't be done right.  When I left, we had funding plans in place to complete the locomotive by July 24th with $400K from the State of Maryland, along with a $250K annual appropriation for 5 years. 

Joe Goodrich, who I understand is leading the WMSR Foundation, I know posts updates on occasion.  I am not sure if he isn't able to post or is too busy to post any more updates. 

I always tried to post updates as many, many people had donated time, effort, money and even good wishes, all of which helped support the rebuild, and I appreciate "HotWater" mentioning it.  I always felt like it was in WMSR's best interest to let people know what was going on as I think we had nearly $250K in donations and grants to support our efforts; many from people on fixed incomes.  Call me crazy, but I thought we owed it to them...

WMSR is a great line with tremendous potential and a fantastic fan base.  I wish them the best of luck. 

Mike Gresham

Nicely said Mike. Thanks for posting

Gents, thanks for the update.  I had planned to make a trip to Cumberland this fall as part of my York trip, specifically to ride behind 1309.  So, it looks like I will postpone that stop till a future York trip.  Coming from Arizona, one does not have the chance to "drop by" when the word is out that she is ready to roll!

In my opinion, it is impossible to predict when you will have a steam locomotive like the 1309 operational until everything is fixed and you are well into the reassembly process.

Any steam locomotive undergoing a "frame-off" restoration like the 1309 is so fraught with unforeseen problems as to be impossible to predict anything until the locomotive is well along in the overhaul work. I guarantee that in the early stages of this work there were scores of "Oh crap!" moments when disassembling one part of the locomotive revealed another invisible problem in another part that no one could have known would be there. That is simply the nature of the beast.

Give these guys a chance to get the 1309 done right without the pressure of having to meet some arbitrary deadline. Just because there has not been any publicly announced news doesn't mean nothing is happening in Cumberland.

Actually there is much news about the WMSR today, courtesy of a feature on TRAINS MAGAZINE NEWSWIRE by Chase Gunnoe.
As I suspected, the lack of news had to do with money, but a grant from the state is now in hand to essentially fund the remainder of 1309's restoration; however it won't be ready until next spring.
Also, access to Frostburg is being restored by the MD. Bureau of Mines, using state and federal funds, completion could be in August.
In other news concerning part of the old Western Maryland Railway, PA. state funds have been released to rebuild WM's BOWEST yard near Connellsville PA. 5 yard tracks and a runaround will be constructed by the Southwest Penna RR.

OGR Webmaster posted:

 Any steam locomotive undergoing a "frame-off" restoration like the 1309 is so fraught with unforeseen problems as to be impossible to predict anything until the locomotive is well along in the overhaul work. I guarantee that in the early stages of this work there were scores of "Oh crap!" moments when disassembling one part of the locomotive revealed another invisible problem in another part that no one could have known would be there. That is simply the nature of the beast.

Good point and it's impossible to disagree there. It always cracks me up when some armchair 'steam expert' says some loco that hasn't run in years could be fired up and ran from where it's sitting. The only locos that this applies to are the ones that are fully restored and have run recently (and sometimes, not even then).

Look up UP 4014. There's lots of bandwidth before the UP move where people declared that about that Big Boy. Really, it was in good shape, no doubt, but hardly ready to steam where it was. Anyone saying that is proving they don't have clue what they're talking about.

Q: "Hey, when is that thing gonna run?"

A: "I 'll let you know just before we fire her up for the first time!"

Thanks for the update-love the Wild Mary.

Only thing I can add is, if Kevin Rice does it, it will be right.

Ed

I knew the Maryland budget included money for the railroad and the 1309. I am now glad to hear that the track work is also being funded. Good news all around for the WMSR today!

Debating whether to plunk down serious $$$ for 1309. https://www.movingfullsteamahe...nations/sponsor_part