MORNING SUN BOOKS
These all-color 128-page hardcover books will be available September 1, 2013
ERIE LACKAWANNA POWER
SWITCHERS, MEDIUM HP ROADSWITCHERS, AND PASSENGER UNITS
VOLUME 1:
By Stephen M. Timko Item# 1482
VIA
THE FIRST 25 YEARS 1976-2001
By Kevin J. Holland Item# 1483
All the Good Things
STEELMILL RAILROADS
VOLUME 5
By Stephen M. Timko Item# 1484
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IN AN EFFORT TO FAMILIARIZE myself with all things railroad-heritage in my new home — West Virginia — I recently visited Hinton, a prototype railroad town, eastern version, spawned by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in 1873, perched at the entry to the New River Gorge and a stop for Amtrak’s Cardinal; and traced the route of the West- ern Maryland Railway from Webster Springs through Bergoo to Valley Head (wondering the whole way what it must have been like to build a railroad in that rugged, heavily wooded terrain). That left only the Potomac Eagle, an excursion and dinner train operation running out of Rom- ney in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle, a deficiency I remedied on a weekend in late August. The experience exhibited all that is fun and pleasant about riding a dinner train (did I forget to mention that each run in- cludes a First Class accommodation that features a meal?).
Classic Equipment The handsome, if unusual, trainset awaits on a passing siding along the highway. It is bracketed by two EMD F3 locomotives. To- day, on the head (south) end is ex-Bessemer & Lake Erie No. 722, built in 1952, now dec- orated in Baltimore & Ohio’s classic black,
gray and blue scheme, and also numbered 722. At the other end sits ex-Clinchfield No. 800 (and ex-CSX No. 116), built in 1949, painted in C&O blue, yellow and gray, and now numbered 8016. These locomotives run pull-pull, with the trailing unit disabled when not moving the train. On other occa- sions the train may be hauled by ex- B&O/CNJ/Chessie GP9 No. 6604, built in 1955 and again sporting B&O classic livery, and by ex-C&O/Chessie GP9 No. 6240, built in August 1957 and wearing Chessie’s blue- orange-yellow sleeping kitten paint scheme. The train itself is typically led out by a
gondola outfitted with outward-facing wood- en benches running its length. Access to this car is limited to that portion of the ride through the route’s scenic highlight — the six-mile-long Trough. Following is a former baggage car, now outfitted with broad, open window-type spaces that provide an en- closed vantage point for sightseeing. Next come two heavyweight coaches of either B&O or Canadian National heritage, a com- bine converted to a snack bar and table car, and a stand-alone table car. On the north end of the train, reserved for those who purchase First Class tickets that includes meal service, are two eye-popping club cars. Operations Manager Rodney Ma-
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