Tickets sales for excursions behind the restored Chesapeake & Ohio No. 1309 have been good enough to prompt the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad to add trips to accommodate more passengers.
The additional trips behind the 2-6-6-2 Mallet will be run in the latter half of 2017.
“At the moment, we’re selling about $2,000 worth of tickets per day. Once word more generally gets out, it will rise steadily,” project manager John Hankey told Trains magazine.
The 1309 has been in restoration since the WMSR purchased it in June 2014 from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum.
The WMRS is aiming at a July 1 inaugural run for the locomotive. Hankey said the Federal Railroad Administration is expected to complete a boiler inspection soon and a hydrostatic test could be undertaken by the end of February.
Flues, tubes and applicances must still be attached and Hankey expects trial runs under steam to be conducted in May.
Tags: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, C&O 1309, Chesapeake & Ohio No. 1309, Federal Railroad Administration, John Hankey, railroad restoration, steam locomotive restoration, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
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