C&O 1309 Running in the Rail

Last weekend I went to catch the inaugural runs for 2022 of former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. The Mallet-type locomotive had done a couple of runs in February but those were charters. The 1309 is a Baldwin built for the C&O in 1949.

The weather was to put it mildly terrible with rain sometimes heavy the entire weekend. I had even considered cancelling because of this but I went anyhow and got some great photos regardless.

Here are a few. The top image shows the 1309 climbing Helmstetter’s curve. That is followed by the train coming into the Cumberland [Maryland] station, climbing the grade to Frostburg [Maryland] and then at the Frostburg station.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Tags: C&O 1309, Chesapeake & Ohio No. 1309, steam locomotives, Todd Dillon photography, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad