A Hagerstown-Roanoke High Iron special crosses from Maryland into West Virginia, above hallowed ground visible through winter foliage near some of the bloodiest Civil War battle sites. General Lee's infantry evacuated 5,000-8,000 casulties here after the battle of Antietam. Every house, church, alley, and street in this small town known then as Shepherds Town was filled with the wounded and dying after that September 1862 day. Fast-forwarding just over 100 years, the NKP 759 would be sidelined by a failure of the left cylinder head shortly after crossing this bridge into WV and a NW SD45 would come to the rescue, pulling the train the rest of the way into Roanoke, VA. But here, with Old Glory on the point, she's looking good.
The Van Swearingen Brothers standarized freight power for their railroads with nearly identical 2-8-4 Berkshires. Two of these engines are still in excursion service.
