Setting the blue flag before starting the job. RTA 109 was the "Village of Robbins." For others shot at the Zephyr Pit area from that day, see Railroad: RTA (Chicago)
Locomotive: EMD F40PH
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Locomotive #: RTA 109
Train ID: Unknown
Photo Date: May 21, 1981

A pan of a WM freight heading down the hill beneath one last splash of fall color, just hanging on. A Carl Franz charter. To see Mitch Goldman's take on a WM caboose pan, see Railroad: Western Maryland Railway
Locomotive: Caboose
Location: Frostburg, Maryland, USA
Locomotive #: WM 1813
Train ID: Unknown
Photo Date: October 26, 2009

In memory of WMSR conductor Richard Markle, who was called home on January 4th, 2010. The WMSR won't be the same without him. (Thanks to Paolo Roffo for the information and the text.)

PS: M... (more)

Many people are not working this snowy Christmas Eve, but as some must, so too does MARC provide service, heading for the sun and Washington Union Station.

Scully Yard, now just a few tracks, back in 1979 had a modest engine terminal. Earlier in the 20th century it had a roundhouse! Times change. Back then I drove a dirt road, across a wasteland o... (more)

A plume taller than the trees, as high as Price Hill. A Carl Franz charter.

So close you can almost taste it!

Pushing hard up the steep grade into Frostburg. A Carl Franz charter.

At the end of day, one more freight charges up the hill past a stand of corn. A Carl Franz charter.

Mr. Helmstetter's farm, the focus of the day, with the plume of the 734 sort-of wrapping itself around the house. OK, waxing poetic, sorry! Soon a new barn will fill the gap in the middle, to the ... (more)

Drop the leaves, gain a view! Past-peak splendor on the former Western Maryland. A Carl Franz photo charter.

At the peak of fall, WMSR's finest goes for, not a full spin, call it a wiggle as it shifts from track 1 to track 2. A Carl Franz photo charter.

Most passengers get ready to board the arriving train, but one just does not care. (Note the Southern Pacific Lines crest above the door to the station.) And hey, I just noticed, there's a re... (more)

This private company operated trains from December 1971 until April 1981; almost two years later Amtrak revived the VA-FL operation.

A northbound "baby bullet" zooms by, denying its passengers a chance to disembark and explore the beautiful station with its bright yellow paint. Too bad the nose of the pushing F40 is so faded a... (more)