Steam Train Penstock in Use

Two years ago I took the above photo of the penstock at the old Western Maryland Railroad station in Cumberland, Maryland. This past weekend I was in Cumberland again and took the photo below which shows the penstock in use supplying water to the tender of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad steam engine 734.

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

            Steam still rides the rails in Western Maryland between Cumberland and Frostburg.

            Through the Cumberland narrows with a view of the Allegheny Front escarpment.

The Baltimore and Osaka Railroad

Recent hikes along the CSX rails in the Patapsco river valley indicate that the replacement of the old 1958 U S Steel rails with 2012 Nippon Steel rails is done. It's a good thing the railroad is now named CSX or we would be talking about the Baltimore and Osaka and the Chesapeake and Osaka Railroads.

I met a nice immigrant Russian couple on today's hike and the man expressed surprise that American railroads are still using wooden ties when concrete ties are the norm in Europe. Maybe they can't make and ship concrete ties from Japan as cheaply as they can steel rails.

Steel Away - Hauling Off American Steel

Today, just below the Ilchester tunnel on the CSX / B&O Old Main Line, this maintenance vehicle is rolling on newly laid Nippon Steel rails and hauling off old US Steel rails, which were laid in 1958. They were working in the tunnel today. Otherwise it was a beautiful day for hiking with a friend and one of my brothers.

US Steel - What Happened?

Recently I have spent a lot of time walking the rails of the CSX / B & 0 RR Old Main Line, have posted many photos of the tracks. You may have noticed that there are unsecured rails laying next to the tracks and between dual tracks. A major rail maintenance project is in the works. The new rails and plates are being laid out all along the line in preparation for swapping out the old rails for new. In the past week I looked closely at the old and new rails. The old rails were manufactured by US Steel in Illinois in 1957. Assuming they were placed on the tracks in 1958, they have carried trains for 55 years! The new replacement rails, set to be placed in 2013 were made in 2012 in Japan. I aked myself: How is it possible for Japan, which has so few natural resources that prior to WW II  it was importing scrap metal from the US for their war efforts, can produce steel rails and transport, them across the Pacific ocean, then over or around North American to Baltimore cheaper than a US steel manufacturer can make them and deliver them here in the USA? What has happened to our country? And why?

First Stop on America's First Railroad

The Sphinx of Ilchester

Dorsey Redux

Same location as last post. Looking east from the opening of the Davis tunnel toward the Dorsey tunnel. I love the day to day variations in the color tones any one location. This photo was taken today. The cloudy sky and muted colors appeal to me.

Rolling on the Old Main Line

CSX 802 just out of the Dorsey tunnel heading east toward Baltimore.

...out of town on a rail