Western Maryland Rail, Cumberland to Frostburg, 8/5/22

To start our 4-day mimi get-a-way, Jim chose to ride the Western Maryland Railroad, a scenic ride from Cumberland, MD to Frostburg, MD. Originally serving western Maryland, the Cumberland-Frostburg branch was repurposed as a tourist attraction in the 1980's.  The train follows Wills river on leaving Cumberland, then moves up slowly at a 2.8% incline at 18-miles/hour for the 16 miles trip to Frostburg.

Posted at the entrance of open car behind the locomotive we read, " You will get dirty, you could get wet, you will smell like a locomotive" and "you will hear the locomotive, it is loud."  

Dirty that is if the engine runs on diesel. Fortunately for us, on this day, it ran on  steam.  And yes, the open car was loud, windy and very humid but still found many adventurous takers.  

Note the bike trail next to the train. Our very friendly conductor explained to us that it is possible to bike from Washington DC along the C&O Canal trail via Harper's Ferry and Cumberland all the way to Pittsburg, PA!