"Coal Rides Again on the Western Maryland" covers an unusual event on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.

When was the last time you saw a string of coal cars pulled up the face of the Allegheny Mountains by a vintage steam engine? On an delightfully beautiful Summer day in July of 1997, an unusual event occurred on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Folks around Cumberland and Frostburg Maryland couldn't remember when they had seen the sights they saw that day. Why there was "Mountain Thunder" their 1916 vintage steam engine pulling coal cars up the Allegheny Mountains once more.

A fellow named Carl Franz had come to run a "Photographer's Special" on the old tracks that had once existed to move coal from mines high in the mountains down to the valleys below. Somehow the folks at WMSR found 9 coal cars to hook between their steam engine and caboose. For the hours between 8 am and 6 PM that day you could actually see a coal train climbing the rails between Cumberland and Frostburg.

As the train crew got into the swing of things, they found they enjoyed making smoke and noises for the 80 photographers on the trip. All this resulted in some wonderfully recorded sounds echoing off the mountains and sights of steam railroading charging up the hills. In all, they managed to shoot nearly 32 runbys that day.

There is a sequence early in the video that is truly worth buying the tape. We covered Kevin Rice, engineer "hostling the Baldwin Consolidation H-1"to bring her up to steam for the event. This rarely seen event helps explain the complexities of steam railroading.

We shot our footage on broadcast quality BetacamSP. We recorded superb stereo sound and completed our post production on digital broadcast materials. Then we duplicated from Digital Betacam masters providing viewers with the highest quality duplicates available.

Add this strong railfan video to your collection today! Ask for the tape at your local Model Train Store, train museums such as The B&O Railroad Museum and the Western Maryland Railway Museum. Those of you in Europe should call Steam Powered Video for PAL versions. We can also provide foreign language versions at higher rates. For a sure way to get yourself a copy, see the information below.