Frostburg Flyer with No. 1309

I will admit I was skeptical at first. When several years ago the news broke that Western Maryland Scenic would be rebuilding a compound Mallet for tourist service, all I could picture was that giant boiler crammed onto the smallish turntable in Frostburg — overhanging in every direction. Point was, she just seemed like much too much locomotive for that line. Then add to that concern all the woes along the way during the rebuilding process, including stolen parts and blown budgets. It all seemed like too much toil and trouble.

But skeptics like me be damned. 1309 is a real winner. I know that now because in June of 2022 Ella and I with two friends thoroughly enjoyed a Mallet show uphill from Cumberland to Frostburg, with diesel return. It was heartwarming to see everyone on the platform in Cumberland rushing to the safety line to see her pull into the station with our train. In some ways, I find it remarkable that steam still holds such an attraction. Generationally, we are so far away from the time when they were ubiquitous. There is so little everyday childhood memory from which to draw now. But don't tell that to the boys and girls and parents and grands lined up to hear her hooter whistle as she rolls into the platform. Everyone has a cell phone in hand, recording Baldwin's final show. As to my concern about her size: She's big, no doubt. But in person, she's not as giant as the label "articulated Mallet" might suggest. She's trim for her class; a sport model, so to speak. And that 2% climb beyond the horseshoe curve makes great use of her compound arrangement. She was working, but not overworking. Fun, too, to watch her articulation as she brambles along through the Scenic's endless S curves. True, she's much too long for the Frostburg turntable midway, and there is something lost when the crowds are not treated to the classic locomotive run-around. Still, I get it now. She's a crowd pleaser: built for these mountains and right at home with a 25 mph pull through curve and tunnel alike. We had such a great run behind her. "Then I saw her face ... now I'm a believer."