mSummers
Member
Before I get to the photos, let me give a little background on why these charters are taking place. ;
"For over a century, the Helmstetter family has farmed the land on Cash Valley Road near Cumberland, Maryland. John Helmstetter is the third generation of the family to operate the farm.
The centerpiece of the farm was the large barn located near Western Maryland Railroad's famous Helmstetters Curve. The barn has been featured in countless photos taken from the early days of steam through recent railfan specials. On July 9, 2009, a fire swept through the historic structure. Fourteen cows and John's best friend, his border collie Teddy, perished in the blaze. John was injured trying to save his animals."[nb]Text taken from http://www.helmstetterfarm.org/[/nb]
Over the years the Helmstetters have been very generous to railfans and photographers, allowing both to watch and photograph trains from their farm starting back in the steam era and continuing all the way up to today. ; John Helmstetter even allowed photo charters to cut brush on the farm to open up traditional views of the train at the curve. ; I took this photo of the farm last December while taking photos of the train. ; The red barn in the photo was the one that was lost in the fire:
After the fire a group of railfans and photographers got together and created the Helmstetter Farm Fund to help raise funds for the rebuilding process. ; They organized a series of three photo charters on the WMSR to benefit the fund and help pay for the new barn. ; Unfortunately, insurance would not pay for the replacement of the original heavy timber bank barn. ; They would only pay the cost of building a one story pole barn in its place. ; Thanks to success of the three charters (all three have sold out) and the sale of several photos of the barn, enough money was raised to bridge the gap between what the insurance company covered and the cost of a heavy timber bank barn. ; The Farm Fund Committee announced at the second charter, held this past Monday that close to $35,000 had been raised by the fund.
And now for the Photos...
Mountain Thunder heads West around Helmstetters Curve. ; You can see the foundations for the new barn in the foreground:
#734 exits the West portal of Brush Tunnel on a beautiful Autumn day:
Here we see #734 in pusher service at the C&PRR Bridge #2:
More to come...
"For over a century, the Helmstetter family has farmed the land on Cash Valley Road near Cumberland, Maryland. John Helmstetter is the third generation of the family to operate the farm.
The centerpiece of the farm was the large barn located near Western Maryland Railroad's famous Helmstetters Curve. The barn has been featured in countless photos taken from the early days of steam through recent railfan specials. On July 9, 2009, a fire swept through the historic structure. Fourteen cows and John's best friend, his border collie Teddy, perished in the blaze. John was injured trying to save his animals."[nb]Text taken from http://www.helmstetterfarm.org/[/nb]
Over the years the Helmstetters have been very generous to railfans and photographers, allowing both to watch and photograph trains from their farm starting back in the steam era and continuing all the way up to today. ; John Helmstetter even allowed photo charters to cut brush on the farm to open up traditional views of the train at the curve. ; I took this photo of the farm last December while taking photos of the train. ; The red barn in the photo was the one that was lost in the fire:
After the fire a group of railfans and photographers got together and created the Helmstetter Farm Fund to help raise funds for the rebuilding process. ; They organized a series of three photo charters on the WMSR to benefit the fund and help pay for the new barn. ; Unfortunately, insurance would not pay for the replacement of the original heavy timber bank barn. ; They would only pay the cost of building a one story pole barn in its place. ; Thanks to success of the three charters (all three have sold out) and the sale of several photos of the barn, enough money was raised to bridge the gap between what the insurance company covered and the cost of a heavy timber bank barn. ; The Farm Fund Committee announced at the second charter, held this past Monday that close to $35,000 had been raised by the fund.
And now for the Photos...
Mountain Thunder heads West around Helmstetters Curve. ; You can see the foundations for the new barn in the foreground:
#734 exits the West portal of Brush Tunnel on a beautiful Autumn day:
Here we see #734 in pusher service at the C&PRR Bridge #2:
More to come...
