Why not just send Locomotive 202 to the bottom of the Potomac River Instead of Cumberland? (Opinion)

A national movement of over 500 railfans has changed my mind on Locomotive 202, currently sitting in Hagerstown City Park. I originally agreed with some of their ideas regarding allowing Cumberland’s Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) to take possession of the engine and restore it to operational capacity, but kept silent because I don’t live in Hagerstown (although I do live in Washington County). But after realizing how much of this push to remove the locomotive from Hagerstown is not even from Western Maryland, I’d rather see the steam engine at the bottom of the Potomac River than ever leave Hagerstown.

I had no idea how annoying passionate railfans could be until witnessing the national assault on the Save Locomotive 202 group, consistently spamming on Save Locomotive 202’s posts their own petition to “compel” Hagerstown to give the locomotive to WMSR. And even though we were polite enough to include a link to the competing petition in our article (a link which I have now removed), the group felt it necessary to attempt to then spam our Facebook page with links to the petition.

The person who started this petition reached out to us over Facebook messenger after we posted our article, telling us that his petition has “gotten big” with support from all over the country, and how he feels that the locomotive is better off at WMSR in-motion instead of sitting idle at Hagerstown City Park. He also states that Cumberland is “about an hour away” and how he believes the “children of Hagerstown” would want to travel to Cumberland to ride on the locomotive. And I informed him that we are always happy to publish local opinions. But apparently, after further review, the starter of the petition does not even live in Washington County, and neither do many of the supporters of the petition.

Imagine the audacity it takes for a people who don’t even live in Western Maryland to support a petition to “compel” a community they don’t live in to do, well, anything, let alone demand that community give up a treasured historical artifact. But even more so, imagine if an aviation enthusiast told the Smithsonian that they need to give up the Wright Flyer because it should be flying the skies instead of sitting in a museum?

Furthermore, sadly the “children of Hagerstown” are not very well off, and many of the families can’t afford to drive an hour to ride on a train (some don’t even have cars) – and those who can afford it likely already are. So giving the locomotive to WMSR would in fact be taking away something from the children of Hagerstown. I will acknowledge that there are some local residents who support the idea of sending the locomotive to WMSR. But they are few and far between.

You know what I love about Locomotive 202? The fact that you can walk right up to it, get on board, and look at it. By restoring the locomotive to operational functionality, you’ll no longer be able to look at the train on the same level you do now, because WMSR is certainly not going to allow children on board a hot locomotive where they could get injured.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against WMSR. However, when there’s suddenly a national movement against the local community to “compel” the community to give up a treasured historical artifact, I’m going to help push back, and use my voice for what’s in the best interests of the local community. In fact, had WMSR been the only non-residents to advocate for the City of Hagerstown giving up the locomotive, I might be much more receptive to the idea. So congratulations railfans, your efforts to “compel” our community to bend to your wishes has severely backfired.

Locomotive 202 is exactly where it should be, and because of the national push from railfans who have zero ties to the local community, I will do everything in my ability to ensure it stays right where it is. You don’t get to come to my community and try to tell us what to do.

Opinion article by Ken Buckler, all opinions are his own and do not reflect those of our sponsors or clients.

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