Former Hagerstown Resident Provides Professional Opinion on Locomotive 202 (Community Voices)

The following is a letter to the editor regarding recent local news. If you’d like you submit your own letter, please contact us!

I spent my entire childhood living in Hagerstown, my entire immediate family are still residents of the city, and the only reason I’m not is because Hagerstown has no opportunity to work the job I do. I work every day on a very special kind of railroad restoring and/or maintaining steam locomotives such as 202.

Now I say Hagerstown has no opportunity to work such a job, but it wasn’t always this way. Just as all the steam locomotives across the country were being retired a few were set aside to be run into the future, and Hagerstown was one of the best places still equipped to deal with such a task of keeping such massive antiques running. From the 1950s all the way until the 1990s Hagerstown was home to at least 4 different steam locomotives being kept operating for the enjoyment and education of the public. Unfortunately the State of Maryland decided the land which the facility that performed this work was better suited for a highway project… a highway project that never came to fruition. The lack of any highway coming through didn’t stop our government from nonetheless seeing what could’ve been an unimaginably huge community asset receded to rubble. The site of the Hagerstown Roundhouse still remains an empty lot owned by the state today.

But for a moment, allow yourself to dream of what could’ve been had the lack of forethought not befallen elected officials nearly 3 decades ago. At the time over $10 million was set aside to procure and maintain the facility by people from all over the country, with plans to turn it into an operating museum. Restorations and maintenance of steam locomotives would continue on a contract basis, allowing the very rare machinery used to perform such work that littered the complex to be showcased doing what it was designed to do, an invaluable piece of education that is now lost.

Most importantly, The Pride Of Hagerstown locomotive 202 would’ve steamed her way out of the park she called home after 1952 and take up residence in the roundhouse she called home for most of her life anyways. At the time the roundhouse was in jeopardy, a team of locals had spent several years working towards making 202 a rolling beacon for a city that earned it’s nickname of The Hub City from the fact it had 6 different railroads running through it at one time. She could’ve gone anywhere in the country showing off what makes Hagerstown an under appreciated but nonetheless special place. People would’ve come from all over the world to see it, as they do with other cities who have had similar assets and more forethought. Imagine the economic impact such a thing would’ve had on Hagerstown with tourists coming from all over the world just to visit our unique historical artifacts. Such places in other cities see hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

Unfortunately there’s little point in steaming a locomotive out of a park when it has no home to go to, no home that can perform what’s necessary to keep her steaming, so despite her getting to the point she was able to run back and forth in the park under her own power the tracks went no further, and in the park she still sits.

But quite honestly, everything I’ve stated as a possibility in the past could still be a future if the same people who saw the potential in spending $70 million on a baseball stadium also saw the potential in spending a similar amount of money on righting a wrong. But I’m not even saying they necessarily should, I’m instead giving this lengthy history lesson on just a few acres of space in Hagerstown to add to the discussion of what should happen to 202. We have a group who came to the city to discuss a plan they have to turn 202 into the rolling billboard for the city of Hagerstown as was the intention long ago, with the downside being she wouldn’t be able to stay in the city she represents. Alternatively a group not too dissimilar to the one that got her running in the park has risen up with plans to make sure she stays in Hagerstown but with no real assurance that she’ll ever turn a wheel. Beyond that, the only reason these two groups are in a position to be debating this at all is because the only government contractor who responded to the city’s pleas to do the necessary work to ensure 202 stays preserved for future generations decided to try extorting the taxpayer to the tune of $3.35 million just to repaint the locomotive and build another pavilion to cover her. As someone who has seen steam locomotives go from rusting hulks through to pulling trains again I can assure you for such a price Hagerstown could have an operable locomotive that they could lend to other railroads to recuperate some of the cost, just as has happened with the most modern steam locomotive in the U.S; Spirit of Roanoke 611 and is actively happening with a locomotive 202 would’ve competed with on a daily basis; Spirit of Altoona 1361.

Despite what it may seem after encountering the very vocal bunch of nationwide railfans who do nothing but harass anyone who doesn’t completely agree with their perspective, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad would likely be a phenomenal home for the 202, so long as the city council negotiates a fair deal and sets up contingencies in case things don’t go to the railroad’s plan, something that happens a lot when working on hundred year old 200 ton pieces of hand built heavy machinery. But at the same time, I feel as though the city would be doing everyone a disservice yet again if they didn’t at least explore the possibility of allowing members of the community to once again take up the mantle of preserving her and giving her a certain future, as they did after the railroad itself stopped doing the work for the city due to its absorption into what became CSX. This city has had too many of its valuable railroad assets lost to shortsighted governments, and it’s my personal opinion that such an important piece of history belongs in the hands of someone who has to actually care, who cannot really afford to ignore it for a decade thanks to other priorities taking center stage, otherwise a real possibility exists that it could be lost forever, at which time nobody wins, we all lose.

That said I stand in a seemingly unique positions where both organizations have my support, and both will continue to long into the future regardless of whether or not they receive the locomotive. I’d hope that even if they don’t get the locomotive the Save 202 group that has formed will continue to push for preserving Hagerstown’s vital railroading history, there’s plenty more locomotives with uncertain futures that have a history with Hagerstown. The WMSR I hope continues to expand their operation in every way because their success benefits everyone around them, and the incredible individuals there are famous amongst heritage railroaders for exceeding expectations. Perhaps they’d arrange for Washington County Schools to take field trips to Cumberland to ride behind a steam locomotive, I’ve bore witness to the field trips they do for Allegany County students and it is truly engaging, contrary to what the editor said in his opinion piece the railroad does like to let whoever they can into the cab of their locomotives to see how it works.

If there’s anything I hope for taking the time to write all of this, it’s to steer the discussion in the right direction, and to inspire the idea makers of the community to dream big. Even if you fall short, you’ve still made a real impact, which is certainly better than most people in this world can say nowadays.

Submission by Hunter Crutchley, former Hagerstown resident. All opinions are his own and do not reflect those of Radio Free Hub City, our sponsors, or clients.

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