CUMBERLAND, Md. — The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad has received a $200,000 state grant for track maintenance, the Cumberland Times-News reports.
Funding will be used for tie replacement and ballast tamping on a segment of the railroad near Frostburg, Md., railroad CEO Wes Heinz told the newspaper.
The railroad had been approved for $1.5 million in state funding during the last fiscal year of prior Gov. Larry Hogan, but the administration of current Gov. Wes Moore reduced that appropriation to the current figure. Heinz said Moore will look to designate $1.5 million in 2024 capital funding for work on the railroad’s bridge between Ridgeley, W.Va., and its station in Cumberland, which will require broad political support. “I will be going to Annapolis, speaking with representatives from all over the state of Maryland to make sure we have support for that,” Heinz told the Times-News. “I will articulate to them the importance of tourism and the family experience that we create.”
