Published: August 11, 2009 10:47 pm      

Few seats remain on Helmstetter photo train

CUMBERLAND — The Helmstetter Farm Fund continues to grow and committee member Carl Franz on Friday paid in full for the first of a series of photo freight trains to benefit local farmer John Helmstetter.

Helmstetter, who lost his 110-year-old red barn, a dozen cattle and his pet border collie in a July 9 fire, met with Franz and Western Maryland Scenic Railroad General Superintendent Frank Fowler in downtown Cumberland to hand over a check for the excursions, popular with railfans nationwide because of the opportunity to photograph the scenic Helmstetter’s Curve along Cash Valley Road.

Helmstetter said he left the barn at about 8:30 p.m. Shortly after 11 p.m., he awoke to an orange glow — his bedroom window faces where the barn used to sit — and flames were on the roof. Helmstetter and others have called the fire “suspicious.”

“I can’t get the image out of my head,” Helmstetter said. “I’ll never forget what that looked like.”

Helmstetter rushed outside side and suffered injuries while trying to save his cattle and dog, Teddy.

The train rides are an effort to rebuild. Each ride consists of eight stops during which passengers, armed with fast-acting lenses, will disembark the train. The 1950s steam engine-pulled freight train will then back up and zoom toward photographers who have already staked their favorite positions on places such as Price Hill, which overlooks Helmstetter Farm.

The original goal of the John Helmstetter Farm Fund was to simply help Helmstetter, 67, get back on his feet. But support to rebuild the barn, despite what little government assistance there might be, has grown. Helmstetter visited an Amish community in late July and found that it could cost some $125,000 to recreate the classic Mid-Atlantic style design with a bank in front and a cantilever overhang in the back with a silo.

Response has been so favorable, Franz said, that Farm Fund Committee members are discussing the possibility of offering an abbreviated photo freight train for the general public. Seats on the first trains have largely been purchased by railroad photographers from across the country. The new train would still travel from Cumberland to Frostburg and back but fewer stops would be available at nearly half the price. Franz said that option could be more attractive with area residents.

Each of the trains will be offered in either late October or early November. A local running club is coordinating a distance event around the same time to benefit the farm fund.

“Anything to help (John) would be a plus,” Fowler said.

“I think (this new option) will bring out the moms and pops,” Franz said.

Riders would have the opportunity to tour the railroad caboose, meet Helmstetter and enter to win a chance to blow the whistle of steam locomotive No. 734.

Franz, of Montgomery County, visited Allegany County on Friday and Saturday to handle some administrative duties and coordinate brush-cutting efforts along the railroad in the Helmstetter’s Curve area. Many of the workers who assembled over one of the hottest weekends of this summer have been doing similar work for 12 years, Franz said.

Franz said Helmstetter attended Friday’s meeting with Fowler to review and approve a number of details, including passenger disembarking procedures at Helmstetter’s Curve.

“For a shy man, we’ve leaned awful hard on him,” Franz said.

For more information on the fund, visit www.helmstetterfarm.org or call Franz at (240) 720-8686.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.