HAGERSTOWN, Md. — After an engaged community discussion, the city council voted Aug. 26, to retain Western Maryland 4-6-2 No. 202, rejecting a proposal to donate the locomotive to the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. The debate drew lines in the Western Maryland community over the cost of restoration and responsibility for care versus seeing the locomotive, donated to the city in 1953, moved to the WMSR, located 67 miles west in Cumberland, Md., for an operational rebuild.
No. 202 is the last of nine K-2 class locomotives built for the railroad by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1912. WM’s K-2s were passenger engines, replacing an earlier, smaller class of the same wheel arrangement. Interestingly, the WM, a coal-hauling line, ordered the K-2s as oil burners. In 1953, W. Arthur Gretz, WM president, donated No. 202 to the children of Hagerstown. Since that time, the locomotive has been a fixture in City Park.
The locomotive, exposed to the elements, but covered by an open-air shelter, has been the subject of restoration plans for several years. According to comments from the city park staff, the locomotive needs fresh paint and lettering, replacement of various parts that have gone missing or deteriorated over the years, improved ADA accessibility, and better interpretive signage. A 2023 article in the Hagerstown Herald-Mail cited Kay Omer, the city’s recreation assistant, as indicating the restoration and renovation project would take place in spring 2024.
At that time it was anticipated the U.S. Department of Transportation and Maryland DoT would pick up 80% of the $790,000 price tag, with the city putting up 20% matching funds. When the project was bid, however, the cost bloomed to four times the budgeted amount. The project stalled.
In September 2024, Hagerstown began pursuing a proposal to sell the locomotive to the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. The sale price would have been $1 with WMSR responsible for removing the locomotive and restoring it to operation within 10 years. During that time, the city would have the right to ask for the locomotive’s return. Additionally, if not made operational in a decade, the city could repossess No. 202. As part of the arrangement, Hagerstown residents would receive a 25% discount on WMSR tickets. City staffers endorsed this plan to the mayor and city council.
With the WMSR proposal on the table, community members led by Karen Swafford, under the group Save Locomotive 202, began to speak out against the operational restoration plan. The group’s sentiment is that the locomotive, a source of local pride belonging to the children of Hagerstown, should be taken care of locally and remain in the park for educational purposes, according to statements made on Facebook and at the Aug. 26, 2025 city council meeting.
With the city council rejecting the WMSR proposal, the question of restoration and care for the locomotive remains unresolved. During the council meeting, citizens proposed forming a non-profit group around the Save Locomotive 202 organization and the Hub City Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society to address these needs, but the city has yet to act on the idea.
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