HELMSETTER'S CURVE is a legendary train-photography spot on the old Western Maryland Railroad mainline, about 10 miles outside Cumberland, Maryland. My friend and fellow painter Jason Sacran had urged me to take part in the Mountain Maryland plein air event in 2016 ("there's so much rusting crap, Charlie! You'll love it!"). As someone who had spent countless hours poring over back issues of TRAINS magazine as a child (thanks to a elderly rail fan who was downsizing, I was the joyful recipient of about five cartons of issues from the 1940s, 50s and 60s), I couldn't believe my luck that I was actually getting to paint at such a hallowed spot. Never mind that the actual photography vantage point was up on a knoll, looking down, and I only had access to the parking pull-off for the trail that runs from Cumberland to Frostburg alongside the tracks. And never mind the fact that the heavy steam locomotives that had dominated this stretch of mountain railroad were long gone; I was there.