Cumberland is strategically located at the halfway points of the C&O Canal Trail and Great Allegany Passage (GAP) and patrons of these pedestrian byways look to Cumberland for lodging, meals, and repairs.
So far, there are two high end hotels and two boutique B&B’s within walking distance of the trail, and the YMCA that will allow hiker/bikers to pitch their tents on the lawn overnight.
If you’re looking for reasonably price accommodations, you’ll have to bike eight or so miles up to LaVale.
But what is a really major handicap to Cumberland is the unmitigated fact that patrons of the C&O/GAP Trails cannot ship their bicycles on Amtrak because there is no baggage agent to simply open a door on the baggage car in Cumberland.
Countless hiker/bikers on the C&O/GAP Trail have complained that they have had to make Herculean leaps in logistics just to begin or end their outdoor adventures in Cumberland.
If you want to see economic prosperity flow like a ruptured water main, someone strong arm Amtrak into hiring a baggage agent to attend to the bicycles destine for Cumber.
Or better yet, why doesn’t Amtrak just allow bikers to stow their machines in one of the lower level compartments for the three and a half hour trek to and from Washington or Pittsburgh for a small fee? So simple, yet so bureaucratically insane.
John Walker, marketing manager
Little Orleans Lodge
Little Orleans
Letters
Being able to ship bikes by train to city would be help
- Letters
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‘Forgotten warrior’ not forgotten
The Korean War is often called “The Forgotten War.” My generation remembers the Battle for LZ X-Ray at Ia Drang, The Tet Offensive, and Khe Sahn of the Vietnam War.
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Organization needed to help utilize the Potomac River
I am a committee remember on the Tamiami Trail Scenic Highway which stretches from Palmetto to Venice, Fla.
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Reducing meat consumption can help ease climate change
A review of 12,000 papers on climate change, in the May 15 issue of “Environmental Research Letters,” found that 97 percent of scientists attribute climate change to human activities.
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Maryland has stopped being “The Free State”
I am a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and, last but not least, the National Rifle Association. I am a yearly member of the American Legion.
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Save the Bridge Program
Please do not close the Frostburg United Methodist Church Bridge Program. The community and many families need this program. Let me enlighten you about a few things.
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Town of Westernport needs a police force and a curfew
Since the consolidation of Bruce and Valley high schools the town of Westernport rapidly deteriorated from what was once a quite respectable community to a community in a decline in residents, and along with that came a collapse in local government due to lack of knowledge and bad decisions that set the town of Westernport back 60 years.
One bad decision was to give up their police force, and with no constant visual law enforcement it has created an open range for drug dealerss, addicts, thieves, drunks and speeding vehicles that choose to ignore our city laws and speed limits and have totally disregard for the safety of the citizens who are on the streets, especially the children who are like deer, you don’t see them until their in front of you. -
Financial gutting will damage school system
I am writing in response to the Allegany County Commissioners’ efforts to cut local education spending to the lowest possible level allowed under state law.
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Cemetery organization plans events to mark Memorial Day
This upcoming Memorial Day marks the 30th anniversary of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization (CHCO).
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Outside water customers pay for town’s mistakes
The following is the opinion of the individual and in no manner reflects the opinion of any other person or organization.
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We’re twisting the meaning of the Founding Fathers’ words
I really had to chuckle when I read a recent comment someone made in a northeastern publication: “I’d like to suggest that Congress make a tiny change in our Second Amendment that would more accurately reflect the Founding Father’s intent (to wit): “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear muskets, shall not be infringed.”
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‘Forgotten warrior’ not forgotten
