An American classic – the Cass Scenic Railroad
Into the hills on this classic American logging railway.
The Cass Scenic Railroad is America’s living tribute to the scores of logging railroads that seemed to infiltrate every part of the United States in the late 1800s and first half of the 20th Century. It’s the nation’s living museum of geared steam locomotives that made those railroads possible. Located on an authentic logging railroad that dates back to 1901, deep in the back Alleghany Mountains of West Virginia, rich with fragrant spruce trees, its remote location underscores the reach of American railroads in the search for natural resources for almost 100 years. When it was in regular operation as a logger, Cass was about moving timber tonnage across a difficult landscape to mill and market. Today, Cass is about moving tourists across those same mountains, and there is no less drama in 2021 as the railroad’s geared engines are put to the test every day with grades in excess of 6% and peaking at 13%. It is no place for conventional rod engines, but not so desperate as to call for cog engines, either. It’s the land of geared Shays, Heislers, and Climaxes, and thanks to a lot of hard work and effort, all three are running at Cass.
A bit of background
West Virginia Pulp & Paper started the logging and railroad operations at Cass in 1901 as a location where it could set up a base of operations for its mill and its log trains. The site is in a deep valley, where the Greenbrier River rushes through with thousands of rainbow trout. Here, an interchange was established with the Chesapeake & Ohio’s Durbin Branch, which allowed freight traffic to continue on the US railroad system. The paper company even started its own short line, the Greenbrier Cheat & Elk (named for the watersheds it traversed) to move traffic. A shop for steam locomotives, a yard for log trains, and a company town sprouted up. The operation grew and flourished with numerous Shay locomotives, including GC&E No. 12, a three-truck monster that, after Cass crews added a fourth truck, became the largest Shay geared in the world at more than 210 tons. WVP&P sold the operation to Mower Lumber Co. in 1942, and Mower ended operations in 1960 as dwindling timber reserves and declining demand curtailed the need for more wood products from this part of the US. The railroad became a state park in 1961, began operations as a tourist railroad in 1964 and was privatized in 2013 with the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad operating it as part of its system, which operates out of both Durbin and Elkins depots with a variety of steam and diesel-hauled services on standard gauge tracks.
Into the hills
Leaving from the straight flat track in front of the replica C&O depot in Cass, it is difficult to imagine what lies ahead on the railroad’s 12-mile trip to the top of Bald Knob, the third highest peak in West Virginia. Two Shay locomotives are on the rear of the train of open cars; the arrangement is about safety as well as convenience – two engines are needed to reach the summit for most capacity trains, but only one will be needed to brake on the way down. A few hundred yards down the tracks, the rails swing to the
left at the water tank, pass the engine terminal and shop and hit the grade that follows the Leatherbark Creek onto the Mountain. What follows is one grade and curve after another until the train reaches the top. After crossing Back Mountain Road, the grade steepens and continues until the train reaches the first of two switchbacks. Here, the train is pushed into the tail track, and reverses direction with the Shays now pulling. They pass the famed Gum Curve, and proceed to a second switchback, where they reverse course yet again. From here, they push the train upward through a spectacular S-curve with dramatic views of the valley just travelled. Moments later, three miles out of Cass, the train pauses at Whitaker station. At Whitaker, the locomotives take water, while the visitors walk through restored camp cars and inspect a log loader that was used here. With a new appreciation for the capability of the Shays, the engines whistle off, and head on up the mountain with more dramatic views ahead. At Spruce, the tracks diverge. The original main line continues to Old Spruce, once the site of another WVP&P and company village, and now on the tourist line out of Elkins. Our train veers to the right onto what was a branch to Bald Knob. The higher we get the more spruce and fir trees line the tracks, and the fewer hardwoods are present. At Oates Run, the train pauses for water, and the departure on a curve and a grade is always dramatic. A few miles down the track, we reach the Bald Knob observation platform, which provides a spectacular view of West Virginia’s Back Alleghany Mountains. In the 1970s, folk-pop singer John Denver sang of West Virginia, as “almost heaven,” and those who love geared steam railroading will agree. It is heaven, indeed!
From here, they push the train upward through a spectacular S-curve with dramatic views
What a roster
Cass rosters a most impressive collection of operating geared steam power in operation.
Here’s a quick rundown: Shay No. 2, a Pacific Coast model that was among the Lima Locomotive Works latest designs in the 1920s; Shay No. 4, a typical 70-tonner of the 1920s; Shay No. 5, the old man of the mountain, built in 1905 and in continuous use on this same stretch of track ever since; Heisler No. 6, a 90-ton model of the third most popular geared steam locomotive type; Shay No. 6, built for Western Maryland in 1945 at 162 tons, it was the last and largest Shay that Lima built; Climax No. 9, built in 1919 and restored in 2019 as the first Climax to run at Cass in almost 100 years; Shay No. 11, a 110-ton model used in the Western US. In 2021, Cass will complete a 30-year project to restore the C&O between Cass and Durbin after it was washed out in a major 1985 flood.