Cass Scenic Railroad State Park

Geobox|Protected Area
name = Cass Scenic Railroad State Park
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category = West Virginia State Park
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image_caption = Cass Scenic Railroad Heisler #6 along with Shay #11 lead a loaded log train down the former C&O Greenbrier Division mainline.
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country = United States
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state = West Virginia
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region_type = County
region = Pocahontas
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lat_d = 38
lat_m = 23
lat_s = 48
lat_NS = N
long_d = 79
long_m = 54
long_s = 53
long_EW = W
elevation_imperial = 2438
elevation_round = 1
area_unit = acre
area_imperial = 940
area_round = 1
area_note = [http://www.wvstateparks.com/recreation/WVSP_facilities_grid.PDF West Virginia State Parks Facilities Grid, accessed March 29, 2008] ]
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established_type = Established
established = 1961-03-07
established_note = cite book|title=Where People and Nature Meet: A History of the West Virginia State Parks|publisher=Pictorial Histories Publishing Company|location=Charleston, West Virginia|date=April 1988|isbn=0-933126-91-3]
established1_type = Acquired
established1 = 1962
established1_note =
established2_type = Opened
established2 = 1963-06-15
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owner = West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
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free_type = Nearest city
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free = Cass, West Virginia
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map_caption = Location of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park in West Virginia
map_locator = West Virginia
map_first =
website = [http://www.cassrailroad.com Cass Scenic Railroad State Park]

Cass Scenic Railroad State Park is a State Park located in Cass, Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

It consists of the Cass Scenic Railroad, an convert|11|mi|adj=on long heritage railroad that is owned by the state of West Virginia. The park also includes the former company town of Cass and a portion of the summit of Bald Knob, highest point on Back Allegheny Mountain.

History

Founded in 1901 by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company (now MeadWestvaco), Cass was built as a company town to serve the needs of the men who worked in the nearby mountains cutting spruce and hemlock for the West Virginia Spruce Lumber Company, a subsidiary of WVP&P. At one time, the sawmill at Cass was the largest double-band sawmill in the world. It processed an estimated 1.25 billion board feet (2,900,000 m³) of lumber during its lifetime.

In the 1940s, WVP&P sold the Cass operation to Mower Lumber Company, which operated the line until 1960, cutting second-growth timber off Cheat Mountain. The mill and railroad were shut down by Mower in 1960, due to rapid decline of the timber industry in the region.

Following the 1960 closure, the rail line and all equipment and rolling stock were due to be scrapped, but Pennsylvania railfan Russell Baum convinced the West Virginia state legislature to make the Cass Railroad a state park. In 1963, the first tourist excursion train left the Cass depot for Whittaker Station (four miles up the line).

Shay locomotives

Ephraim Shay (1839-1916), has been credited as a schoolteacher, physician, civil engineer, logger, merchant, railway owner, and inventor. He lived in Michigan, and became a logger in the 1860s.

While a logger he wanted to find a new way to get logs to the mill, besides floating them on a river. He then built his own tramway in 1875, on 26 in. track, and wooden ties. This was very efficient and enabled him to beat his competitors because he saved so much money with the tram.

Two years would pass before he would invent the Shay Locomotive. In about 1877 he developed the idea of having an engine sit on a flat car with a boiler, gears, and trucks that could pivot. The first Shay only had two cylinders and operated through a series of gears over the inside portion of the rear truck. It did not take long for this idea to become popular.

When Lima Locomotive Works received the Shay idea it was not impressed, but a man by the name of John Carnes influenced the company to take the idea and expand upon it. What resulted was the classic Shay design we see today.

During its lifetime, Lima Locomotive Works manufactured nearly every Shay, including the last and largest Shay Western Maryland Shay #6, which is still in operation at Cass.

Current operations

Today, riding on historic converted log cars, pushed along by a powerful geared logging locomotive, you can take a step back into time. Traveling on convert|11|mi of track laid in 1901 by immigrant workers, you will traverse the steep grades of Back Allegheny Mountain.

The railroad owns eight Shay Locomotives, one Heisler locomotive, and one Climax locomotive, which is being restored by volunteers of the Mountain State Railroad and Logging Historical Association. The Heisler and the Climax, both made in Pennsylvania, were competition to Shay's geared locomotive design.

Three trips are available: a two-hour round trip to Whittaker Station, a five-hour round trip to the abandoned site of the ghost town of Spruce (once the coldest and highest town east of the Rockies), and a five-hour round trip to Bald Knob, the third highest point in the state.

Former company houses have been refurbished and are available for rent through Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. A small cabin on Bald Knob is also available for rent, and private cabooses can be reserved as well.

Town and shop tours are available daily to visitors who would like to learn more about the town and its lumber industry, and see how the rare geared locomotives are maintained by the Cass shop crew. A tour of a recreated logging camp is available at Whittaker.

Photo gallery

ee also

*List of heritage railroads in the United States
*List of West Virginia state parks
*Bald Knob
*Leatherbark Run

External links

* [http://www.cassrailroad.com Cass Scenic Railroad State Park website]
* [http://msrlha.org/ Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association web site]
* [http://www.gottrains.com/cassrailroad WV Railfan website]
* [http://www.steamphotos.com/gallery/5021935_Ewvcr Cass Scenic Railroad photos]

References

* Withers, Bob (August 25 2005), " [http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2005/August/25/ETcass.htm Cass railroad line to mark birthday] ". Retrieved August 25 2005.

* Roy B. Clarkson (1990), On Beyond Leatherbark