Cass Senic Rail Road- Cass West Virginia

We traveled to the Cass Scenic Railroad today for the 11 mile trip back to Bald Knob. Along the way we saw some breath taking views of mountains and wildlife. We were privileged to be transported there via the number 11 Shay locomotive.

11 Shay Engine
The Shay is a geared locomotive. The gear driven locomotives
were necessary to traverse West Virginia's mountainous terrain.
It was the Shay and other gear driven locomotives that enabled
the logging of West Virginia's virgin timber starting in the early
1900's. The 11 took us from Cass to Bald Knob. Along the we we
experienced breathtaking views of Cheat Mountain,
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and forests for miles in all directions.

These are the mighty pistons that transfer the
Shays power to the gears and eventually the wheels.

The gears that drive the train. Each truck has gears that drive
the engine making it all wheel drive.

While trains and logging sound like masculine
jobs, that is not always true. The Bald Knob
 fireman is actually a woman. She shovels coal into
the firebox to fire the engine. When the train is
climbing the mountain she will place a shovel of
coal in the firebox every 30 seconds. She shoveled
over 3 tons of coal during our trip alone!

The result of using a coal fired engine to power
the train are the by-products of burning, including
smoke and small cinders. Sitting too close behind
the engine will result in the seed sized cinders
pelting you. Keep in mind that coal power was
a technological advancement over wood. While
it would be replaced by diesel engines and today's
modern diesel-electric engines, but it was the best
technology of the day. Coal was readily available,
especially in West Virginia.

From Bald Knob you can see into two states. At center you can make out the Observatory (white dish). Bald Knob is 4,842 feet above ground level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bald Knob was given its name because of clear-cutting that took place there in the late 1800's and early 1900's. It was replanted with red spruce trees. The elevation is perfect for the spruce forest to grow.

Because the red spruce trees were planted very close together, the canopy of the trees blocks most all sunlight from reaching the ground. As you can see, there is no vegetation at ground level. What do you think that means about wildlife in this spruce forest?

The canopy of the spruce forest only allows a little sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor.