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Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, in Cass, Pocahontas County, West Virginia, is a West Virginia State Park heritage railway consisting of the town of Cass, eleven miles of railway, and a portion of the summit of Bald Knob. Cass is an unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia on the Greenbrier River. ...
Pocahontas County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area Ranked 41st - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²) - Width 130 miles (210 km) - Length 240 miles (385 km) - % water 0. ...
A scene on a heritage railway. ...
A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, United States customary units and Norwegian/Swedish mil. ...
Bald Knob is the highest point on Back Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia and is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. ...
 Shay Engine on the Cass Scenic Railroad SP, Greenbrier River in the Background
History
Founded in 1901 by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, now Westvaco, 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 cubic feet of lumber during its lifetime. 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
In 1888, William Luke established the West Virginia Paper Company (now Westvaco) on 50 acres (202,000 m²) of land along the Potomac River known as West Piedmont (now Luke, Maryland). ...
A company town is a town or city in which most or all real estate, buildings (both residential and commercial), utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company. ...
Species About 35; see text. ...
Species Eastern Hemlock Carolina Hemlock Taiwan Hemlock Northern Japanese Hemlock Himalayan Hemlock Forrests Hemlock Western Hemlock Mountain Hemlock Southern Japanese Hemlock Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. ...
The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...
In the 1940s, WVP&P sold the Cass operation to Mower Lumber Company, which operated the line until 1960, cutting second-growth timber off the Cheat Mountain. In 1960, Cass was abandoned due to rapid decline of the timber industry in the region. The rail line at Cass and the Shay locomotives (the only steam engines capable of maneuvering the steep grades on the mountain) were planned to be scapped, but Pennsylvania railfan Russell Baum purchased the line and convinced the legislature to make Cass Railroad a state park. In 1963, the first train left the Cass depot for Whittaker Station (four miles up the line) with tourists, not timber. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ...
1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ...
Cheat Mountain, located in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, is over fifty miles long from north to south and more than five miles wide. ...
The Shay locomotive was the most popular and best-known type of geared steam locomotive. ...
Official language(s) None Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area Ranked 33rd - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²) - Width 160 miles (255 km) - Length 280 miles (455 km) - % water 2. ...
Railfans practicing their hobby at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. ...
State park is a term used in the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreation, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S. state or one of the states of Mexico. ...
1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ...
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 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, which is still in operation at Cass. Ephraim Shay, 1861 Ephraim Shay, 1880 Ephraim Shay in this later years. ...
Current operations  West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Today, riding on historic converted log cars, pushed along by the powerful Shay locomotives, you can take a step back into history. Traveling on 11 miles of track laid in 1901 by immigrant workers, you will be traversing the steep grades of Cheat Mountain. The railroad owns eight Shay Locomotives, one Heisler locomotive, and one Climax locomotive, which as of 2001 was being restored by the Mountain State Railroad and Logging Historical Society. The Shay locomotive was the most popular and best-known type of geared steam locomotive. ...
A Heisler locomotive The Heisler locomotive was the last on the scene of the three major types of geared steam locomotive, Charles L. Heisler receiving a patent for the design in 1892 following the construction of a prototype in 1891. ...
Small Class B Climax locomotive owned by the Oregon Lumber Company. ...
Three trips are available: a two-hour round trip to Whittaker Station, a five-hour round trip to 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 second highest point in the state. Rocky Mountain National Park (photo courtesy of NPS) View of Colorado Rockies. ...
Bald Knob is the highest point on Back Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia and is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. ...
Former company houses have been refurbished and are rented to visitors.
Town and shop tours are available to visitors who would like to learn more about the operations and history. A tour of a restored logging camp is available at Whittaker.
See also List of heritage railways is a link page for any heritage railway anywhere. ...
|List of state parks in West Virginia: Audra State Park Babcock State Park Beartown State Park Beech Fork State Park Berkeley Springs State Park Blackwater Falls State Park Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park Bluestone State Park Cacapon Resort State Park Camp Creek State Park Canaan Resort State Park Carnifex Ferry...
Bald Knob is the highest point on Back Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia and is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. ...
Pocahontas County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. ...
State park is a term used in the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreation, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S. state or one of the states of Mexico. ...
External links - Official website
- Cass Scenic Railroad Photographs
- Fan website
References - Iverson, Clark (1965), On Beyond Leatherbark.
 | U.S. National Register of Historic Places - (List of entries) | | | National Park Service . National Historic Landmarks . National Battlefields . National Historic Sites . National Historic Parks . National Memorials . National Monuments August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ...
2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ...
2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...
File links The following pages link to this file: Image:Delicatearch. ...
The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ...
This is a list of entries on the National Register of Historic Places. ...
The National Park System of the United States is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by the National Park Service. ...
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