Almost heaven.... There are very few places left in the world where on any given day, you can expect to see 3-5 hot steam locomotives. You can count those places on the fingers of one hand....and have a few fingers left over. Cass, West Virginia is one such place. For those who enjoy watching geared steam locomotives perform, this place is....almost heaven. On this particular day, there were three Shays hot, but the star of the day was the newly restored Moore-Keppel Lumber Company Climax #6, which has recently become Cass Scenic Railroad #9. Here, she hauls a demonstration log train past the Cass Depot, creating a great photo op for photographers attending a Trains Magazine charter event. Behind her and to the left, stablemate, Shay #5, hauls a hopper train on the old C&O main line. The 70-ton Climax is actually a newcomer to Cass, having arrived around 1970, in the scenic railroad era. The 90-ton Shay #5 arrived at Cass in 1905, fresh from the Lima Locomotive Works....and has never left the property.
For aficianados of geared steam engines, it's "almost heaven." Here are some scenes from the park's annual Railfan Weekends, as well as some private charters.
