THE HISTORY OF CASS......AUGUST 31 2011...............

We arrived at Cass WV just at 3 p.m., Bobbie and Tim had arrived just minutes before us.   Talk about perfect timing.

We checked into our cottage, unloaded all our stuff, then set out to explore the town until time to board the train.

Here is our cottage.  It was two story, kitchen, dining room and living room on the first floor, three bedrooms and bath on second.

the bath was the size of a closet, shower stall, sink and you know what, hardly enough room to turn around, and there were six of us. 

The accommodations were clean, the beds comfortable, we slept very well, so have no complaints.  After all, we WERE on an adventure.

Parking in the train station parking lot, we explored.  There was a museum telling the history of Cass and it's unusual Shay engines.

We explored the Company Store, the gift shop, checked out the restaurant.  Pretty soon we heard the train whistle, and were able to watch the 3 p.m. trip into the mountains returning to Cass.

This was about 4:30 p.m.  We were to board at 5 p.m., leaving the station at 5:15 p.m.

And the fun begins.

As this was the dinner trip, there were not as many people on the train as for the regular trips, we had our car almost to ourselves.  There were only about 6 other people sharing this car with us.    Pretty soon we started out.  The next picture I am going to share is of the old lumber mill area, which is now in ruins.

At one time in the early 1900's Cass was a booming lumber town,
the workers living in the company houses, making their purchases as the company store.

The RR tracks were completed to the top of the mountain in 1901, and the shay engines were especially made to have the power to haul the tons of logs that were being harvested and brought down to Cass for processing.  It took a special engine to handle the logs.

These were called Shay engines, and they are being used today to haul people rather than logs.  When the lumber business fell off in this area, the town was abandoned. 

Eventually West Virginia bought the land and buildings and to preserve a part of West Virginia history, it became a State Park.  The cottages were refurbished to house visitors.  The company store resurrected as a company store.  11 miles of train track were preserved.  The shorter trip to Whittaker Station is 4-1/2 miles up into the mountains.  The Bald Knob trip is 11 miles, making two stops, one at Whittaker Station and one at the water tower to take on more water to have enough steam to actually get to Bald Knob.  The same two stops were made on the return trip. 

There is only one Bald Knob trip per day, leaving at noon. Tere are three Whittaker Station trips, 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. 

The Whittaker Station trip makes onestop on the way back, at the outskirts of Cass, to take on water, getting ready for the next trip up the mountain.

I told you earlier about the rain, the surprise birthday song, the good meal, the cake, and all that.  If anyone were to say they had a perfect day, that would be my day.  We had such a good time!

Tomorrow I'll review some of the things we did on Sunday and a couple of stops on the way down on Saturday.

So will leave you hanging now.  Have a good day and God Bless.