The railway, located about 30 miles south of Seneca Rocks, starts in Cass WV.  It was designed, around the turn of the century or earlier, to carry workers of the logging industry through the mountains, as well as bringing the timber to the sawmill at the base.  Located along the route would be various camps and work sites.  Today the train acts as a scenic railway, a tourist attraction.

At the Station

Here we are, waiting at the station

The Locomotive

The locomotive itself runs on steam of course, instead of the usual reciprocating steam engine at the wheelbase, it has an "overhead sideways" crankshaft arrangment.  This is a bit hard to see (since I didn't get a close-up shot) but I did take the picture of the locomotive on the side with this assembly.

Side view of locomotive

Gives off plenty of smoke while climbing the steep hill.

View from the back

The route was about 4 miles long which takes about 30 minutes.  The train moves slowly up a rather steep grade.  There are a couple of places where the train must double back because otherwise the climb would be too steep.  This means the train was sometimes pushing or pulling the cars (it was designed to do either equally as well).  We did see deer along the way.

The Sawmill

Near the station is the sawmill where all the timber would be brought by the train from the hills.  Of course it is no longer in operation, given the condition it is in.  You can see some earlier locomotives which would have been used on these tracks.

Heading out

Here we are, heading out, in the parking lot.  Me on the triumph Tiger.

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Page created Aug 12, 2001