With all the weddings and birthday celebrations in May, it’s been hard for Melanie and me to find time for just us. So here it is… Saturday… and what to do? How about a trip to Cass Railroad for a picnic! Ok, I have an admission. I’m a train troll. I love old steam engines. I particularly like the old Shay engines – and Cass is about the best place to find those! Here are a few snapshots from our trip. We took the short ride to Whitaker station and had lunch.
Pictured below: Water tower that was recently remodeled in 2005 … and Caboose at Whitaker. If your are ever interested in an exciting getaway, Cass rents these cabooses for overnight stays. We’ve never rented the caboose, but last year we did rent the wilderness cabin. Cass takes you to the top of Bald Knob, drops you off and from there you hike to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. no electricity, no running water and no cellphone. Lots of wild animals. We need to do that again soon. We’ve talked about taking a train to one of the switchbacks and hopping off… then hiking down to camp in old spruce. We will see!
At Whitaker, Cass staff take a break and service the engine. I caught them on their lunch break while walking around with my 50mm. Wish I’d taken the zoom with me. It’s really hard to find shots like these. About 2 seconds after I snapped the pic the train was bombarded with with people interested in the train. This is Shay #11. My favorite is Shay #6.
And finally, just a shot of Whitaker Station. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Beautiful skies.
This year we’ve booked a trip from Cheat River to Elkins – and I can’t wait. Last summer we took the special commemoration trip from Cass to Elkins to celebrate the Elkin’s Depot 100th birthday. So I’m pretty stoked for Steam to come back to Elkins.
