Cass Scenic Railroad Amazes In The Fall

Published Mar 13, 2015 By Robert Blue

The Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia is official home of the geared locomotive!

Filmed in the fall season, nowhere else gives you the colors of orange, red and yellow as the locomotives make their way though the beautiful West Virginia Mountains.

The Cass Scenic Railroad State Park is a State Park located in Cass, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It consists of the Cass Scenic Railroad, an 11-mile long heritage railroad that is owned by the state of West Virginia.

The Cass Scenic Railroad was founded in 1901 by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company and hauled lumber. It carried spruce and hemlock trees from the West Virginia Spruce Lumber Company to the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company.

Eventually the Cass Scenic Railroad hauled over 1.25 billion board feet in all!

This is a Classic Shay locomotive, sometimes called the “Sidewinder”.

You will not see the stereotypical wheels, but rather some fascinating gears and crank shafts working in harmony that really makes you appreciate the engineering that when into this locomotive.

At first glance, you really cannot tell what is driving the engine. There are no typical drivers you would find on regular locomotives. This engine is designed for lower speeds and high torque.

The Shay locomotive was used mainly in industrial settings including logging mills and the mining industries and was particularly suited to traverse uneven and poorly laid track.