Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, Cass, West Virginia
All-time Locomotives & All-time Rolling Stock
and
Miscellaneous Equipment
June, 2002
[Note:
Phil Bagdon prepared and maintained this list until his untimely death
in 2003. The list contains much detailed information about
the
equipment at Cass through 2002, but needs to be updated and made
curreent. MSR&LHA is looking for someone interested
in taking
on that task.]
Format basics:
1. Locomotive overview
2. Rolling stock and miscellaneous equipment overview
3. Locomotive deeper picture (all known details of secondary importance)
4. Rolling stock and miscellaneous equipment deeper picture
************************************************************************************************
Foreword
I hope that you enjoy this presentation, which is a website adaptation (plus a few additions) of the fifth in a series of annual releases published under the auspices of Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association. Some would call this an arcane pursuit, but the Cass Scenic Railroad wouldn’t be an active railroad without its locomotives and rolling stock – and each piece has a story to tell.
This year’s roster features a wealth of new and corrected information pertaining to former Meadow River Lumber Co. equipment. I am thrilled by the opportunity to present this material, which is an outcome of research for a book.
A comment made in Version 4.0 deserves to again appear – pre-ownership of the three Shays and rolling stock acquired by the State of West Virginia . I had the privilege of speaking with the "two sides" to the Midwest Raleigh and Raleigh Steel story – Bob Levine, son of "Poor Charlie" Levine, and Sam Silverstein, the former owner of Midwest Steel Corp. The two parties merged around 1959 as Midwest Raleigh, Inc. Scrap contracting for Mower Lumber Co. (as owned by Walsworth Farms) was performed under the consolidated name but, by the time the sale to the State occurred, reversion to two companies had taken place.
This project's precursor goes back to the mid-1960s. My interest in Cass stirred a fascination for specific engines and pieces of rolling stock; thus I compiled a first equipment list in 1967. Occasional updates were made during the intervening years – through a 1976 stint as CSRR train commentator. Then, I continued to pay moderate attention to developments, but made no documentation for 20 years. The roster in its current form evolved from what might best be called "protracted side investigation" while again employed at Cass during 1996 and 1997 as seasonal historian. In summary form, the material was made available to park visitors as brochures – one for engines, another for cars and other equipment.
The root of this endeavor stems from details about the equipment being non-existent – except in people’s heads. You could hunt down some information on the locomotives, but the sources were few and several rife with errors. (Last year's release of "Shay Logging Locomotives at Cass, West Virginia, 1900-60" by TLC Publishing satisfies many history-related queries regarding the geared steam acquired in 1962 to launch the scenic railroad era.) Additionally, it came to mind that the departed equipment was important to CSRR history: as time goes on, their stories shouldn’t be forgotten. Getting the basic information on paper seemed to be the appropriate response.
Thus began a cooperative venture of piecing things together. barebone sketches that required just 12 printed pages, this enlarged presentation has evolved. The most dramatic jump in page count came with last year’s release; Version 5.0 retains 26 pages. Eventually publishing a more finalized version with photos of equipment no longer on the CSRR premises is planned.
Special thanks in advance goes to those providing additional information, corrections and comments. Every "jot and tittle" is fair game. I direct special attention to bracketed material – queries that beg for resolve. In cases of conflicting information, all angles will be presented until a more firm conclusion can be reached. "The Deeper Picture" continues to serve as a repository for debate. You can contact me through MSRLHA’s mailing address or website, or write to P.O. Box 1 , Hinton , WV 25951 .
A list of contributors and sources appears at the end of this reformatted website version.
– Philip V. Bagdon, June 2002
************************************************************************************************
Locomotives
Overview
All-time total = 21
Today’s total = 17
Anticipated status for the 2002 operating season:
Active Steam = 4, Active Diesel-electric = 1
Inactive Steam = 8, Inactive Diesel-electrics = 5, Locomotives disposed = 4
All geared power listed is of three truck – "Class C" – design.
Shays were built by Lima Locomotive Works, Inc. and its predecessors in Lima , Ohio .
For Shays, class designation (tons) is listed in the following profiles; weight breakdowns appear at the beginning of the Locomotive Deeper Picture section.
This compilation’s subject is the scenic railroad era. The timbering past has its own big story, but certainly there is a tie because of the living history of CSRR State Park . The Cass rail-logging era (1901-1960) involved 17 Shays – up to 12 rostered simultaneously – and a rather short-lived Climax. The first locomotive – Class 40-2 Shay, No. 1(1) – arrived and entered service in late December 1900. The most notable Cass Shay was No. 12, a Class 150-3 engine. As converted into a four-trucker, she was the largest Shay to ever operate.
Cass Scenic Railroad’s geared steam power collection represents a range of Shay locomotive weight class and period-of-construction specimens as well as places the Shay legacy into context with two other designs used in West Virginia timbering industry. Cass might be "home of the Shays," but the significance of having representative Heisler and Climax geared models can not be overemphasized.
There would be no Cass Scenic Railroad had Russell Baum, a Pennsylvania railfan, not shown up for a log train ride in late September 1960. He found the mill closed and railroad being scrapped at a rate of a mile a day. Long story short, as the foundational element of what would become the CSRR, a miraculous turn-of-events occurred and the three Mower Lumber Shays were saved from the cutting torch.
There was some true charm about Cass in its fledgling excursion train days – all original equipment, the real deal. Unexpected popularity – i.e., park visitorship demands – coincided with the availability of an elegant, operable Class 70-C Shay. Park administration had good reason to pitch for Meadow River Lumber Shay No. 7: the 1964 season was the breakthrough in terms of proven steady visitorship (the venture was not going to be a "flash-in-the-pan" after all). No. 1 was so to speak out-to-lunch. Ditto for Shay No. 5.
Thus began the slow influx of "alien motive power" – some enormously useful, others veritable semi-basket cases.In regards to acquisitions, some opportunities have been lost, and amazing opportunities have dropped from out of the blue. Reluctance to invest in the future (Cass has always been an expensive proposition for the State) thwarted exceptional offerings by two latter-day West Virginia Shay operators – Georgia-Pacific (Swandale) and Ely-Thomas Lumber (Fenwick). A weary-but-interesting Graham County R.R. three-trucker literally fell off the truck – not in an advantageous way for CSRR: the Compiler calls it the "Shay that never arrived." But some stout, quite reliable power has come the Park’s way – including a Pacific Coast Shay, the last-and-second-largest-ever Shay built and, most recently, a beefy Class 90-3. Also, there was a valuable leased engine.
Over the course of the park’s first decade, besides No. 5 entering service, four top-rate geared engines (three Shays and the Heisler) were brought to Cass and placed into operation. In terms of service on the "mountain," there was then a 19-year period when nothing new steamed – Shay No. 6 was out of the picture until the track system rebuild as far as Whittaker Station (1991). More than nine years later, the activation of Shay No. 11 occurred. The newly acquired Class 80-3 Shay may be in steam as early as the fall of 2004.
A few steam locomotives on the premises have remained dead and in need of serious repair since arriving. One of these, the Climax, is now slated for service-oriented restoration. If not for flood damage permanently curtailing Greenbrier River excursions, the 2-8-0 rod locomotive would have steamed. The biggest heartbreak has been the loss of Shay No. 7. A leased Shay and one of the CSRR originals are now only memories. There was a little rod locomotive which came and went without service. A decrepit, crashed-and-bashed Shay was acquired, stripped for parts and scrapped.
Three of eight all-time rostered "diesels" have proven any value to CSRR. When the Compiler first saw the GE 45-tonner, he threw up his hands and yelled, "Oh no! Not a diesel on the Cass Scenic Railroad!" Soon realized was a diesel-electric shifter’s value as "shop goat."
* * *
CSRR Today
Steam power – anticipated active for the 2002 operating season
Shay No. 2 (Mayo Lumber No. 4) – c/n 3320, 1928; Pacific Coast Class (PC-13).
The only Pacific Coast Shay ever built as a wood-burner and converted to "oil firing" before delivery; new from Lima to Mayo Lumber Co., Paldi (Vancouver Island) British Columbia – rostered as No. 4; to Lake Logging Co., Ltd., Cowichan Lake B.C., 2-43 – became that owner’s No. 5; to Western Forest Industries, Honeymoon Bay, 12-46 – No. 5; then to Railway Appliance Research Ltd, North Vancouver, 1-64 – No. 114; as [leased to] Vancouver Wharfs, Ltd., became one of North America’s last regularly operated commercial-use Shays – sharing waterfront service with a sister PC Shay; the duo was placed out of service in [5]-[70]; acquired in 10-70, arrived on flatcars, 3-71 and unloaded, 4-71; made operational debut, 5-72 – firing with No. 4 Diesel; normal assignment was Bald Knob road engine; re-entered service after conversion to coal-burning (diamond stack) 5-83 – other major changes also occurred prior to this roll-out; a boiler sidesheet problem – stress crack at the staybolts – found during the 2000-01 off-season resulted in a re-entry into service in 7-01; relegated to regular Bald Knob pusher engine – No. 11 took over regular Bald Knob road engine duties in 5-01; completely reflued during 5-02. (Doug Seldomridge, regular engineer)
Shay No. 5 (Mower No. 5) – c/n 1503, 1905; Class 80-3. Built for West Virginia Spruce Lumber Co.’s Greenbrier & Elk River R.R. – the oldest and longest-operating Shay here; originally assigned to the Cass Hill as road engine; various assignments while based at Spruce and on Elk River – until about 1939 came to Cass only for heavier repair; became MLbrCo No. 5, 6-42; equipped with power reverse in ICC compliance (applicable to locomotives 100 tons or over) for operation on the Western Maryland, 6-42; involved in a head-on collision with a WMRy H-8 2-8-0 at Spruce, 10-2-42; due to her weight, saw little work after 1953; used at the Cass Mill as a steam source during the "Big Freeze," 3-58 – and as needed for other periods when deep snow prevented logs from being shipped; this service ended in [2]-59 – when all cylinders were cracked out of negligence; set aside in the upper end of the shop; sold for scrap to Midwest Raleigh, Inc., 9-60; conveyed by Midwest Steel Corp. to the State, 8-62; what was envisioned as a $20,000 repair – "every part except trucks, cab and boiler replaced" – didn’t turn out as such; CSRR service debut was 5-5-66; shopped during [at least part of 1968 and throughout 1969]; became the regular Bald Knob helper and retained that status until No. 7’s demise, then served as regular Bald Knob road engine until No. 2 took those duties; when shopped for firebox flue sheet replacement ([10]-95), a cracked boiler throat sheet was eventually discovered; repairs included all new stay bolts, a replacement cylinder, smokebox, smokebox ring, smokebox door, exhaust gooseneck; several setbacks occurred in out-shopping (outside-contracted parts not correctly machined, the boiler welder’s retirement) occurred; a newly created water tank was borrowed for No. 11’s entry into service in 9-99; out-shopped and tested on 9-31-00, then placed into service the next day as Bald Knob pusher engine – an assignment held (as needed) throughout the operating season’s remaining weeks (sans tender letter lettering); served as the Bald Knob pusher engine during the first part of the 2001 season then, with No. 2’s post-shopping reactivation, went to standby status.
Shay No. 6, "Big Six" ( Western Maryland No. 6) – c/n 3354, 1945; Class 150-3. The last and second largest Shay ever out-shopped by Lima (ordered 5-44, completed 4-45); built for use on Western Maryland’s Chaffee Branch (Garrett County, Md.) – kept at Vindex; after Manor Mine No. 3 played out in [9]-50, stored first at Vindex then Maryland Junction before being removed to Hagerstown; subsequent to WMRy accepting the B&O Transportation Museum’s donation request, she received extensive overhaul at Hagerstown (Md.); operated in steam – trailing two cabooses – to Baltimore, 8-53; displayed in the museum’s Mount Clare roundhouse for more than 26 years, then a trade arrangement was hatched to bring her to Cass; the deal (including Cass Shay No. 1 and the ex-Army Porter 0-4-0T No. 714) was approved in 5-80; the move occurred in 8-80 (picked up at Durbin by Heisler No. 6); tested as far as the lower switchback on 4-1-81; excursion service debut was 5-17-81 on the former C&O Greenbrier Subdivision to-Durbin; clearance restrictions and weight brought sparing use on the actual CSRR (pulled a railfan charter to the lower switchback, 5-84); entered regular service on the thrice-weekly Greenbrier River excursions, 7-84; track system upgrade allowed operation to Whittaker Station beginning in 6-91; extensive shopping for boiler side sheets and other repairs commenced in 10-93, returned to service 10-96 – the regular Whittaker power since that time; rebuilding of the mountain wye (used in switchback fashion to circumvent the mainline curve) permitted use to Bald Knob – the first run to the top occurred during Railfan Weekend, 5-97; filled in to Bald Knob, 8-97; after several years of problems with a hot-running crankshaft, part was sent for turning and grinding by a Louisville (Ky.) machine shop and reinstalled prior to the 2000 season. (Gary Cassell, regular engineer)
Shay No. 11 (Feather River No. 3) – c/n 3221, 1923; Class 90-3. Built for Hutchinson Lumber Co.’s Oroville (Butte County) Calif. mill operation – rostered as No. 3 (this venture was sold and became Feather River Pine Mills, Inc., 4-27); transferred to assets of common-carrier Feather River Railway when it was established by FRPM, [?]-39; became Georgia-Pacific property when the logging job and FRRR were acquired, [?]-55 – always retaining No. 3 spot; to standby status with arrival of an EMD diesel-electric in 10-61, retired in 3-65; conveyed to Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum Association (now the San Diego Railroad Museum), 5-67; first fired up by the museum in 6-69, then used on various occasions until 1991; acquired with the assistance of a MSRLHA deposit, [5]-97; disassembled and trucked to Cass, 10-98; the original plan was a near-total renovation prior to entering service in 5-00; the boiler was hydro tested and found to be in good shape; based on 2-99’s decision to activate her for one test run to the top and possible 1999 standby use, work commenced in the upper (car) shop – the plan, a patching-up in the car shop and use of No. 5’s new water tank – began with replacement of broken stay bolts; the attention lasted only so long, until pre-season labor needs necessitated focus elsewhere, thus there was delay; work continued sporadically after the season began; the impetus for roll out was No. 4’s incapacitation (7-99); prep was targeted for completion prior by Labor Day weekend; activation was further delayed by tardy arrival of No. 2 (Off-road) Diesel; tested on the mountain with cars on 9-9-99; entered operation on the 3 p.m. Whittaker run, 9-17-99; the next day, worked as Bald Knob pusher and remained in that capacity (as needed) until the season’s finale; running gear work and a riveted water tank were completed for the 2000 season; operated as needed as Bald Knob pusher service until incurring a crankshaft problem in 8-00; besides this repair, shopping included grate and bunker conversion and frame straightening; became the Bald Knob road engine at the start of the 2001 season. (Danny Seldomridge, engineer)Inactive steam power
Inactive Steam for 2002
Shay No. [ ? ] (Agnew Lumber No. 3) – number undecided at time of printing deadline – c/n 3142, 1920; Class 80-3. Built for Eastern Railway & Lumber Co., Centralia, Wash.; conveyed to S.A. Agnew Lumber Co. at Centralia, 10-42; retired in [?]-49 – stored inside lumber company’s shop until [1963 or ‘64]; donated to Puget Sound Historical Society and shipped to Snoqualmie, Wash., 5-20-69; purchased by R. Simpson, B. Cole and C. Martin in [?]-80; conveyed to Dick Simpson and a partner [name unknown], [?]-90; inspected by CSRR in 8-01 and a letter of intent subsequently issued; acquired for $40,000 during 10-02; moved by truck to Cass – arrived 4-23-02; apparently, this engine’s boiler is in superb shape; restoration will begin in earnest after the Heisler repairs are completed – new cab, coal bunker and water tank are needed; availability for service at the very earliest is fall of 2004.
Shay No. 4 (Mower Lumber No. 4) – c/n 3189, 1922; Class 70-3. Built for the Birch Valley Lumber Co., Tioga (Nicholas County) – rostered as No. 5; involved in a notable wreck, 2-41 – hit a broken rail near Sprucie Low Gap, tumbled and inflicted four scalding fatalities; shipped by flatcar to Richwood and repaired by the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Co. shop, then returned to service and worked until the mill’s closure, 5-43; acquired by Mower Lumber Co., Cass, [?]-43 – shopped prior to service; after about 1957 worked predominantly May through October while plow-equipped Shay No. 1 served during winter months; pulled last log train on 6-30-60; sold for scrap to Midwest Raleigh Inc., 9-60; the primary power during the salvaging operation (bringing in skidders, cars and loads of rail) beginning in 9-60; conveyed by Midwest Steel Corp. to the State, 8-62; first scenic excursion road engine, 6-63; after breaking an axle in 7-63, C&O Railway’s Russell (Ky.) shop furnished a rush replacement (axle built for a GM EMD GP30 diesel-electric); powered the first off-line excursion (to the Mountain State Forest Festival, Elkins), 10-64; received particular attention prior to the 1965 season; road engine for the Bald Knob Inaugural, 5-68; extensive shopping began [9]-90, completed in 5-93; in recent years has mostly served as the Bald Knob "pusher"; placed out of service upon discovery of a hole in the crown sheet, 7-99; original plans to expedite the repair and get her back on the road in August failed to transpire; repair began in 10-00, but was halted when the 2000 season ended; additional attention was given to the project during the 2001 operating season; this work resumed in 5-02 (after shop space became available); completion is expected in 10-02. (Bob Long, regular engineer)
Heisler No. 6 ( Meadow River Lumber No. 6) – c/n 1591, 1929; Class 90-3. Built by Heisler Locomotive Works (Erie, Pa.) for Bostonia Coal and Clay Products, New Bethlehem, Pa., rostered as No. 20; acquired by Meadow River Lumber Co., Rainelle (Greenbrier County) – arrived 1-29-39, first test run 4-10-39; equipped with Radley & Hunter smokestack (1939) and Worthington feedwater system (1941); mostly served as MRL’s "transfer engine" (making turns over the Nicholas, Fayette & Greenbrier to empty/load exchange points on woods mainline trackage); retired from regular service when diesel-electrics went into operation during 2-57; last geared steam locomotive used by MRL – inspections kept current despite rare use; came to Cass on her own power via the NF&G and C&ORy, 12-66; introduced into service during Bald Knob Inaugural Weekend, 5-68 (Sunday performance ahead of ex-MRL sister No. 7 as far as Back Mountain Crossing); entered regular service to Whittaker, 5-69; because of her speed in comparison to the Shays, served as power for off-line events; the Radley & Hunter was replaced with a diamond stack prior to the 1970 season; work on middle truck and other repairs occurred during 1992-93; rendered out-of-service with a boiler problem discovered in 5-95; became first subject of a DNR boiler replacement program; contract was awarded to a Sistersville (Tyler County) manufacturer, 10-97; new boiler delivered to Cass, 12-99; service seems possible as early as the fall of 2003.
Shay No. 7 (Meadow River Lumber No. 7) – c/n 3131, 1920; Class 70-3 (wood cab, straight stack). Built for The Raine Lumber Co., Honeydew (Fayette County) – rostered as No. 3; for start-up of the company’s operation at Clover Lick (Pocahontas County), relocated in 1923; sent to Duo (Greenbrier County) for Raine Lumber & Coal’s mine around 1930; sold to Meadow River Lumber Co., (Rainelle, Greenbrier County), 1944 – rostered as No. 7; equipped with steel "all-weather cab" and Radley & Hunter stack; entered service in 1947; relegated to standby status with the arrival of diesel-electric switchers, 2-57; "officially retired" in 10-64 – the last active logging Shay in West Virginia; acquired as CSRR’s first power addition; moved in steam, 12-64; entered service in 5-65; off-line power to/at the Mountain State Forest Festival (Elkins), 1965-67, and Strawberry Festival (Buckhannon), 6-67; became the regular Bald Knob power with "opening to the top," 5-68; lost Radley & Hunter to diamond stack, 4-70; sidelined with a pitted front boiler course, 11-70; repairs should have been completed for operation in 5-73, but the replacement part by a Chattanooga boiler firm did not fit (legal entanglement ensued); another unsuccessful attempt at rolling a new front boiler course (by [Trojan Steel, Charleston] failed in either 1974 or 1975; recoverable but in poor condition.
Climax No. 9 (Middle Fork No. 6) – s/n 1551, 1919; Class 70-3. Built by Climax Locomotive Works (Corry, Pa.) for the lumbering enterprise Moore-Keppel & Co., Ellamore (Randolph County); subsequent to the mill’s 1-46 closure, served as standby power for the coal-hauling Middle Fork R.R. – never relettered; the last Climax to operate commercially in the U.S., retired in [?]-[60]; already in badly rusted, ragged shape when bought by Robert L. Johnson for his proposed Whistles In The Woods Museum at Ellamore, [11]-69; sold to DNR, [10]-70 – trucked from Ellamore via lowboy; restoration for a projected 5-73 service debut was about "20% complete" when the shop fire occurred (7-72) – that devastating event led to indeffinately postponing work; the water tank built in anticipation of service was placed at Oats Run, [?]-7[1]; a replacement boiler was acquired from the Ladysmith Historical Society, Victoria, British Columbia, 9-91; interest in funding repairs was expressed by MSRLHA, 5-98; after removal of boiler, placed inside the new restoration shop in [10]-02; projected completion date is 5-07.
Shay No. 10 (Brimstone No. 36) – c/n 2804, 1916; Class 70-3. Built as a wood-burner (Radley & Hunter stack) for W.M. Carney Mill Co., Atmore, Ala., and rostered as No. 5; found to be too slow for Carney’s purposes, thus returned to Lima, 12-16; converted by the factory into a coal-burner (taper stack) and sold to W.M. Ritter Lumber Co. as its No. 1 [by 5-17]; first operated under Ritter ownership by wholly-owned subsidiary Raleigh Lumber Co. at Fitzpatrick (Raleigh County); transferred to Ritter’s job at nearby Oxley (now Beaver, Raleigh County), 19[2?]; then to Maben (Wyoming County), [?]-2[?]; hence sent to the Ritter operation at New River, (Scott County) Tenn., 10-45 – rostered as common-carrier subsidiary Brimstone R.R.’s No. 36; rail-logging and lumber transportation was waning – the Shay also pulled coal; subsequent to the mill’s [?]-4[9] closure, service was exclusively related to coal; the Brimstone was formally abandoned by Ritter successor Georgia-Pacific on 4-30-65; operation was leased by Scott Coal Co. until ICC approval of the Brimstone & New River Ry., which began in 7-65; last operated in 10-65 (condemned by ICC inspector for worn flanges); the railroad became property of Southern Railway System in 4-66 – New River Ry., this minor subsidiary, was controlled by the Southern Railway System’s CNO&TP; loaned to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (Chattanooga), [?]-67; after years of benign neglect by TVRM, loaned by SRy to Bear Creek Junction (Robbinsville, N.C.) for intended restoration and return to service, [7]-7[3]; after BCJ folded, faced scrapping at Robbinsville; acquired for $4,000 by Indiana Shay fan George Kadelak, 3-87; a lease deal with the State of W.Va. for repair and operation was arranged; trucked to Cass at Kadelak’s expense, [?]-87; for a time in 1990, there were plans for an overhaul during the 1990-91 off-season (this did not transpire); purchased by the State, 4-94; has sat in the same location on the yard dead line since 5-93; the boiler is sound, but she needs considerable, expensive work prior to service.
Baldwin 2-8-0 Rod Locomotive (Fort Eustis No. 612) – c/n 69858, 1943; 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type, 80½ tons (engine weight), 19x26 cylinders, 57" drivers – a member of the largest-ever single steam locomotive class; built by Baldwin’s Eddystone Plant (Philadelphia) for the U.S. Army Transportation Corp; originally rostered as No. 2630; although it is known that she never served overseas (like so many G.I. 2-8-0s), determining site of original operation is unlikely; assigned to the 714th Transportation Battalion (Ry Op), Fort Eustis, Va., 1952 – rostered as USA No. 612; operated to/at Hill Air Force Base (near Ogden, Utah) in conjunction with the Golden Spike Centennial at nearby Golden Spike National Historical Site (Promontory, Utah), 6-69; reported as excess to U.S. Army Mobility Command, 5-71; still in service on the Fort Eustis Utility Rail System, 2-72; declared excess, 5-72; released to General Services Administration for disposal (via U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare’s Surplus Property Utilization office), [7]-72; acquired by the State of W.Va., arrived on flatcars, 9-72; rigid wheel base with maximum curve radius of 25 degrees precluded service before RMA took over the former C&O Greenbrier S.D.; repair funds for operation were appropriated in 1985 but – as the result of flood damaged trackage which ended the run – this work never commenced.
Active diesel-electric power
GE 65-tonner No. 21 – [c/n unknown], [?]-4[3], 400-hp DES. Built by General Electric at Schenectady , N.Y. for the U.S. Navy; [service history is unknown]; acquired as surplus by RMA, [?]-78, but shipped directly from a Naval installation to the Wilmington & Western (Marshalltown, Del.); finally arrived on the SBVRR, [5]-84; sent to Cass as part of the 10-85 equipment movement; as it arrived, wore No. 34 (part of original USN seven-digit number); used as the shop goat for 10 years before a major breakdown; returned to service in 5-97; received its blue and silver paint scheme with crazy handrail striping in 8-97 (briefly creating the nickname "The Circus Engine").
Inactive diesel-electric power
Alco S4 Nos. 16-17 – c/n 81321-81322, both built in 5-55; 1000-hp, DES units by Alco/GE (assembled at Schenectady, N.Y.) as Baltimore & Ohio Nos. 469-470 – m.u.-equipped; later renumbered 9009-9010; one source claims these units (plus unrelated-to-Cass ex-B&O No. 9007), were the only Alcos ever to wear Chessie System’s paint scheme – for some unknown reason, No. 9010 was repainted back to B&O blue; acquired by RMA for use on the SBVRR for $20,000 each, 3-79; No. 9009 became No. 16 and operated in the SBVRR paint scheme, while No. 9010 became No. 17 but retained B&O scheme and lettering; upgraded by GE at the cost of $250,000 in [?]-8[?]; shipped to Cass as part of the 10-85 equipment movement; never operated – now in sustained deteriorating condition on the river dead line.
GE 45-tonner No. 20, "Little Henry" – c/n 13193, [?]-41; 300-hp side-rod DES. Built by Alco (Schenectady) for General Electric; delivered new to the U.S. Navy; service history is unknown except for last assignment – the Philadelphia Navy Yard; acquired as surplus by RMA, [7]-78 and shipped directly to Cass, 1-79; although there were plans to activate the ex-Army S-1 for off-season switching (see "Stored State-owned equipment"), this was actually the first CSRR "shop goat," as well as the first diesel-electric to be operated; burned out traction motor[s] rendered the unit out-of-service, [?]-8[8]; rehabilitation and a return to service has been discussed (off and on since 1994).
Alco/GE MRS-1 No. 26 – c/n, 31660 (GE), 80421 (Alco) 4-53; 1600-hp, 6-axle road switcher, m.u.-equipped. Built by General Electric and Alco (assembled at Schenectady, N.Y.) for U.S. Army Transportation Corp – rostered as B-2105; to U.S. Navy [date unknown] – rostered as 65-00587; to Colts Neck Naval Ammunition Depot, [date unknown] – Colts Neck No. 6; declared excess and acquired by DNR, [7]-76, brought to Cass (along with three other MRS-1s and an Alco S-1 DES), 7-76; transferred to RMA and shipped to SBVRR, [10]-78 – rostered as No. 26; spent several months at GE’s Apparatus Shop [near Pittsburgh] for upgrades, returned from GE in SBVRR’s yellow paint scheme, 4-79; massive 6-wheel trucks experienced difficulty on the light track system; returned to Cass, 10-85; served as the shop switcher during 1989-90’s off-season before rail damage forced removal from service; stored in sustained deteriorating condition on the river dead line.
Alco/GE MRS-1 No. 28 – c/n, 31664 (GE), 80425 (Alco) 4-53. Same as above except originally USA B-2109, then USN 65-00589, then Colts Neck No. 8, then SBVRR No. 28; never operated at Cass.
Disposed to other railroads and sites
Steam
Shay No. 1 (Mower Lumber No. 1) c/n 1519, 1905; Class 65-3. Built for G.W. Huntley Lumber Co., Ronceverte (Greenbrier Co.) – rostered as No. [1]; likely moved contract logs from various cuttings on Anthony’s Creek and ran over the Iron Mountain & Greenbrier to White Sulphur Springs; acquired by West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co., Cass, in 1915 – rostered as the second No. 1; served out of Spruce, camps on Cheat River and then Slaty Fork, Cheat Bridge (for Glade Run) and Beaver Creek; became Mower Lumber No. 1, 6-42; based at Cass after about 1944; pilots equipped with snowplow blades, [11]-5[0]; one of the two regular daily log train engines until the cutback to one loadout and woods crew; received notable paint job (Chinese red cab, coal bunker and tender with dark green boiler jacket and domes) sometime in 1957; came "close to blowing up" due to a watchman’s neglect while in service behind the mill as a steam source after heavy snowfall, [2]-59; sold for scrap to Midwest Raleigh, Inc., 9-60; known to have worked briefly during the scrapper’s salvaging operation (moved steel from off the mountain in 12-60); conveyed by Midwest Steel Corp., 8-62; served when needed as excursion train "pusher engine" in 6-63 and early 7-63 – otherwise displayed on weekends (on the C&O house track at Cass); filled in as road engine during No. 4’s July axle repair; may have briefly reappeared as weekend pusher, but was soon rendered out-of-service by an ICC inspector (worn flanges, 9-63); received sporadic attention in the shop – including new smokebox; at one point, there was hope to get her out for the 1967 season; moved outside to the upper shop lead track and tarped, 11-69; relegated to the yard dead line track, [5]-7[4]; after the trade deal for B&O Railroad Museum’s WMRy No. 6 was sealed, cosmetic restoration occurred (snowplow blades replaced with conventional footboards and pilot, "back in black," lettered Greenbrier, Cheat & Elk); shipped on flatcars (via Durbin), 5-81; placed into the museum’s primary display.
Shay No. 3 ( Mount Emily Lumber No. 1) – c/n 3233, 1923; Class 80-3. Built as an oil-burner for Lima’s West Coast dealer, Hofius Steel & Equipment Co. (Seattle); bought by Independence Logging Co., Independence, Wash. and rostered as No. 1, [date unknown]; acquired by Mount Emily Lumber Co., LaGrande (Union County), Ore., [?]-2[8] (retained No. 1); retired when rail-logging ceased, [?]-55; donated to Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, [?]-[60]; moved to Portland and stored in the Union Pacific roundhouse for three years, then towed (sans line shafts) to the Portland yard; cosmetically maintained by volunteers of the Pacific Northwest Chapter, National Railway Historical Society; acquired by the Oregon Historical Society, [?]-[70]; a 20-year lease agreement to operate at Cass was established in [?]-70; arrived in 1-71; entered service, 5-72 – the last locomotive overhauled in the old shop (and the second major repair in the CSRR era) before it burned; timing of a return to the shop for minor repair turned out to be a setback for further operation – when the structure caught fire, she was rather dramatically rescued but not without damage; returned to service, 5-74; primarily used as the Whittaker Station road engine; a purchase opportunity in 198[9] was missed during a period of State budget austerity; stored serviceable after the 1992 season (the lease ended on 1-1-93); returned to Oregon on flatcars via the Spruce Connection, 5-94; periodic excursion service under lease agreement with the City of Prineville R.R. (Prineville, Oregon) since [6]-9[6].
Porter 0-4-0T No. 714 (St. Elizabeth’s No. 4) – c/n 8234, 4-50; 50-ton saddletank switcher, 16x24 cylinders, 44" drivers. The last "fired" steam locomotive out-shopped by H.K. Porter Company (Pittsburgh); built for the U.S. Federal Security Agency and assigned to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C. (shifted the heating plant’s steam coal); transferred to inventory of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1958; supplanted at St. Elizabeth’s by a diesel-electric, soon thereafter transferred to the Department of Defense in [?]-66; assigned to the 714th Transportation Battalion (Ry Op), Fort Eustis , Va. , [?]-67 – [operated at least a few times]; acquired as government surplus, arrived in 10-72; never in steam before being shipped to Baltimore as part of the trade for Western Maryland Shay No. 6; cosmetically rostered and shipped with Shay No. 1, 5-81; repair and operation have been considered by the B&O Railroad Museum.
Diesel-electric
GM-EMD BL2 No. 7172 (Western Maryland No. 82) – c/n 5922, 10-48; 1500-hp diesel-electric road switcher. Built by General Motor’s Electro Motive Division – Frame Number E960-2 (LaGrange, Ill.) for the Western Maryland, rostered as No. 82 (Class DF-15); originally used in road service (m.u.-equipped); renumbered to 7182 – and eventually became Chessie System No. 7172; retired from the Hagerstown (Md.) hump in [?]-83; donated by Chessie System – picked up at Durbin by "Little Henry," 11-83; used on railfan charters along the Greenbrier during 1984; standby power for CSRR’s regularly scheduled Greenbrier River excursions, 1984-85; after MRS-1 No. 27 proved hard on track, entered service as off-season shop goat beginning in [?]-8[9] – placed out-of-service after a breakdown; shipped to SBVRR via Spruce ([5]-9[2]); ownership transferred to SBVRR in [?]-95; returned to operating condition at Moorefield and run in the yard, but never saw road or work train service; for possible use on the new West Virginia Central, shipped from Moorefield to Belington (Barbour County), 10-98; repaired and placed into weekly freight service; pulled most excursions during 1999’s first season of Belington-to-Elkins runs; she is remembered as a true rust bucket, but the unit is now quite pretty – preliminary body work, painting and accurate Western Maryland 1960s-era striping and lettering (No. 82) completed in 4-00; powered New Tygart Flyer excursions in 2000 and 2001; remains in operation.
Miscellaneous
Locomotive scrapped
Ex-Premar Coal Co. Shay – c/n 1907, 1907; Class 65-3. Built for the Lewisburg & Ronceverte R.R. (Ronceverte, Greenbrier Co.) as that road’s No. 1; after electrification sold to West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co., Cass, 1914 – rostered as No. 6 (2nd); conveyed to Mower Lumber, 6-42; with boiler sidesheets getting bad, retired and offered for sale, [?]-46; bought by Preston County Coal Co., 4-47 – originally used at Monitor No. 1 Mine, West End (Preston Co.); Preston County Coal fell under ownership of the Borgman brothers’ Premar Coal Co. – moved to Monitor No. 4, near Austen (Preston Co.), [?]-5[?]; in service until the mine’s closure, [10]-6[0]; fired up and moved outside the enginehouse once in [?]-63; severely damaged by roof collapse, [2]-6[4]; eventually offered for sale ($1,000); inspected by CSRR and Bear Creek Junction (Robbinsville, N.C.), but declined (too costly to retrieve and engine’s basic condition); briefly, plans called for her to be cut up during the summer of 1969 (with parts going to Bear Creek Junction); acquired by Parkersburg railfan, Dave Corbitt, [?]-7[4]; track was marginally rebuilt between storage site and former B&O interchange at "83 Fill" (about a mile in distance) beginning in [10]-75; by the time bad weather set in (12-75), Corbitt and volunteer crew had moved the engine to the old interchange track – jacked up with trucks removed, in anticipation of a springtime move via lowboy tractor-trailer; cosmetic restoration at the West Virginia Northern shop at Kingwood (Preston Co.) was plans; all but destroyed by a B&O train derailment, 4-76; sold to the State in [?]-78; shipped in gondolas gratis by Chessie System just prior to the Greenbrier SD’s closure, [6]-78; scrapped in [?]-80; cylinders and trucks sit atop ex-Meadow River cars B-2 and B-5 on the river dead line.Stored State-owned unitsMilitary Diesel-electrics. (4) Three Alco MRS-1 road units and an Alco S-1 DES were acquired as government surplus by DNR and brought in for storage on the Cass passing siding per C&O’s permission, 8-76; the S-1 (Alco/GE c/n 69860) was considered for shop switcher use, then the GE 45-tonner arrived; inter-agency transfer to the RMA – moved to Durbin by Shay No. 5, [10]-78; two of the three MRS-1s returned from SBVRR in 10-85 (see "Inactive diesel-electric units").
Rolling stock and other rail equipment
Overview
All-time total = 90 • Current total = 74
Excursion cars = 16+1, Caboose units = 2, Work and special-use equipment = 10, Whittaker Camp No. 1 display = 8+1
Inactive log cars = 10, Inactive conventional freight cars = 8, Inactive conventional passenger cars = 6, Dead line basket cases = 12
Dismantled or destroyed = 11, Disposed to other railroads = 5
Through 10-67, exclusive use of original equipment on regularly scheduled CSRR trains afforded a genuine connection to the railroad’s heritage – cars that once hauled logs to Cass, complete with vertical brakewheels turned by steel "hickey." Those who witnessed the era are mindful that the logging railroad’s amazing rescue had legitimate limitations: no one can bemoan more Mower cars not being saved. The first "aliens" introduced into service were true-blue West Virginia steel log cars turned into three handsome Bald Knob all-weather units. A fourth car from this acquisition soon entered service. In the early 1970s, a pair of converted mainline cabooses, two additional flatcars (purportedly used for a period by a West Virginia rail-logger) and a former mainline gondola underwent conversion. Then came the rebuilds of ex-Meadow River Lumber Co. steel log cars: these supplanted the original excursion units. Today, except for the two former cabooses (other former mainline cars were retired), trains are comprised of old West Virginia log cars given second lives.
There are more than 70 pieces of rolling stock in the park’s collection. Departing the depot, you see the pair of passenger cars on the former depot house track and mixed lot of (occasionally) active and inactive items on the company store lead. Rounding the curve at the water tower, you catch a glimpse of several cars further up the "straight stretch." Into the yards, there are a few more on a siding (and if the Bald Knob train is not running with all of its cars, four spare excursion units). At Whittaker Station, it’s impossible to miss equipment displayed as part of the Camp No. 1 exhibit. Add two trains running no less than a total of 10 cars, but it still doesn’t quite add up. The secret lies on the Greenbrier River dead line, where 19 cars can be found. The dead line offers a mix of log cars, log car remains and – other than a few boxcars storing parts and materials – items which have no future use. This part of the old C&O passing siding was first used for storing equipment in 1976; those items shipped out, but the track invited further utilization. A key factor in the dead line’s evolvement was the Greenbrier SD’s closure. After the 11-85 flood, track beyond the upper switch was utilized. Those exploring should note that more cars can be found around the curve past the Yard Limit sign. Caution is advised when investigating the Greenbrier River dead line.
CSRR today
Excursion cars
Pertaining to several listings to follow, renumbering occurred in 1980
Closed Platform No. 1. A 40-foot steel flatcar built by the Norfolk & Western [class, date built and retirement unknown]; acquired by Elk River Coal & Lumber Co., Swandale (Clay County) from scrap dealer [Midwest Steel Corp. (Port Amherst, Kanawha County)], 195[5]; conveyed to successor W.M. Ritter Lumber Co., then to Georgia-Pacific Corp.; used until the end of Swandale rail-logging, [4]-67, then donated by G-P – shipped, 5-67; at Cass, the trucked-in log loader was set on this car – hence switched off during the 1967-68 off-season; conversion into CSRR No. 12 – the Bald Knob trainset’s "cinder car" (side railings, no roof, tool box) – was completed prior to the 1969 runs; fashioned into a "closed" unit during the 1991-92 off-season.
Bald Knob All-weather (aka "Boxcars") Nos. 2-4. (3) Additional 40-foot steel flatcars built by the N&W and last used commercially at Swandale (see above); came to Cass in the same 5-67 movement; converted specifically for service to Bald Knob – drop down windows and toilets in two of the three cars – prior to 5-68’s inaugural run to the top; originally rostered as CSRR Nos. 13-15.
Closed Platform Nos. 5-8, 11-13, 15-[16]. (9+1) Forty-foot steel log cars built by Meadow River Lumber Co., Rainelle (Greenbrier County) and placed into operation beginning in 3-36 – 30 car B-series fleet completed in 1942; in service until the mill’s closure, 12-70; 22 B-series cars were donated by MRL's successor, Georgia-Pacific, arriving in 5-72 (the other 12 follow in various listings); at least two of the B-series cars were converted for excursion service during the 1973-74 off-season [research of MRL numbers pending], followed soon thereafter by more; conversion commenced on the future No. [16] (ex MRL B-7) in 5-98 (a third ADA lift-equipped car) – but it was removed from the main shop (where work began) and stored on the company store siding prior to the 1998-99 off-season; no additional progress has been made.
End Units (aka "Cabooses") Nos. 9, 14. (2) Built by the Baltimore & Ohio as caboose units (30-foot, center cupola, wood body, steel frame) and acquired by Buffalo Creek & Gauley RR, Dundon ( Clay County ), [?]-58; donated by Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal Co. – arrived [2]-[70]; one – either a B&O Class I1 or I1A – was lettered as BC&G C-1, while the other – B&O Class I1A C-410 (built in 1922, retired at Washington, Ind. and sold to BC&G in 11-58) – was still in B&O lettering; the first of the pair [whether it was C-1 or C-410 = unknown] entered Whittaker service as CSRR No. 111 in 5-71; the Bald Knob unit, No. 119, followed in 5-72.
Open Platform No. 10. Another converted Meadow River B-series log car – entered service [5]-7[9]; holds the distinction since 5-92 of being the last of the CSRR "cinder cars" – banished from regular service in 1993 after one-too-many ridership complaint about cinder-related clothing damage; fall foliage visitorship prompted inclusion for Sunday afternoon Whittaker runs in 10-97 – this type of use also occurred in 10-00; it remains a valued unit for railfan charters and mountain biking events.
Caboose units
"Cass Caboose" (No. 50). Built by Standard Steel Car Co. ( Hammond , Ind. ) as Chesapeake & Ohio Railway K3-3 Class No. 90788, 11-24 – steel frame, wood-sheathed body, cupola. archbar trucks; last used in work train service on the Hinton Division; sold to State of W.Va. for Cass ($350 represented the scrap value), 11-66; with only repainting and lettering, placed into service for May Railfan Weekend, 5-67; drastically rebuilt for the 1971 operating season – curved end corners and center end cupola windows gone; aluminum frame windows and "knotty pine" interior installed; for years wore CSRR No. 90788, then with repainting (again bright red, but no lettering and numbering), decorated with the CSRR "pine tree medallion"; repainted and lettered for Western Maryland Ry. prior to use for Railfan Weekend, 5-97."
Meadow River Caboose" (No. 51). Built by Chesapeake & Ohio’s Huntington Shop as K3-2 Class No. 90658, 1924; steel frame, wood-sheathed body, center cupola model (archbar trucks); retired in [?]-53; acquired by Meadow River Lumber Co., Rainelle, [?]-56; on the active roster as MRL No. 3 until rail-logging’s closure by successor Georgia-Pacific Corp., 5-71; donated by G-P, arrived 5-72; first operated during railfan events in 5-73; continued to wear MRL lettering and No. 3 until [?]-8[?] – hence a bright red paint job and No. [90658], then, with another new coat, became No. 90789, then to oxide red and Western Maryland lettering (No. 1894) for the debut of Shay "Big Six," 5-81; received a comprehensive rebuilding and new coat of bright red paint in 1996; caboose numbering came as the result of an FRA directive in 2000.
Work and special-use equipment
Numbering came as the result of an FRA directive in 2000; original numbers are also listed
Skeleton Log Cars (Now No. 21 and No. 22, former Meadow River B-[10] and B-30). (2) Ex-Meadow River Lumber B-1[0] and B-30 are active in special event/charter service as part of log train renderings (usually several times each season); as shipped from Rainelle in 5-72, B-11 was one of eight such units sent to Frank for storage at the Howes Leather tannery; B-30 and 11 others came to Cass; the pair has also been utilized in equipment moves and m-of-w situations; Superintendent Billy Thomas arranged for a log load to be placed on one of these for display purposes (prior to the 2000 operating season).
American Log Loader and Skeleton Log Car (Now No. [25], former Meadow River B-11). (2) American Model C (c/n 565) built by American Hoist & Derrick Co. (St. Paul, Minn.) for Elk River Coal & Lumber Co., Swandale, [sometime between 1912 and 1916]; converted from coal-fired boiler to diesel in [?]-4[5]; later served ERC&L’s successors at Swandale – W.M. Ritter Lumber and Georgia-Pacific Corp.; G-P ended rail-logging at Swandale in [4]-67, donated by G-P along with other rolling stock – trucked from Cressmont, 5-67; placed at Cass aboard the Swandale flatcar that would become the Bald Knob train’s cinder car; then, as the result of the host car’s conversion, the loader was moved onto ex-Mower Lumber No. 110 in [5]-68; in post-shop fire cleanup service beginning in 9-72, "loaded across" several ex-Meadow River B-series car [numbers unknown] and ended up aboard B-10 in 11-72; moved onto B-11 prior to new cable installation (and painting of loader and car) during the 1996-97 off-season; used as needed in a variety of m-of-w situations; performed log-loading demonstration during May Railfan Weekend 2001.
Heavy Steel Flatcars (Nos. 23-24). (2) 40-foot, 100,000 lb. capacity steel cars [builder(s) and dates unknown]; designated "OB" and "OC" by their original owner, the U.S. Coast Guard, Sparrows Point (Baltimore); five such cars were acquired as government surplus by the RMA in 198[0]; three were sent to Cass in the large equipment movement of 10-85; used in m-of-w and as ersatz logging flats during special charter events.
Ballast Car (No. 5268). Built by the Pennsylvania R.R. as [either a 70-ton coal hopper or covered hopper], 10-58; as converted for ballast service, eventually became Conrail No. 52680, donated by Conrail to MSRLHA; trucked from Port Amherst (Kanawha Co.), 1-98, initially used for repair of the West Virginia Central (Spruce to Beaver Creek), 3-98.
Single Dome Chemical Tank Car. An 8,000 gallon model, built for Dow Chemical Company, 8-45 – [manufacturer unknown]; rostered as No. 318 (reporting marks DOWX, then WVAX); acquired with two identical units by RMA, [?]-8[0]; rostered as SBVRR "OL" (RMA 273) – used on-line for No. 2 diesel storage; came to Cass as part of the 10-85 equipment movement; reconditioned for auxiliary water service, 1997-98; taken to Spruce engine water supply use as needed during special charter excursions.
Single Dome Petroleum Tank Cars (Nos. 219-220). (2) Identical 8,000 gallon cars (K brakes, archbar trucks) built for General American Trans-portation Corp. (GATC), 12-28 – [manufacturer and service unknown]; donated by Pennzoil United, Inc. (Pennzoil, Charleston), [3]-72; active support cars for "oil-burning" Shays from 4-72 through 10-92; the envisioned reloading method – cycling off-line (reporting marks CSRX 219-220) – never transpired, instead filled with trucked-in No. 4 Diesel (later No. 2 Off-road) and rotated for fuel feed; after Shay No. 3’s last run stored on the river dead line; activating Shay No. 11 before grate conversion brought return to service – albeit stationary; pulled from the dead line in 8-99 and filled with No. 2 diesel early the next month; the cars have been inactive since the end of the 2000 season (on river dead line).
Whittaker Camp No. 1
This display, created by Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association volunteers, opened 5-93; interpretive services began 6-96.
Camp Bunk No. 419. A wood truss rod flatcar built by Middletown Car Works (Middletown, Pa.), for West Virginia Spruce Lumber Co., Cass, sometime between 1906 and 1909 – lettered for Greenbrier & Elk River R.R., car number unknown; subsequently operated as part of the West Virginia Pulp & Paper and Mower Lumber Co. log car fleet; converted by Mower into a woods camp bunk car, completed by 2-45 – rostered as No. 419; part of the company’s last active camp train (at Old Spruce when the job closed on 6-30-60); one of four "camp cars" acquired by the State from Midwest Steel Corp., 8-62; stored without service until moved to the engine ready track area for traction sand storage, 5-68 (side door was added prior to the 1970 season); retired from this function in [?]-7[7]; subsequently languished until made available to John Smith for his "Cass Camp Car Exhibit," which operated as an interpretive concession, 1989-91; designated for Whittaker Camp No. 1 in 1-92; incorporated into the Park’s "Cass Town Walk" program, 5-92; moved to the Whittaker display site, 5-93.
"Inexact Camp Unit Replica." A 40-foot wood flatcar built for WVP&PCo, Cass, by American Car & Foundry, Huntington, W.Va. sometime between 1912 and 1920 (fleet number unknown) – most "Huntingtons" were delivered with Greenbrier Cheat & Elk R.R. lettering; continued to serve the Cass mill until Mower Lumber Co.’s closure in 6-60; conveyed to the State by Midwest Raleigh Inc.; [believed to have been converted into the overflow open platform car – subsequently CSRR No. 6 – for excursion startup in 6-63 and retired after the 1974 season]; eventually stored on the river dead line until fashioned into a camp unit by interpretive concession venturist John Smith prior to the 1989 season – he copied the modified design of No. 419, including side door under assumption it was standard on Mower camp units; moved to the display site, 5-93.
Diesel Log Loader. Built by Meadow River Lumber’s Rainelle shop – completed in 5-53; a one-of-a-kind device for heel-booming "tree-length logs"; powered by a 6-cylinder Caterpillar engine; active until the end of rail-logging by MRL successor, Georgia-Pacific in 5-71; donated by G-P with other equipment – came to Cass atop log car B-2 in 5-72; now hosted by ex-MRL B-12 (see next item).
Skeleton (Bunk) Log Car. Ex-Meadow River Lumber B-12; home-built by the Rainelle shop around 1941, equipped with rare Andrews trucks (dated 1898); active until the end of West Virginia’s last rail-logging operation, 5-71; donated by Georgia-Pacific with 21 other ex-MRL B-series units – arrived, 5-72; became host car to the diesel log loader (see above) in 11-72.
Steel Flatcar. Standard 40-foot model [builder, construction date and original owner unknown]; bought second-hand [source unknown] by Cherry River Boom & Lumber Co. (Richwood, Nicholas County) for its logging fleet, [date unknown]; acquired by Elk River Coal & Lumber Co. and conveyed to its subsidiary Buffalo Creek & Gauley R.R., [2]-57 – rostered as No. 106; donated by BC&G’s successor parent, Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal Co., [2]-[70]; converted into CSRR closed platform car No. 106 for the 1972 season; retired due to frame rusting and dumped on the river dead line, [?]-8[?]; "excursion top" removed after selection for Camp No. 1, [?]-93; moved to the site in 11-93.
Four-wheel Caboose. A Baltimore & Ohio Class K-1 caboose built in Baltimore, Md. sometime between 1878 and 1900; believed to have been acquired by Elk River Coal & Lumber, Swandale, in the 1930s; also served at Swandale for W.M. Ritter Lumber Co. and Georgia-Pacific Corp.; active until considered excess by G-P and donated, arrived via tractor-trailer in [12]-64; the first "alien" piece of rolling stock to be operated – rostered as No. 8; used on railfan charter runs in 1965 and 1966, also off-line use to the Mountain State Forest Festival and Strawberry Festival during those years; the C&O caboose’s donation soon brought an end to operation; after reposing in the yard, moved to the former depot house track, [?]-85; availability brought use by Pocahontas County Tourism Bureau as its Cass information center, 1987-88; moved to the Whittaker site, 5-93; as of this publication, receiving overhaul in the new Cass restoration shop (work began during the winter of 2001-02).
High-lead Steam Skidder. Built by Meadow River Lumber’s Rainelle shop using older Lidgerwood skidder engines and winches – completed in 1945 – rostered as No. 1; mounted on a 55-foot car frame, the mast (tower, spar) fabrication (standing 96-feet from its base in operating condition) and cable capability (over 3,300 feet) made it one of the largest high-lead skidders ever used in the East; the purpose of the rebuild was related to handling tree-length logs; service ended sometime in 1966 (it was the last operating steam skidder in the East); brought to Rainelle in early 1968 and stored on a siding across the mill pond from MRL’s bandsaw plant); shipped to Cass as part of the donated equipment group in 5-72; the mast came on two B-series log cars (one of these also carried the boiler compartment's "cupola"); moved to Whittaker by Shay No. 2 and No. 5 in 11-93; the mast was brought to the site via the same power combination in [8]-94; one of only two Lidgerwoods extant domestically; renovation/site improvements were completed for the 2000 season.
Future Whittaker Camp No. 1 display item
Archbar 40-foot Wood Flatcar. Built by American Car & Foundry (Huntington, W.Va.) for the Cass rail-logging operation sometime between 1912 and 1920 – "K" brakes, drop-down brakewheels; rostered as No. 37; one of the 10 Mower Lumber log cars acquired to create the CSRR in 8-62; converted to Closed Platform No. 3, 5-63; retired after the 197[5] season and eventually relegated to the river dead line; with excursion fixtures long-removed, now stored on the company store siding awaiting full restoration; old WVaP&PCo lettering is visible.
Inactive log cars
Meadow River B-series (Bunk) Skeletons. (8) Balance of 22 such 40-foot ex-Meadow River Lumber cars outfitted with K brakes built between 1935 and 1942; donated by Georgia-Pacific and moved from Rainelle in 5-72 – 10 were stored at Howes Leather Co. in Frank (C&O MP 96+), removed to Cass prior to the C&O Greenbrier SD’s abandonment; B-14 has carried the replacement Climax boiler since 1991 – it can be found on the company store lead just up the tracks from the depot; B-2, B-5, B-8, B-18, B-21, B-25 and B-26 repose on the river dead line.
Meadow River E-series Log Cars. (2) Former Meadow River Lumber homebuilds (c. 1953) rostered as E-31 and E-32; used until the end of rail-logging, 5-71; donated by G-P and shipped with (aforementioned) B-series units to the Howes Leather tannery, 5-72 – and similarly retrieved; neither has seen service; stored on the river dead line, each loaded with three Army car bodies (a total of five "kits" and one drop end lowside).Inactive conventional freight cars
Boxcars. (7) All identical steel 40-foot XM cars built by Pullman-Standard for the U.S. Navy – out-shopped at various dates in 1942 and assigned to the St. Juliens Creek Bureau of Ordinance facility (Norfolk, Va.); 17 such cars were acquired as surplus by the RMA – three (61-358, 376, 377) were shipped directly from Norfolk to Cass in 2-79 – with the balance going to the RMA c/o SBVRR; four more came to the CSRR as part of the large equipment movement of 10-85; primarily used for parts storage; SBVRR 40, 229 and USN 61-377 are currently in the Cass yard; USN 61-352 (built 1-42), 61-376 (built 12-42) and 61-358 (built 1-42) are on the river dead line; ex-SBVRR 100 was used in support of MSRLHA’s Whittaker Camp No. 1 project (material storage), then returned to the Cass yard in [5]-[98].
Heavy Steel Flatcar. "OD" sits in the yard with a wheel lathe bed on rotting deck; similar style/background as " OB " and "OC" (see "Work & special-use equipment" on page 6).
Inactive conventional passenger cars
Dining Car/Kitchen (No. 968, "Fraunces Tavern"). Built by The Pullman Company for the Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. as part of The George Washington consist in 1925; air-conditioned in 1933; remodeled in 1952; acquired in Huntington by Jack Kane, moved to Cass via the C&ORy and installed on the depot house track for use as Shay Inn, a fast food concession, [5]-6[4] – painted dark blue with yellow top stripe, silver roof; the diner closed, 7-7[8]; donated by Odessa Kane (Jack’s widow) in [?]-8[4]; a candidate for use on Greenbrier river runs until inspection revealed structural damage from the rear receiving entrance’s installation; subsequently has served as the park superintendent’s office.
Dining Car (No. 980, "Stuart House"). Built by St. Louis Car Co. as a coach for the C&O, 1935; converted by the Richmond (Va.) Car Shop into part of a twin-unit dining car set, 1944 (table seating for 64); equipped for dual service as diner/movie car ("Chessie Theater on Rails" on The George Washington), 1947; retired in 1967 and acquired the same year by Jack Kane as an addition to his Shay Inn fast-food eatery; in a move related to the Greenbrier River excursion’s ridership projections, acquired from Odessa Kane in [?]-8[4]; renovated for excursion service in early 1985 and rostered as No. 101, then became No. 980; due to the 11-85 flood, operated for only one season; used in night photo session on mainline with "Big Six," 5-87; returned to the house track, [11]-94 – MSRLHA commenced interior renovation in 2-95 (a meeting room was proposed); used to store timbers for the Cass log car renovation between [11]-95 and 2-96.
Modified Coach (No. 960). Built by [ Pullman -Standard Car Manufacturing Co.] as a commuter unit for The Reading Company (AC Class PBr) between 1925 and ‘27 – rostered as No. [1141]; through mergers, ended up under Chessie System ownership; windows removed and back-to-back school bus seats installed for Chessie Steam Excursions (Car No. [8]); acquired by RMA in trade for an ex-Army hospital train unit and rostered as No. [82] – aka [No. 8 – " Petersburg "], 10-80; shipped to Cass [?]-82 (picked up along with SBVRR No. 81 at Durbin by the 45-ton diesel; originally rostered as CSRR No. 102; used on Greenbrier River runs during 1984 and 1985; stored on the river dead line.
Coach (No. 990). Built by [Pullman-Standard] for The Reading Company (Class PBh), 1913; following several line mergers, finally ended up owned by Chessie System; acquired by SBVRR following use on Chessie Steam Excursions and rostered as No. 81 "Moorefield," 10-80; came to Cass with the above SBVRR car; in service on Greenbrier River 1984 and 1985 runs; stored on the river dead line.
Coach (No. 10 "Romney"). Built by [Pullman-Standard] for the Central Railroad of New Jersey as a commuter unit [details unknown]; like the cars above, eventually became Chessie System property and used on steam excursions; acquired by RMA in trade for an Army hospital train unit, 10-80; swapped to CSRR for ex-Amtrak coach No. 542 and shipped as part of the 10-85 equipment movement; as the result of the 11-85 flood, never operated here – remains in SBVRR paint/lettering.
Baggage Car (No. 300, "Fredon"). Built by Bethlehem Steel for Norfolk & Western Ry. (N&W Class BEk, baggage and railway express, 60-foot), 1929 – rostered as No. 128; [service summary, retirement date unknown]; acquired by the State in [?]-73; painted blue, named Fredon and lettered for the Greenbrier R.R. in [5]-74; used on GRR excursions through 10-75 – [subsequent storage site is unknown]; shipped to the SBVRR, [?]-79; placed into m-of-w service; also used as the Romney "field office"; came here as part of 10-85’s equipment move; stored up the river.
Dead line basket cases
First Generation CSRR Excursion Cars. (3) Unrecoverable remnants of the Cass logging era’s Huntington 40-foot flatcar fleet; conveyed to the State by Midwest Raleigh Inc.; converted for excursion service and operated until gradually replaced by ex-Meadow River B-series cars (beginning in 1972); three rotted frames linger atop rusted trucks [exact CSRR numbers will likely not be resolved].Mower Lumber Flatcar No. 110. Built by American Car & Foundry, Huntington – see previous listings; in service until Mower Lumber’s closure, 6-60; one of two former Cass log cars not to undergo conversion (loaded with rail when the railroad was conveyed by Midwest Raleigh – remained that way [at least through [?]-6[7]); carried the American loader between [5]-68 and 9-72 before being set aside, then moved to the newly created river dead line, [?]-8[0]; rails for the log loader still rest atop its rotted deck.
Mower Lumber Camp [Lobby?] No. 418. A wood truss rod flatcar built by Middletown Car Works (Middletown, Pa.), for W.Va. Spruce Lumber Co., Cass, sometime between 190[6] and 1909 and rostered as Greenbrier & Elk River R.R. No. [?]; converted into a woods camp component by Mower Lumber Co. by 2-45 – became No. 418; part of MLbrCo’s last active camp train in 1960; one of four "camp cars" acquired by the State from Midwest Steel; restored (side benches and stove) for the 1966 season – rostered; the only former camp train unit to operate on charter specials (also off-line use for at least two Forest Festival and Elkins-to-Spruce specials – in 1969 and 1970); benign neglect (tarpaper roof not maintained) rendered its camp car addition beyond recovery; sat [a year or two] until full-out dismantlement [date is disputed – one source cites mid-1984, another insists 8-80]; set-out on the dead line, [?]-84; remains can be identified by "first-generation CSRR red" underframe.
Closed Platform Excursion Car No 107. Standard 40-foot steel flatcar [builder, construction date and original owner unknown]; operated as part of Cherry River Boom & Lumber Co.’s logging fleet (Richwood, Nicholas Co.); acquired by Elk River Coal & Lumber Co. (Swandale, Clay County) and passed on to subsidiary Buffalo Creek & Gauley R.R., [2]-5[8] – rostered as No. 107; donated by Clinchfield Coal Div. of Pittston Coal Co., [2]-[70]; converted prior to the 197[1] season as CSRR No. 107; operated until rusted frame forced retirement, [?]-8[9]; stored since that time.
Closed Platform Excursion Car No. 110. One of 500 50-ton flat-bottom gondolas built to USRA standards by American Car & Foundry (Hunt-ington, W.Va.) and allocated to the Hocking Valley R.R., 1919; became C&O No. 291[??] (Class GK) when HVRR was absorbed in 1936; last cars in the GK series were retired in 1951; acquired by the Buffalo Creek & Gauley [via Raleigh Junk Co., (Riverside, Kanawha Co.)], 195[2] – never relettered; used in tie-replacement and other m-of-w situations; donated by the Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal, arrived in [2]-[70]; converted for excursion use, entered service in 5-7[2]; similar retirement as previous listing; also stored with no future.
Wood Baggage/Coach (Combine). A classic 60 footer built by Harlon & Hollingsworth (a division of Bethlehem Steel), Wilmington, Del., for the Philadelphia & Reading in the [1880s]; P&RRR service history is unknown; eventually acquired by the Buffalo Creek & Gauley; last rostered as X-15 – the BC&G wreck train kitchen/dining car; donated by Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal and shipped with ex-Georgia-Pacific (Swandale) equipment, 5-67; out of neglect, this elegant car lost its roof then was partially burned by vandals; today, it barely lingers on.
End-cupola Caboose. A wood side, steel frame unit built by the Canadian National, 6-51 – rostered as No. 78783; retirement date [unknown] – eventually fell into the possession of a railfan; (stored at Cumberland), then brought to the SBVRR and acquired by the State in [?]-79; first rostered as No. 492, then SBVRR No. 201; shipped to Cass in poor condition (partially burned) as part of the 10-85 equipment move; stored since that time on the river dead line (rotting caused wood sheathing on side to fall in 1997).
Wrecking Derrick. A 75-ton Model P self-propelled unit with 6-wheel trucks built by Industrial Brownhoist (c/n 1502) for the U.S. Army Transportation Corp, [?]-53 – "Railway Crane, Wrecking" aka "Crane Locomotive"; stored at an unknown Army installation; acquired as government excess and shipped partially disassembled to Cass atop two cars, [5]-79 – picked up at Durbin by the 45-ton DES; assembled and received replacement couplers during the Summer of ’79, but plans for boiler testing, further shopping and activation were curtailed; in recent years, repair and operation has been discussed.
Ex-Army Flatcar. USA No. 507101; originally a drop-end lowside, 50,000 lb. capacity, "K" brakes [builder and date unknown]; last used on Fort Eustis’ Utility Rail System in 197[6]; acquired as government excess and rostered as SBVRR "OF" (RMA 263); shipped to Cass, 10-85; stacked with three ex-Army "car kits" acquired by Cass in 197[7].
Ex-Army Drop-end Lowside. USA No. 570102; 50,000 lb. capacity, "K" brakes; the only intact USA lowsides on the premises (formerly SBVRR "OG", RMA 264) – has same background as the above car, stored on the dead line’s upper end loaded with two car ex-Army kits (same as above) and a lowside body [brought from SBVRR in 10-85].
No longer on premises
Cars dismantled
First Generation Excursion Cars. (3) Standard 40-foot American Car & Foundry cars used in Cass logging, acquired from Midwest Steel Corp. in 8-62 (see other "Huntington car" listings); CSRR numbers unknown – replaced by ex-Meadow River Lumber B-series cars beginning in 1972, all were out of service by 5-75 and stored; the most recent to be "taken down" was No. [7] in 4-97.
Open Platform Excursion Car No. 10. Originally a 40-foot flatcar built by Middletown Car Works for Cass between 1906 and 1909; converted by Mower Lumber into Camp Bunk No. 4[20] by 2-45; conveyed to the State by Midwest Steel; to address the need for an additional excursion car, "camp top" removed and converted into an open car for the 196[5] season – rostered as No. 10; still available for service in 1974, retirement date [unknown]; after years of rotting away on the yard siding (with one truck off the end of the rail), "taken down" during the 1998-99 off-season to accommodate an FRA compliant end-of-track bumper.
Mower Lumber Flatcar No. 27. Another of the "Huntington" flatcars conveyed by Midwest Steel Corp., 8-62 – one of two never to undergo conversion, loaded with rail when the State took over and remained that way [at least through [?]-6[7]]; the first CSRR car dismantled – [?]-70.
Mower Lumber Camp Kitchen No. 417. Another Middletown flat car built between 1906 and 1909 and converted by Mower Lumber as part of its second mobile woods camp facility in early 1945; conveyed in good condition by Midwest Steel, but never operated; one report is that the car was considered CSRR No. 101 – never lettered as such; interior was repaired and painted (196[5]); remained in fair condition into the 1970s; rotted beyond repair due to neglected roof; after years on the dead line, "taken out" in [4]-97 – the set of wood bolster trucks survive.
Wrecktrain Water Car. Built as a 40-foot steel flatcar for the Baltimore & Ohio [manufacturer, date, number unknown]; after retirement from revenue service, outfitted with 2-8-0 loco tender – rostered as X-102, last used by the Gassaway wreck train (Gassaway, Braxton County), retired [?]-6[6]; donated, used for watering Shay No. 7 at the Strawberry Festival in Buckhannon then brought to Cass in 6-67; intended for long-term service in support of off-line festival runs, but inspection revealed severe rusting of the tender walls – thus the tender was removed during the 1969-70 off-season; conversion into a passenger unit was planned but the frame was discovered to be rusted-out; scrapped 1-73.
Steel Combine. Clerestory roof, closed vestibule (on passenger end) baggage/coach unit [believed to be built by the Pennsylvania R.R. – dates unknown]; later remodeled and served on the Pennsylvania & Reading Seashore Lines; acquired by Buffalo Creek & Gauley, [?]-3[?], in weekday morning and evening passenger service until 194[8]; subsequently assigned to the Dundon wreck train – rostered as X-16; operated on several charter excursions (final use in 6-63); donated by the Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal Co., arrived in [2]-[70]; scrapped in 1-73.
Steel Baggage/Express Car. Sister car to the previous listing; last rostered as BC&G X-17; scrapped 1-73.
Steel Hopper. Self-clearing, divided 55-ton hopper built by [unknown] for the Buffalo Creek & Gauley, 192[3] – rostered as No. [?]; interchange service until 194[5], then hauled "company coal" and used in m-of-w – stored at Dundon in the final years; donated in poor condition by the Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal Co. – arrived in [2]-[70]; scrapped, 1-73.
Steel Gondola. A 50-ton standard gondola built by American Car & Foundry [Huntington] and allocated by the USRA to the Hocking Valley R.R., 1919; became C&O No. 29264 (Class GK) when HVRR was absorbed in 1936; retired in 1951; acquired by Buffalo Creek & Gauley from [Midwest Steel Corp. (Riverside, Kanawha County)]; used in m-of-w service without relettering or number change; donated in badly rusted condition by the Clinchfield Coal Division of Pittston Coal Co., arrived [2]-[70]; scrapped 1-73.Cars disposed to other railroads
Steel Combine. Baggage/coach with 6-wheel trucks and clerestory roof built by American Car & Foundry ( St. Louis ) for the Cincinnati , Indianapolis & Western, [?]-16 – rostered as No. 91; upon CI&W’s merger, became B&O No. 1497 (D-C class), [?]-23; revenue service retirement date is unknown; rostered as X-4072, last used on the Gassaway (Braxton County) wreck train; acquired in 6-67 (brought back from the Strawberry Festival in Buckhannon); declared excess and reportedly conveyed via State Surplus to an Ohio model railroad group [possibly the original non-profit shelter for Hocking Valley Scenic R.R.]], [5]-72; became HVRR property (Nelsonville, Ohio), [11]-72 – rostered as No. 4072; entered service in 6-73; commonly used as "overflow" car; a comprehensive body overhaul was completed in 1995; now the "City of Athens."
Stainless Steel Coach. A 54-seat model built for the AT&SF ( Santa Fe ) [manufacturer unknown], [?]-5[?]; became Amtrak No. 542[?], 5-71; retirement date and subsequent ownership unknown; a tourist rail industry contact spawned the plan to use this car on Greenbrier River excursion run – acquired in [?]-8[4], but never shipped to Cass because of a tunnel clearance problem east of Elkins – instead, sent to the SBVRR; traded for SBVRR No. 10 ("Romney"), 10-85; leased by Potomac Eagle Excursions beginning in 9-91 – used for cold weather service (due to steam heating/cooling) through 10-97; disposition as surplus was discussed in 1998, but there has been no action; stored at Durgon (Hardy County).
Lightweight Steel Coaches. (3) Four-wheel truck, closed vestibule, clerestory roof commuter units (76 passenger) built by Standard Steel Car Car Co. for the Erie R.R., 1921; originally used in commuter service out of Jersey City, N.J.; acquired by the Norfolk & Western (Class Pp), 1942 – used as part of the consist for factory workers between Radford, Va. and the ordnance facility near Pepper; a total of six [the entire N&W class?] were bought by the Chesapeake & Ohio in 1945 – these were rostered as Nos. 543-545 [original service on the C&O unknown]; renumbered E-13 to E-15 and classified "Employees Car," 6-50 – used as part of the Huntington (W.Va.) "Shop Train" consist (an employee shuttle between the downtown depot and shop complex); retired [?]-6[?]; donated by the C&O – arrived [?]-6[2]; stored on the upper end of the Cass yard siding; sold as state property surplus to [an Ohio excursion train operator]; shipped out during the 1965 season; [current status/disposition unknown].
Miscellaneous, all-time
Equipment stored at Cass, non-CSRR
Kitchen Car. Ex-Chesapeake & Ohio No. X-999678 (X678), work train kitchen unit with sleeping quarters; donated with fire-damaged interior by Chessie System to Marlinton Railroad Depot , Inc., [?]-80 and shipped to Cass via Durbin with three other ex-Chessie items (see below), [?]-8[0]; stored since that time – rusting away on the Greenbrier dead line.
Other Marlinton Display Cars. (3) Eventually trucked to Marlinton were a boxcar, flatcar and caboose also donated by Chessie System; these arrived at Cass in [?]-8[0] and received some service in conjunction with charter photo trains at Cass.
U.S. Army Surplus Cars. (13) Upon acquiring five diesel-electrics as government surplus, and in need of storage track for 13 cars acquired in early 1974 (leased during the period 1974-75 to the Greenbrier R.R. excursion operation), DNR received permission to use the northern end of the C&O’s Cass passing siding; in their final service for the U.S. Army as 89000 series cars, all had been used by the Transportation Corps’ 714th Operating Battalion – Rail Ops on the Fort Eustis (Va.) Utility Rail System; 10 "rail car ambulance" units (89515, 89531, 89532, 89533, 89534, 894545, 89568, 895[??]) and a companion "kitchen troop hospital" (89642) – all 11 built by St. Louis Car Co. – and two standard baggage cars (89612, 89623) [builders unknown], arrived from storage at Ronceverte (Greenbrier County); all were transferred to the RMA and shipped out to the SBVRR (using Shay No. 5 to Durbin) in [?]-79 – subsequently stored on the SBVRR; various dispositions.
Off-line cars
Ex-Western Maryland Hopper Cars. (4) Chessie System provided 55-ton standard (self-clearing, divided) units ( Nos. 17941 , 17993 , 18772 and [?] – [class and construction dates pending]) to help celebrate Shay No. 6’s debut at Cass (running on the Greenbrier line) in 5-81; remained in CSRR’s possession for [unknown period]; returned as they had come – via Durbin.
Maintenance-of-way
Original gasoline-powered track vehicles and trailers
Motorcar No. 1. A standard track motorcar (section car) [builder, motor specifics and date unknown] – wood compartment, yellow with black lettering; Mower Lumber No. 1 [believed to be built for the Cass logging operation]; used by Midwest Raleigh during its scrap operation; involved in pre-CSRR track rehabilitation – remained rostered as No. 1, retired in 197[3]; frame survives in the "boneyard" above the shop complex.
International pickup truck. A 1948 model (motor specifics unknown) bought new by Mower and used conventionally by truck logging superintendent Louis Camisa; converted to rail operation (cargo compartment and turntable device) for woods section crew, [?]-5[?]; used at least sparingly by Midwest Raleigh; reportedly retired by CSRR after minimal use in 1963; wheels were traded to Graham County R.R. [Bear Creek Junction] (Robbinsville, N.C.) for Shay parts in 196[6] – a deal arranged by Shop Foreman Leonard Long; otherwise disposition is unknown.
Dodge panel truck. A 1946 model (motor specifics unknown) model bought new by Mower and believed to have been immediately outfitted with rail wheels for use by the woods foreman (Clark Phillips, then Rocky Fisher), turntable-equipped like the International; never run by CSRR; wheels also traded for parts (see previous listing) – disposition unknown. Note: prior all-time CSRR rosters have listed this vehicle as a Chevy.
Old motorcar. A [1930s-era] wood frame unit [motor specifics and date unknown] with with 20"-wheels [believed to have been built from automobile components by the Cass shop]; retirement date unknown – "dumped" between the shop and sandhouse prior to Mower’s closure.
Hand cars (Push cars). There were three ex-Mower hand cars (trailers) conveyed by Midwest Raleigh in 8-62.
Early CSRR era
" Mountain State Motorcar." A standard track motorcar (section car) [builder, motor specifics and date unknown] – metal compartment with open sides brought to Cass by Mountain State Construction Co. for track system rebuilding project, [4]-67 – reportedly acquired for this contract from Richwood [ex-Cherry River Boom & Lumber]; left behind when new track was completed, 10-67; based on Leonard Long’s direction, a conversion to 4WD was attempted in [5]-68 – also a larger riding compartment (crude plywood sides, light blue body) was fashioned (after the Bald Knob All-weather cars were finished); operation was totally unsuccessful – it incessantly jumped switches and was never used on the mountain; dumped in the boneyard, [?]-7[?]; still survives in this abandoned state.
Kalamazoo Railbus. Built by Kalamazoo Rail Equipment Co. (Kalamazoo, Mich.), 1935 – believed to originally owned by C&ORy; acquired by Meadow River Lumber in the early 1950s – rostered as DM-4, then M-4; donated by Georgia-Pacific, came atop ex-log car B-1, 5-72; "dumped" with smashed personnel compartment by the 1973-74 off-season; sent to the SBVRR with vague plans by RMA to budget rehabilitation and operation, [?]-79 – stored at Moorefield, soon dubbed the "Ruptured Rooster"; never repaired, scrapped in [?]-8[5].
Hand cars. There were [three] "hand cars" brought in by Mountain State Construction Co. for the track rebuild and left in 10-67 – all reportedly second-hand from Richwood; it is uncertain how long the ex-Mower units remained in service; one unidentified car was lost in the shop fire).
Current m-of-w equipment
Motorcars. (3) Nos. 1-3; gasoline units, plywood sides (No. 1 and No. 2 have acetylene tanks, No. 1 is tool box-equipped); No. 1 has a 6-cylinder 300 Ford engine; No. 2, a 6-cylinder 240 Ford and was built out of two hand units acquired from [Chessie System at Hagerstown]; No. 3, a 4-cylinder 140 Ford [may have been renumbered as a second No. 2 and now nicknamed "Mr. Drifter"].
Motorcar Trailers. (7) No. 1 is in use by the shop as a parts "push car"; all of the following are active in maintenance-of-way service: Nos. 2-3 (hand cars with lowside compartments for tools); generator trailer; man carrier [as of 4-00, one trailer (the shop’s loaner?) had no deck].
Ballast Tamper. Camron Railgroup Model 8VIJWI [date built and background unknown]; acquired via State Surplus from North Carolina in 10-99.
Carbodies
Ex-U.S. Army "Car Kits" and Lowside. (18) There are six cars on the upper end of the river dead line that serve as long-term hosts (three bodies each) for these flatcars which came from Ft. Eustis, Va. via declared excess in [?]-7[6]; 17 remained after some were sent to SBVRR for assembly in [?]-7]8]; US Army numbers of those remaining are unknown except the lowside – ex-USA No. 570103.
Ex-U.S. Army "Box, Knock-down." (2) These foreign-service-style goods wagons (goods vans) were assembled from car kits acquired as government surplus, [?]-7[6] – last in service at Fort Eustis; one was placed adjacent to the coal dock for sand storage, [5]-7[7]; the other (still in olive drab, numbers illegible) is now a long-time fixture of the boneyard located above the car shop.
Ghost cars
Caboose. Ex-Mower Lumber No. 12, formerly WVP&PCo No. 12; wooden caboose with center cupola [likely a 4-wheel model of Western Maryland origin, but may have been built by the Cass shop]; there were three such units in service during the period 1928-33 – a caboose numbered according to the road engine it accompanied (Nos. 12-14); last used by MLbrCo on Sunday evening "man trips" in the late 1940s then stored at Cass; slated by Midwest Raleigh, Inc. for conveyance to the state, but heavily damaged when rammed by a skidder’s spar pole when that device was shoved into the siding; thus, burned for recovery pf scrap steel – probably no later than [4]-61.
____
NOTE: Although they never rolled a wheel on the CSRR (and in fact were sans trucks), these cars became park property in 8-62:
"Wye Camp Train ." (4) These car bodies – Mower Lumber Co. Camp Bunk Nos. 409-410, Camp [Lobby] No. 411 and Camp Kitchen No. 412 (all originally Middletown flatcars for logging) – were left on the old roadbed beyond the wye tail track; lunch was served here for members of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance when they inspected the property for possible acquisition in 10-60; initial plans by the State called for conversion into a rest stop and restaurant facility at Bald Knob; by 1972, park management had determined they had deteriorated beyond salvage for historical purposes; a description of one source’s last visit to the wye collection (1990) – "a jumble of wood shapes and pieces, collapsed into the ground"; remnants were bulldozed when the wye rebuilding project commenced, 3-97.
Supply Boxcar No. 404. Originally a 40-foot Middletown flatcar converted at Cass into a two-door supply car, ca. 1920; became the last active supply car (phased out with completion of cutting on Cabin Fork, 195[8]); left by Midwest Raleigh just above Back Mountain Crossing, [4]-61; used for m-of-w material storage until 197[3]; burned by CSRR, with scrap metal taken by the company that dismantled the old shop.
"Jack’s Cabin." Camp [Bunk] No. 406 was furnished by Midwest Raleigh to Cass grocery man, Jack Kane, after gaining permission from Mower to locate a car at Old Spruce for use as a hunting/fishing retreat; moved to the site from storage at the upper switchback in [10]-60 – crew cribbed each end with ties and removed trucks; later fell into neglect and repeatedly vandalized; park management ordered it burned in 6-72.
The Deeper Picture
Locomotives
Geared Locomotive Weights
By tons, this is an expanded weight compilation first provided by Dr. George Deike for RosterVersion 2.0 – and now enlarged. Much of his data comes from Shay authority George Kadelak.The average weight in working order was most frequently cited. This figure represents a total of the following:a half-full bunker, half-full water tankwater in boiler, fire on the grates, engineer and fireman, and shovel.
"Light" = no water and no coal
General notes
1.) In terms of Shays, use of Construction Number (c/n) is retained for this release; but sticklers can argue Shop Number (s/n) is more correct. Walt Casler, leading Climax authority, set us straight years ago about s/n for all of the Corry, Pa. products. Tom Lawson notes that Casler talked him into using "s/n" for Shays several years ago, but adds that he would also be comfortable with "b/n" in light of Lima using Builder’s Number for field service reports. In Shay Repair Parts catalogs, a locomotive’s Shop Number is a noted requirement for ordering.
2.) The true essence of West Virginia logging Shays – complete with riveted coal bunker and welded water tank – was represented by the ex-Mower engines as originally used by CSRR.
3.) One big problem encountered during the past decade (great expense and inconvenience) has been asbestos abatement – replacing boiler lagging to OSHA-compliance. Boiler insulation is now calcium silicate marketed by the Johns Manville Corp. as Kay-Lo. No. 4 received this work subsequent to boiler being removed from frame in 4-92. Dates of abatement for the other locomotives will be included in a future roster release.
Shay No. 1
1.) Recent findings dispute a story thought settled more than 30 years ago though Kyle Neighbor’s research. Items for consideration follow:
• This is the formerly accepted story: Built for G.W. Huntley Lumber Co., Ronceverte (Greenbrier County), sold later in 1905 to Flint, Erving & Stoner Lumber Co., Thornwood – aka Dunlevie – (Pocahontas County), acquired by North Fork Lumber Co., Nottingham (Pocahontas County) in 1915, then later that year traded to Cass for Class B Shay No. 1. [Huntley’s location has also been cited as Neola and White Sulphur Springs.]
• Roster authority Tom Lawson got the ball rolling on the no Flint , Erving & Stoner and North Fork Lumber slants. Bill McNeel’s efforts to establish connections between c/n 1519 and the two ownerships concur that she may very well have remained in Greenbrier County until 1915.
• G.W. Huntley’s contracting relationship with St. Lawrence Boom & Lumber is the apparent root of its Ronceverte address – the Shay never operated there. In terms of piecing together Huntley’s timbering, there are few conclusions to be drawn from courthouse investigation. It acquired small, scattered white pine tracts (for example – four in 1905, between 100 and 172 acres each), sold them to StLB&LCo and performed contract timbering. Possibly, c/n 1519 is the "big Shay" cited as owned by the Iron Mountain & Greenbrier R.R. A log train ran down the line to the C&O interchange at White Sulphur Springs (10-to-15 cars daily for the Ronceverte mill) – until 1909, when StLB&LCo’s bandsaw mill on the IM&GRR opened. Huntley may have bought the Shay for eventual use around Neola, but apparently didn’t make it to the North Fork of Anthony’s Creek until 1915. (Previous to Huntley, the Neola bandsaw mill was operated by Neola Lumber Co.)
• It is not possible for the Shay to have come to North Fork from Flint , Erving & Stoner in 1915. FE&S changed its name to Thornwood Lumber Co. in 12-10, then went bankrupt – the property was bought at auction in 9-13 and subsequently run as Thorny Creek Lumber Co.
• Complicating things are two recent findings: 1.) Clyde Galford noted that Cass fireman, Jack Haley, claimed his leg was cut off by No. 1 when he worked at Dunlevie (Thornwood); 2.) there is an oral history account (from a sharp old-timer) that c/n 1519 indeed operated at North Fork Lumber and was traded for GC&E’s No. 1 – the reason NFLbrCo got rid of her had to do with light trestles located on the mainline.
• Until assured that North Fork Lumber is not involved in the story, the rest of the sketch: company was formed in 6-15 to run the mill and logging operation formerly owned by Virginia Lumber. Interchange with the C&O was at Boyer Siding (MP 92+); original operator M.P. Bock Lumber was followed by Brushy Run Lumber. Track was owned by the Pocahontas R.R. from 1901 until 1930.• A view allegedly of c/n 1519 working for FE&S (straight-stacked, steel factory cab, wearing a No. 5 front plate, but with no side ownership or number lettering) appeared in MSRLHA’s 1988 calendar. The pictured Shay is c/n 1751 – Thornwood Lumber No. 5, former FE&S No. 2.
2.) Steel cab installation date was probably by 1924. Recent confirmation of a C&O Class 150-4 steel cab structure as the basic ingredient for Shay No. 5’s upgrade may apply here (with roof similarly sliced in the middle and sundry revisions to windows, etc.).
3.) Installation of pilot snow blades came in response to Mower suffering wintertime backlash for building up from Old Spruce and rail-logging the ridges beginning in 1950. In worst conditions, No. 1 was used above Old Spruce for "busting the road open" ahead of the log train. Clark Phillips (woods foreman) always ran the "snow engine" as needed until he fell ill and left the company in 1-57.
4.) Reportedly, she was normally assigned as road engine during winter months [beginning in 11-58?].
5.) No exact date for the red and green paint job, but No. 1 is wearing the scheme (with grime) in 10-57 – the earliest known photo. Documented by a photo taken during the summer of 1954, No. 1 sported what Wally Johnson describes as
"roof and barn red.
6.) Prior to the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance visit (10-23-60), with Mower Lumber lettering blocked off in white, she was crudely dressed-up with white side trim, cab step sides, top hand railing, smokebox rim, smokebox latches, ends of pilots and poling pockets. For the 4-61 visit by Governor W.W. Barron, state delegates and senators and the media, No. 1 wore [cardboard] lettering "Midwest Raleigh R.R." For the 5-61 excursion run for C.P. Huntington Chapter (NRHS), received yellow lettering for "Cass, Greenbrier, Cheat & Bald Knob Scenic Railroad"; this was replaced by "Cass Scenic Railroad" (also yellow, but with strange curlicues on C, S and R) in 6-63.
7.) No. 1’s front plate walked-off sometime after 7-59 (last known photo with plate); outfitted with metal disk (hand-painted "1" in yellow) prior to the 5-61 NRHS excursion. A new plate ("1" in center and "Cass" and "Railroad" in the circle) was donated – Carlton McKinney, officer of NRHS’s Old Dominion Chapter, arranged for casting by a foundry in Richmond (one was also made for No. 4). The motive was to assist CSRR, plus enhance the engines for photos during Old Dominion charters. The casting patterns remain stored in McKinney ’s basement in Richmond .
8.) Lots of folks are astonished to learn how No. 1 came to be adorned in its crazy color scheme (red cab, bunker and tender and green boiler jacket and domes). In a nutshell, "times were tight" (rail-logging cutbacks coinciding with feuding among the Mowers after F. Edwin’s death), she was in need of paint but black was not on hand. The red shade has often been referred to as "Chinese." Many a 1963 Cass visitor (and many railfans since 1963 when they see a colored image of the Shay) has jumped the gun and assumed it was a scenic railroad gimmick for visitorship appeal. She was given a new coat of "Mower red and green" prior to the opening season.
9.) A printed reference to No. 1 cites pusher service in 1964. This is believed to be erroneous due to the failed ICC inspection.
10.) Had No. 7 not been acquired, it is quite possible that No. 1 would have enjoyed a much different future – operation. With No. 7 to reinforce the power pool, priorities focused funds and manpower elsewhere. When the two West Coast Shays arrived, a bleak future became bleaker.
11.) No. 1’s bell was placed on No. 5 prior to that Cass vintage gem entering service on the CSRR; it remains on that engine in 2001.
12.) Trucks received from Meadow River Lumber as part of the Heisler No. 6 deal – off MRL Shay No. 3 – were installed in [?]-6[7]. Max Robbin pointed out these made her look like she was "standing on tippy toes."
13.) Date of shipment to Baltimore , originally cited as 1-81 (Rosters 1 through 3), was queried by Grady Smith, who saw No. 1 at Elkins on his way home from Railfan Weekend in 5-81. Subsequently, a dated slide by Richard Sparks was found – the Shay and Porter 0-4-0 loaded on flatcars sit on the Cass mainline during the first week of May.
Shay No. 2
1.) It is believed the purchaser got cold feet about a superheated wood burner’s fueling needs and requested the reconfiguration to oil.
2.) On the North Vancouver wharves, shared duties with Railway Research Appliances, Ltd. No. 115, another Pacific Coast Shay (ex-Hillcrest Lbr.).
3.) Credited for negotiating sale and ownership transfer to Cass is Doug Cummings of Vancouver , B.C.
4.) Fittingly, service debut for Shays No. 2 and No. 3 occurred in conjunction to the charter event commemorating the release of Mike Koch’s book, Shay Locomotive: Titan of the Timber, May 5-7, 1972 .
5.) With the conversion to coal, No. 2 became the only Shay to ever have been wood, oil and coal-burning.
6.) The conversion for coal firing was just one task of the lengthy shopping; there were also sidesheets (inside and out), refluing, new (old-style) cast iron smokebox door, floorboards, changes to front and rear of cab – solid back ("all-weather") replaced along with coal bunker – and new bolsters for front and middle trucks installed.
7.) A new water tank (riveted) was built and installed prior to the 1992 season – also repainted during this period (old tank is at Whittaker Run).
8.) Notable service: the first CSRR power to work on the old GC&E (via the Cass Hill and Spruce) – dumping gravel to Beaver Creek in 4-98. The first Shay to the Big Cut since 1939 – 54 years.
Shay No. 3
1.) Mt. Emily ’s logging railroad was 40 miles long; the mainline’s ruling grade was 7.5%.
2.) Some of the dates found in the text are now suspect. City of Prineville R.R.’s website sketch claims donation to the Oregon Museum of Science & Technology in the late ‘50s, transferred to Oregon Historical Society in the late ‘50s. Input is sought on the exact story.
3.) Shay authority Jack Holst, of Portland , suggested – and was instrumental in working out – the lease transaction between the state and the Oregon Historical Society (OHS).
4.) The rather dramatic shop fire rescue in brief: Shay No. 4, with Park Superintendent Jim Reep at throttle, hooked to two Meadow River B-series skeleton log cars, rammed the doors and successfully coupled to the Shay. Gauges, glass, bell were melted (wood parts destroyed – obviously).
5.) Some major shopping, including [crankshafts] occurred in 198[?]; she was reflued in 1992.
6.) This was the only CSRR geared engine ever equipped with a roof-mounted radio antennae – installed by regular engineer, Red McMillion.
7.) The 20-year lease deal expired in 1-93, but shipment occurred after a spring thaw in 1994; c/n 3233 was stored serviceable after the 1992 season with plans for an "as soon as possible" return. OHS got hot about the delay and filed suit in 8-93. The state made repeated attempts to arrange shipment during the summer and fall of 1993; but the OHS failed to provide instructions until after CSRR was shut down for the season.
8.) Board attorney and railfan Martin Hanson was asked to find a new home for c/n 3233 by OHS directors. A 10-year lease by the City of Prineville R.R. began in 11-93. Besides the tardy return, the historical group got cranky about the purported condition as she arrived in Prineville. There was a claim of mechanical problems and the State was sued for repair costs. The lease stipulated a return in "working condition"; Cass felt mechanical problems encountered by COPRR amounted to normal maintenance on a 70-year-old Shay stored for months and then shipped across the country on a flatcar. A motion of dismissal for the lawsuit was eventually signed by all parties.
9.) For shipping aboard an 8-axle heavy-duty flatcar, c/n 3233 was loaded via a temporary pit dug on the old C&O main. Due to clearance restrictions, the cab was removed by the Cass crew – it was re-attached in Cumberland and placed on the flatcar which carried the tender. Shays No. 2 and 5 provided power for this movement to CSX at Spruce.
10.) City of Prineville ’s original plans were to run six excursions per year, including two fund-raisers for Oregon Historical Society. When she is not in service, c/n 3233 reposes in a modern shop. She has attended a recent Sacramento Railfest (raced ex-Graham County Shay No. 1925).
Shay No. 4
1.) Although she was owned by Birch Valley Lumber Co. until the sale to Mower Lumber, c/n 3189 was inspected and ICC-certified under the auspices of Strouds Creek & Muddlety R.R., BVLbrCo’s common-carrier subsidiary, beginning in 193[?].
2.) Sprucie Low Gap wreck victims in 2-41: Omer Fitzwater, engineer; Veon Cox, fireman; Moody McCoy, brakeman; and George Harrison, the "last male owner of the old Tioga Lumber Co.," who had gotten on just a mile prior to the wreck.
3.) A specification sheet was issued by Lima on 2-26-42 . The citing of repair at Richwood and a return to operation at Tioga stands as correct; reports about coming to Cass and being overhauled had to do with what Clyde Galford termed "not being kept up." Artie Barkley cites specific cases Galford provided in terms of jury-rigging by BVLbrCo. There was time and expense incurred prior to putting No. 4 into service.
4.) Mower shopmen rendered the red/black mix paint job on cab, bunker and tender out of the demand for using "what was on hand." This paint blend appears in photos as early as the summer of 1954.
5.) Builder’s plates walked off in the late 1950s – one (crowbar-damaged) was recovered in 1983. The number plate was still present in 6-60; for CSRR’s activation, she wore a crude "4" painted on a disk; a replacement plate with "4" circled by "Cass" and "Railroad" (see No. 1 above) came in 9-63; the accurate Lima replica plate was mounted in [6]-70 – photos document the Cass Railroad No. 4 plate still affixed in 5-70.
6.) See Shay No. 1 "Deeper Picture" notes for lettering during the period of 10-60 to 6-63.
7.) To promote the state’s pending acquisition of the railroad, No. 4 was "limbered up" – providing free demonstration runs between the depot and shop – during [September and] October 1961.
8.) Prior to scenic excursion start-up, c/n 3189 received a flue job and new boiler jacket. One account claims the work began in [10]-62 and continued during the winter.
9.) No. 4 was the first locomotive (pre-season 1964) to receive the gold, standard CSRR lettering and striping style that lasted 34 years.
10.) All five remaining Mower-era axles were replaced by GP30 (diesel-electric) axles prior to the 1966 season.
11.) For the first off-line venture – to the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins (10-65) – No. 4 powered a 5-car excursion set and C&O caboose.
12.) It would be years before the original look – riveted tender and bunker, "scars acquired from decades of timbering use" – finally faded.
13.) Between [1981 and 1993], while run by Richard Carter, No. 4 wore ornate cornered [style name needed] gold striping which framed the cab sides, bunker and tender (sides and rear).
14.) No. 4 suffered another broken axle on 10-3-85 – en route to Cass at MP 5 after Bald Knob pusher service. A spare wheel and axle set were taken to the site and installed with the help of the American loader; the ordeal concluded by 1 a.m. with the "wreck train," No. 4 and the Bald Knob train’s return to Cass. Next day, a wheel and axle set was removed from No. 7 (the set used for the rescue was not identical to No. 4’s); with No. 4’s tires installed. She was back in service after just one day of hard, intensive work.
Shay No. 5
1.) Arrived 11-08-05 ; first run on 11-11-05 (Shaffer-to-Slaymaker correspondence, extant company correspondence).
2.) No. 5 held down Cass Hill duties until Class 100-3 No. 8’s arrival in 1912, then mostly worked out of Spruce transferring log cars from pick-up spots along Shaver’s Fork until that venue was logged-out, then went over to Bergoo and worked Leatherwood Creek’s two forks; later served regularly out of Slaty Fork (she enjoyed an occasional odd call, but typically relegated to woods spurs – and Baldwin Mine runs in the 1930s). The end of the Class 150-4s (Nos. 12-13), returned her to status as the largest operational Shay.
3.) The steel cab was off of one of the scrapped C&ORy Shays – part of two carloads of parts included in the deal when Cass selected two Class 150-4s for purchase; the date of installation would be after 2-23. George Kadelak helped firm-up the theory that existed for many years by arranging for Allen County Historical Society to send cab drawings to Artie Barkley, who took measurements in 4-01.
4.) Oral history citing the Mower organization somehow misinterpreting the ICC edict and thus installing the power reverse is considered inaccurate at this time. All steam power 100-tons or larger operating over a common-carrier fell under ICC compliance.
5.) Documented service in 4-56 and [?]-[58]. The miles of almost-ridgetop track between Big Run and Cabin Fork offered added challenge to operating this size of Shay because of the soggy "piece of Canada gone astray" surface conditions in tandem with 65 lb. rail spiked directly to ties without plates and untreated ties on unballasted surface.
6.) No. 5’s use at the Cass Mill came as the result of heavy snow blocking movement of logs from the woods; as built, the boilerhouse was equipped to optionally burn coal, but Mower did away with this capability. The mission was to feed the boilerhouse enough steam to keep pipes from again bursting (previous damage under similar conditions was considerable). Thanks to Ivan Clarkson’s slides, she is documented behind the mill (black smoke rolling in one view) during the "Big Freeze" on 3-23-58 . No. 5 was operating on the mountain at least a few times during 1958, so reports of the cylinder cracking incident occurring during the Big Freeze are erroneous – the incapacitation occurred during the winter of 1958-59. Stored in the upper right corner of the shop, No. 5 sat in one spot so long that the rail sagged under her weight.
7.) Appearance has changed considerably since early CSRR years, including loss of riveted tender and bunker and removal of the power reverse (with air cylinder moved back and replaced by a tool box) [between 1977 and ‘79]); a one-piece bottom bracket was installed prior to 1987 service. Her original look (1966) included decorative coal bunker farings, unusual cab backhead/bunker skirt and high-mounted tender headlight.
8.) Builder’s plates were not affixed to the smokebox replacement made during the logging era (c. 1925?).
9.) No. 5’s front plate was removed, likely by a visitor, prior to 1958; she was in service on the CSRR for several years before an authentic Lima front number plate was acquired – first outfitted with a very una
"Cass,
Greenbrier, Cheat & Bald Knob Scenic Railroad," 1962 to 1963
Cass Scenic Railroad, 1963 to present
Cass Scenic Railroad, 1963 to present
Format basics:
1. Locomotive overview
2. Rolling stock and miscellaneous equipment overview
3. Locomotive deeper picture (all known details of secondary importance)
4. Rolling stock and miscellaneous equipment deeper picture
************************************************************************************************
Foreword
I hope that you enjoy this presentation, which is a website adaptation (plus a few additions) of the fifth in a series of annual releases published under the auspices of Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association. Some would call this an arcane pursuit, but the Cass Scenic Railroad wouldn’t be an active railroad without its locomotives and rolling stock – and each piece has a story to tell.
This year’s roster features a wealth of new and corrected information pertaining to former Meadow River Lumber Co. equipment. I am thrilled by the opportunity to present this material, which is an outcome of research for a book.
A comment made in Version 4.0 deserves to again appear – pre-ownership of the three Shays and rolling stock acquired by the State of West Virginia . I had the privilege of speaking with the "two sides" to the Midwest Raleigh and Raleigh Steel story – Bob Levine, son of "Poor Charlie" Levine, and Sam Silverstein, the former owner of Midwest Steel Corp. The two parties merged around 1959 as Midwest Raleigh, Inc. Scrap contracting for Mower Lumber Co. (as owned by Walsworth Farms) was performed under the consolidated name but, by the time the sale to the State occurred, reversion to two companies had taken place.
This project's precursor goes back to the mid-1960s. My interest in Cass stirred a fascination for specific engines and pieces of rolling stock; thus I compiled a first equipment list in 1967. Occasional updates were made during the intervening years – through a 1976 stint as CSRR train commentator. Then, I continued to pay moderate attention to developments, but made no documentation for 20 years. The roster in its current form evolved from what might best be called "protracted side investigation" while again employed at Cass during 1996 and 1997 as seasonal historian. In summary form, the material was made available to park visitors as brochures – one for engines, another for cars and other equipment.
The root of this endeavor stems from details about the equipment being non-existent – except in people’s heads. You could hunt down some information on the locomotives, but the sources were few and several rife with errors. (Last year's release of "Shay Logging Locomotives at Cass, West Virginia, 1900-60" by TLC Publishing satisfies many history-related queries regarding the geared steam acquired in 1962 to launch the scenic railroad era.) Additionally, it came to mind that the departed equipment was important to CSRR history: as time goes on, their stories shouldn’t be forgotten. Getting the basic information on paper seemed to be the appropriate response.
Thus began a cooperative venture of piecing things together. barebone sketches that required just 12 printed pages, this enlarged presentation has evolved. The most dramatic jump in page count came with last year’s release; Version 5.0 retains 26 pages. Eventually publishing a more finalized version with photos of equipment no longer on the CSRR premises is planned.
Special thanks in advance goes to those providing additional information, corrections and comments. Every "jot and tittle" is fair game. I direct special attention to bracketed material – queries that beg for resolve. In cases of conflicting information, all angles will be presented until a more firm conclusion can be reached. "The Deeper Picture" continues to serve as a repository for debate. You can contact me through MSRLHA’s mailing address or website, or write to P.O. Box 1 , Hinton , WV 25951 .
A list of contributors and sources appears at the end of this reformatted website version.
– Philip V. Bagdon, June 2002
************************************************************************************************
Locomotives
Overview
All-time total = 21
Today’s total = 17
Anticipated status for the 2002 operating season:
Active Steam = 4, Active Diesel-electric = 1
Inactive Steam = 8, Inactive Diesel-electrics = 5, Locomotives disposed = 4
All geared power listed is of three truck – "Class C" – design.
Shays were built by Lima Locomotive Works, Inc. and its predecessors in Lima , Ohio .
For Shays, class designation (tons) is listed in the following profiles; weight breakdowns appear at the beginning of the Locomotive Deeper Picture section.
This compilation’s subject is the scenic railroad era. The timbering past has its own big story, but certainly there is a tie because of the living history of CSRR State Park . The Cass rail-logging era (1901-1960) involved 17 Shays – up to 12 rostered simultaneously – and a rather short-lived Climax. The first locomotive – Class 40-2 Shay, No. 1(1) – arrived and entered service in late December 1900. The most notable Cass Shay was No. 12, a Class 150-3 engine. As converted into a four-trucker, she was the largest Shay to ever operate.
Cass Scenic Railroad’s geared steam power collection represents a range of Shay locomotive weight class and period-of-construction specimens as well as places the Shay legacy into context with two other designs used in West Virginia timbering industry. Cass might be "home of the Shays," but the significance of having representative Heisler and Climax geared models can not be overemphasized.
There would be no Cass Scenic Railroad had Russell Baum, a Pennsylvania railfan, not shown up for a log train ride in late September 1960. He found the mill closed and railroad being scrapped at a rate of a mile a day. Long story short, as the foundational element of what would become the CSRR, a miraculous turn-of-events occurred and the three Mower Lumber Shays were saved from the cutting torch.
There was some true charm about Cass in its fledgling excursion train days – all original equipment, the real deal. Unexpected popularity – i.e., park visitorship demands – coincided with the availability of an elegant, operable Class 70-C Shay. Park administration had good reason to pitch for Meadow River Lumber Shay No. 7: the 1964 season was the breakthrough in terms of proven steady visitorship (the venture was not going to be a "flash-in-the-pan" after all). No. 1 was so to speak out-to-lunch. Ditto for Shay No. 5.
Thus began the slow influx of "alien motive power" – some enormously useful, others veritable semi-basket cases.In regards to acquisitions, some opportunities have been lost, and amazing opportunities have dropped from out of the blue. Reluctance to invest in the future (Cass has always been an expensive proposition for the State) thwarted exceptional offerings by two latter-day West Virginia Shay operators – Georgia-Pacific (Swandale) and Ely-Thomas Lumber (Fenwick). A weary-but-interesting Graham County R.R. three-trucker literally fell off the truck – not in an advantageous way for CSRR: the Compiler calls it the "Shay that never arrived." But some stout, quite reliable power has come the Park’s way – including a Pacific Coast Shay, the last-and-second-largest-ever Shay built and, most recently, a beefy Class 90-3. Also, there was a valuable leased engine.
Over the course of the park’s first decade, besides No. 5 entering service, four top-rate geared engines (three Shays and the Heisler) were brought to Cass and placed into operation. In terms of service on the "mountain," there was then a 19-year period when nothing new steamed – Shay No. 6 was out of the picture until the track system rebuild as far as Whittaker Station (1991). More than nine years later, the activation of Shay No. 11 occurred. The newly acquired Class 80-3 Shay may be in steam as early as the fall of 2004.
A few steam locomotives on the premises have remained dead and in need of serious repair since arriving. One of these, the Climax, is now slated for service-oriented restoration. If not for flood damage permanently curtailing Greenbrier River excursions, the 2-8-0 rod locomotive would have steamed. The biggest heartbreak has been the loss of Shay No. 7. A leased Shay and one of the CSRR originals are now only memories. There was a little rod locomotive which came and went without service. A decrepit, crashed-and-bashed Shay was acquired, stripped for parts and scrapped.
Three of eight all-time rostered "diesels" have proven any value to CSRR. When the Compiler first saw the GE 45-tonner, he threw up his hands and yelled, "Oh no! Not a diesel on the Cass Scenic Railroad!" Soon realized was a diesel-electric shifter’s value as "shop goat."
* * *
CSRR Today
Steam power – anticipated active for the 2002 operating season
Shay No. 2 (Mayo Lumber No. 4) – c/n 3320, 1928; Pacific Coast Class (PC-13).
The only Pacific Coast Shay ever built as a wood-burner and converted to "oil firing" before delivery; new from Lima to Mayo Lumber Co., Paldi (Vancouver Island) British Columbia – rostered as No. 4; to Lake Logging Co., Ltd., Cowichan Lake B.C., 2-43 – became that owner’s No. 5; to Western Forest Industries, Honeymoon Bay, 12-46 – No. 5; then to Railway Appliance Research Ltd, North Vancouver, 1-64 – No. 114; as [leased to] Vancouver Wharfs, Ltd., became one of North America’s last regularly operated commercial-use Shays – sharing waterfront service with a sister PC Shay; the duo was placed out of service in [5]-[70]; acquired in 10-70, arrived on flatcars, 3-71 and unloaded, 4-71; made operational debut, 5-72 – firing with No. 4 Diesel; normal assignment was Bald Knob road engine; re-entered service after conversion to coal-burning (diamond stack) 5-83 – other major changes also occurred prior to this roll-out; a boiler sidesheet problem – stress crack at the staybolts – found during the 2000-01 off-season resulted in a re-entry into service in 7-01; relegated to regular Bald Knob pusher engine – No. 11 took over regular Bald Knob road engine duties in 5-01; completely reflued during 5-02. (Doug Seldomridge, regular engineer)
Shay No. 5 (Mower No. 5) – c/n 1503, 1905; Class 80-3. Built for West Virginia Spruce Lumber Co.’s Greenbrier & Elk River R.R. – the oldest and longest-operating Shay here; originally assigned to the Cass Hill as road engine; various assignments while based at Spruce and on Elk River – until about 1939 came to Cass only for heavier repair; became MLbrCo No. 5, 6-42; equipped with power reverse in ICC compliance (applicable to locomotives 100 tons or over) for operation on the Western Maryland, 6-42; involved in a head-on collision with a WMRy H-8 2-8-0 at Spruce, 10-2-42; due to her weight, saw little work after 1953; used at the Cass Mill as a steam source during the "Big Freeze," 3-58 – and as needed for other periods when deep snow prevented logs from being shipped; this service ended in [2]-59 – when all cylinders were cracked out of negligence; set aside in the upper end of the shop; sold for scrap to Midwest Raleigh, Inc., 9-60; conveyed by Midwest Steel Corp. to the State, 8-62; what was envisioned as a $20,000 repair – "every part except trucks, cab and boiler replaced" – didn’t turn out as such; CSRR service debut was 5-5-66; shopped during [at least part of 1968 and throughout 1969]; became the regular Bald Knob helper and retained that status until No. 7’s demise, then served as regular Bald Knob road engine until No. 2 took those duties; when shopped for firebox flue sheet replacement ([10]-95), a cracked boiler throat sheet was eventually discovered; repairs included all new stay bolts, a replacement cylinder, smokebox, smokebox ring, smokebox door, exhaust gooseneck; several setbacks occurred in out-shopping (outside-contracted parts not correctly machined, the boiler welder’s retirement) occurred; a newly created water tank was borrowed for No. 11’s entry into service in 9-99; out-shopped and tested on 9-31-00, then placed into service the next day as Bald Knob pusher engine – an assignment held (as needed) throughout the operating season’s remaining weeks (sans tender letter lettering); served as the Bald Knob pusher engine during the first part of the 2001 season then, with No. 2’s post-shopping reactivation, went to standby status.
Shay No. 6, "Big Six" ( Western Maryland No. 6) – c/n 3354, 1945; Class 150-3. The last and second largest Shay ever out-shopped by Lima (ordered 5-44, completed 4-45); built for use on Western Maryland’s Chaffee Branch (Garrett County, Md.) – kept at Vindex; after Manor Mine No. 3 played out in [9]-50, stored first at Vindex then Maryland Junction before being removed to Hagerstown; subsequent to WMRy accepting the B&O Transportation Museum’s donation request, she received extensive overhaul at Hagerstown (Md.); operated in steam – trailing two cabooses – to Baltimore, 8-53; displayed in the museum’s Mount Clare roundhouse for more than 26 years, then a trade arrangement was hatched to bring her to Cass; the deal (including Cass Shay No. 1 and the ex-Army Porter 0-4-0T No. 714) was approved in 5-80; the move occurred in 8-80 (picked up at Durbin by Heisler No. 6); tested as far as the lower switchback on 4-1-81; excursion service debut was 5-17-81 on the former C&O Greenbrier Subdivision to-Durbin; clearance restrictions and weight brought sparing use on the actual CSRR (pulled a railfan charter to the lower switchback, 5-84); entered regular service on the thrice-weekly Greenbrier River excursions, 7-84; track system upgrade allowed operation to Whittaker Station beginning in 6-91; extensive shopping for boiler side sheets and other repairs commenced in 10-93, returned to service 10-96 – the regular Whittaker power since that time; rebuilding of the mountain wye (used in switchback fashion to circumvent the mainline curve) permitted use to Bald Knob – the first run to the top occurred during Railfan Weekend, 5-97; filled in to Bald Knob, 8-97; after several years of problems with a hot-running crankshaft, part was sent for turning and grinding by a Louisville (Ky.) machine shop and reinstalled prior to the 2000 season. (Gary Cassell, regular engineer)
Shay No. 11 (Feather River No. 3) – c/n 3221, 1923; Class 90-3. Built for Hutchinson Lumber Co.’s Oroville (Butte County) Calif. mill operation – rostered as No. 3 (this venture was sold and became Feather River Pine Mills, Inc., 4-27); transferred to assets of common-carrier Feather River Railway when it was established by FRPM, [?]-39; became Georgia-Pacific property when the logging job and FRRR were acquired, [?]-55 – always retaining No. 3 spot; to standby status with arrival of an EMD diesel-electric in 10-61, retired in 3-65; conveyed to Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum Association (now the San Diego Railroad Museum), 5-67; first fired up by the museum in 6-69, then used on various occasions until 1991; acquired with the assistance of a MSRLHA deposit, [5]-97; disassembled and trucked to Cass, 10-98; the original plan was a near-total renovation prior to entering service in 5-00; the boiler was hydro tested and found to be in good shape; based on 2-99’s decision to activate her for one test run to the top and possible 1999 standby use, work commenced in the upper (car) shop – the plan, a patching-up in the car shop and use of No. 5’s new water tank – began with replacement of broken stay bolts; the attention lasted only so long, until pre-season labor needs necessitated focus elsewhere, thus there was delay; work continued sporadically after the season began; the impetus for roll out was No. 4’s incapacitation (7-99); prep was targeted for completion prior by Labor Day weekend; activation was further delayed by tardy arrival of No. 2 (Off-road) Diesel; tested on the mountain with cars on 9-9-99; entered operation on the 3 p.m. Whittaker run, 9-17-99; the next day, worked as Bald Knob pusher and remained in that capacity (as needed) until the season’s finale; running gear work and a riveted water tank were completed for the 2000 season; operated as needed as Bald Knob pusher service until incurring a crankshaft problem in 8-00; besides this repair, shopping included grate and bunker conversion and frame straightening; became the Bald Knob road engine at the start of the 2001 season. (Danny Seldomridge, engineer)Inactive steam power
Inactive Steam for 2002
Shay No. [ ? ] (Agnew Lumber No. 3) – number undecided at time of printing deadline – c/n 3142, 1920; Class 80-3. Built for Eastern Railway & Lumber Co., Centralia, Wash.; conveyed to S.A. Agnew Lumber Co. at Centralia, 10-42; retired in [?]-49 – stored inside lumber company’s shop until [1963 or ‘64]; donated to Puget Sound Historical Society and shipped to Snoqualmie, Wash., 5-20-69; purchased by R. Simpson, B. Cole and C. Martin in [?]-80; conveyed to Dick Simpson and a partner [name unknown], [?]-90; inspected by CSRR in 8-01 and a letter of intent subsequently issued; acquired for $40,000 during 10-02; moved by truck to Cass – arrived 4-23-02; apparently, this engine’s boiler is in superb shape; restoration will begin in earnest after the Heisler repairs are completed – new cab, coal bunker and water tank are needed; availability for service at the very earliest is fall of 2004.
Shay No. 4 (Mower Lumber No. 4) – c/n 3189, 1922; Class 70-3. Built for the Birch Valley Lumber Co., Tioga (Nicholas County) – rostered as No. 5; involved in a notable wreck, 2-41 – hit a broken rail near Sprucie Low Gap, tumbled and inflicted four scalding fatalities; shipped by flatcar to Richwood and repaired by the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Co. shop, then returned to service and worked until the mill’s closure, 5-43; acquired by Mower Lumber Co., Cass, [?]-43 – shopped prior to service; after about 1957 worked predominantly May through October while plow-equipped Shay No. 1 served during winter months; pulled last log train on 6-30-60; sold for scrap to Midwest Raleigh Inc., 9-60; the primary power during the salvaging operation (bringing in skidders, cars and loads of rail) beginning in 9-60; conveyed by Midwest Steel Corp. to the State, 8-62; first scenic excursion road engine, 6-63; after breaking an axle in 7-63, C&O Railway’s Russell (Ky.) shop furnished a rush replacement (axle built for a GM EMD GP30 diesel-electric); powered the first off-line excursion (to the Mountain State Forest Festival, Elkins), 10-64; received particular attention prior to the 1965 season; road engine for the Bald Knob Inaugural, 5-68; extensive shopping began [9]-90, completed in 5-93; in recent years has mostly served as the Bald Knob "pusher"; placed out of service upon discovery of a hole in the crown sheet, 7-99; original plans to expedite the repair and get her back on the road in August failed to transpire; repair began in 10-00, but was halted when the 2000 season ended; additional attention was given to the project during the 2001 operating season; this work resumed in 5-02 (after shop space became available); completion is expected in 10-02. (Bob Long, regular engineer)
Heisler No. 6 ( Meadow River Lumber No. 6) – c/n 1591, 1929; Class 90-3. Built by Heisler Locomotive Works (Erie, Pa.) for Bostonia Coal and Clay Products, New Bethlehem, Pa., rostered as No. 20; acquired by Meadow River Lumber Co., Rainelle (Greenbrier County) – arrived 1-29-39, first test run 4-10-39; equipped with Radley & Hunter smokestack (1939) and Worthington feedwater system (1941); mostly served as MRL’s "transfer engine" (making turns over the Nicholas, Fayette & Greenbrier to empty/load exchange points on woods mainline trackage); retired from regular service when diesel-electrics went into operation during 2-57; last geared steam locomotive used by MRL – inspections kept current despite rare use; came to Cass on her own power via the NF&G and C&ORy, 12-66; introduced into service during Bald Knob Inaugural Weekend, 5-68 (Sunday performance ahead of ex-MRL sister No. 7 as far as Back Mountain Crossing); entered regular service to Whittaker, 5-69; because of her speed in comparison to the Shays, served as power for off-line events; the Radley & Hunter was replaced with a diamond stack prior to the 1970 season; work on middle truck and other repairs occurred during 1992-93; rendered out-of-service with a boiler problem discovered in 5-95; became first subject of a DNR boiler replacement program; contract was awarded to a Sistersville (Tyler County) manufacturer, 10-97; new boiler delivered to Cass, 12-99; service seems possible as early as the fall of 2003.
Shay No. 7 (Meadow River Lumber No. 7) – c/n 3131, 1920; Class 70-3 (wood cab, straight stack). Built for The Raine Lumber Co., Honeydew (Fayette County) – rostered as No. 3; for start-up of the company’s operation at Clover Lick (Pocahontas County), relocated in 1923; sent to Duo (Greenbrier County) for Raine Lumber & Coal’s mine around 1930; sold to Meadow River Lumber Co., (Rainelle, Greenbrier County), 1944 – rostered as No. 7; equipped with steel "all-weather cab" and Radley & Hunter stack; entered service in 1947; relegated to standby status with the arrival of diesel-electric switchers, 2-57; "officially retired" in 10-64 – the last active logging Shay in West Virginia; acquired as CSRR’s first power addition; moved in steam, 12-64; entered service in 5-65; off-line power to/at the Mountain State Forest Festival (Elkins), 1965-67, and Strawberry Festival (Buckhannon), 6-67; became the regular Bald Knob power with "opening to the top," 5-68; lost Radley & Hunter to diamond stack, 4-70; sidelined with a pitted front boiler course, 11-70; repairs should have been completed for operation in 5-73, but the replacement part by a Chattanooga boiler firm did not fit (legal entanglement ensued); another unsuccessful attempt at rolling a new front boiler course (by [Trojan Steel, Charleston] failed in either 1974 or 1975; recoverable but in poor condition.
Climax No. 9 (Middle Fork No. 6) – s/n 1551, 1919; Class 70-3. Built by Climax Locomotive Works (Corry, Pa.) for the lumbering enterprise Moore-Keppel & Co., Ellamore (Randolph County); subsequent to the mill’s 1-46 closure, served as standby power for the coal-hauling Middle Fork R.R. – never relettered; the last Climax to operate commercially in the U.S., retired in [?]-[60]; already in badly rusted, ragged shape when bought by Robert L. Johnson for his proposed Whistles In The Woods Museum at Ellamore, [11]-69; sold to DNR, [10]-70 – trucked from Ellamore via lowboy; restoration for a projected 5-73 service debut was about "20% complete" when the shop fire occurred (7-72) – that devastating event led to indeffinately postponing work; the water tank built in anticipation of service was placed at Oats Run, [?]-7[1]; a replacement boiler was acquired from the Ladysmith Historical Society, Victoria, British Columbia, 9-91; interest in funding repairs was expressed by MSRLHA, 5-98; after removal of boiler, placed inside the new restoration shop in [10]-02; projected completion date is 5-07.
Shay No. 10 (Brimstone No. 36) – c/n 2804, 1916; Class 70-3. Built as a wood-burner (Radley & Hunter stack) for W.M. Carney Mill Co., Atmore, Ala., and rostered as No. 5; found to be too slow for Carney’s purposes, thus returned to Lima, 12-16; converted by the factory into a coal-burner (taper stack) and sold to W.M. Ritter Lumber Co. as its No. 1 [by 5-17]; first operated under Ritter ownership by wholly-owned subsidiary Raleigh Lumber Co. at Fitzpatrick (Raleigh County); transferred to Ritter’s job at nearby Oxley (now Beaver, Raleigh County), 19[2?]; then to Maben (Wyoming County), [?]-2[?]; hence sent to the Ritter operation at New River, (Scott County) Tenn., 10-45 – rostered as common-carrier subsidiary Brimstone R.R.’s No. 36; rail-logging and lumber transportation was waning – the Shay also pulled coal; subsequent to the mill’s [?]-4[9] closure, service was exclusively related to coal; the Brimstone was formally abandoned by Ritter successor Georgia-Pacific on 4-30-65; operation was leased by Scott Coal Co. until ICC approval of the Brimstone & New River Ry., which began in 7-65; last operated in 10-65 (condemned by ICC inspector for worn flanges); the railroad became property of Southern Railway System in 4-66 – New River Ry., this minor subsidiary, was controlled by the Southern Railway System’s CNO&TP; loaned to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (Chattanooga), [?]-67; after years of benign neglect by TVRM, loaned by SRy to Bear Creek Junction (Robbinsville, N.C.) for intended restoration and return to service, [7]-7[3]; after BCJ folded, faced scrapping at Robbinsville; acquired for $4,000 by Indiana Shay fan George Kadelak, 3-87; a lease deal with the State of W.Va. for repair and operation was arranged; trucked to Cass at Kadelak’s expense, [?]-87; for a time in 1990, there were plans for an overhaul during the 1990-91 off-season (this did not transpire); purchased by the State, 4-94; has sat in the same location on the yard dead line since 5-93; the boiler is sound, but she needs considerable, expensive work prior to service.
Baldwin 2-8-0 Rod Locomotive (Fort Eustis No. 612) – c/n 69858, 1943; 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type, 80½ tons (engine weight), 19x26 cylinders, 57" drivers – a member of the largest-ever single steam locomotive class; built by Baldwin’s Eddystone Plant (Philadelphia) for the U.S. Army Transportation Corp; originally rostered as No. 2630; although it is known that she never served overseas (like so many G.I. 2-8-0s), determining site of original operation is unlikely; assigned to the 714th Transportation Battalion (Ry Op), Fort Eustis, Va., 1952 – rostered as USA No. 612; operated to/at Hill Air Force Base (near Ogden, Utah) in conjunction with the Golden Spike Centennial at nearby Golden Spike National Historical Site (Promontory, Utah), 6-69; reported as excess to U.S. Army Mobility Command, 5-71; still in service on the Fort Eustis Utility Rail System, 2-72; declared excess, 5-72; released to General Services Administration for disposal (via U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare’s Surplus Property Utilization office), [7]-72; acquired by the State of W.Va., arrived on flatcars, 9-72; rigid wheel base with maximum curve radius of 25 degrees precluded service before RMA took over the former C&O Greenbrier S.D.; repair funds for operation were appropriated in 1985 but – as the result of flood damaged trackage which ended the run – this work never commenced.
Active diesel-electric power
GE 65-tonner No. 21 – [c/n unknown], [?]-4[3], 400-hp DES. Built by General Electric at Schenectady , N.Y. for the U.S. Navy; [service history is unknown]; acquired as surplus by RMA, [?]-78, but shipped directly from a Naval installation to the Wilmington & Western (Marshalltown, Del.); finally arrived on the SBVRR, [5]-84; sent to Cass as part of the 10-85 equipment movement; as it arrived, wore No. 34 (part of original USN seven-digit number); used as the shop goat for 10 years before a major breakdown; returned to service in 5-97; received its blue and silver paint scheme with crazy handrail striping in 8-97 (briefly creating the nickname "The Circus Engine").
Inactive diesel-electric power
Alco S4 Nos. 16-17 – c/n 81321-81322, both built in 5-55; 1000-hp, DES units by Alco/GE (assembled at Schenectady, N.Y.) as Baltimore & Ohio Nos. 469-470 – m.u.-equipped; later renumbered 9009-9010; one source claims these units (plus unrelated-to-Cass ex-B&O No. 9007), were the only Alcos ever to wear Chessie System’s paint scheme – for some unknown reason, No. 9010 was repainted back to B&O blue; acquired by RMA for use on the SBVRR for $20,000 each, 3-79; No. 9009 became No. 16 and operated in the SBVRR paint scheme, while No. 9010 became No. 17 but retained B&O scheme and lettering; upgraded by GE at the cost of $250,000 in [?]-8[?]; shipped to Cass as part of the 10-85 equipment movement; never operated – now in sustained deteriorating condition on the river dead line.
GE 45-tonner No. 20, "Little Henry" – c/n 13193, [?]-41; 300-hp side-rod DES. Built by Alco (Schenectady) for General Electric; delivered new to the U.S. Navy; service history is unknown except for last assignment – the Philadelphia Navy Yard; acquired as surplus by RMA, [7]-78 and shipped directly to Cass, 1-79; although there were plans to activate the ex-Army S-1 for off-season switching (see "Stored State-owned equipment"), this was actually the first CSRR "shop goat," as well as the first diesel-electric to be operated; burned out traction motor[s] rendered the unit out-of-service, [?]-8[8]; rehabilitation and a return to service has been discussed (off and on since 1994).
Alco/GE MRS-1 No. 26 – c/n, 31660 (GE), 80421 (Alco) 4-53; 1600-hp, 6-axle road switcher, m.u.-equipped. Built by General Electric and Alco (assembled at Schenectady, N.Y.) for U.S. Army Transportation Corp – rostered as B-2105; to U.S. Navy [date unknown] – rostered as 65-00587; to Colts Neck Naval Ammunition Depot, [date unknown] – Colts Neck No. 6; declared excess and acquired by DNR, [7]-76, brought to Cass (along with three other MRS-1s and an Alco S-1 DES), 7-76; transferred to RMA and shipped to SBVRR, [10]-78 – rostered as No. 26; spent several months at GE’s Apparatus Shop [near Pittsburgh] for upgrades, returned from GE in SBVRR’s yellow paint scheme, 4-79; massive 6-wheel trucks experienced difficulty on the light track system; returned to Cass, 10-85; served as the shop switcher during 1989-90’s off-season before rail damage forced removal from service; stored in sustained deteriorating condition on the river dead line.
Alco/GE MRS-1 No. 28 – c/n, 31664 (GE), 80425 (Alco) 4-53. Same as above except originally USA B-2109, then USN 65-00589, then Colts Neck No. 8, then SBVRR No. 28; never operated at Cass.
Disposed to other railroads and sites
Steam
Shay No. 1 (Mower Lumber No. 1) c/n 1519, 1905; Class 65-3. Built for G.W. Huntley Lumber Co., Ronceverte (Greenbrier Co.) – rostered as No. [1]; likely moved contract logs from various cuttings on Anthony’s Creek and ran over the Iron Mountain & Greenbrier to White Sulphur Springs; acquired by West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co., Cass, in 1915 – rostered as the second No. 1; served out of Spruce, camps on Cheat River and then Slaty Fork, Cheat Bridge (for Glade Run) and Beaver Creek; became Mower Lumber No. 1, 6-42; based at Cass after about 1944; pilots equipped with snowplow blades, [11]-5[0]; one of the two regular daily log train engines until the cutback to one loadout and woods crew; received notable paint job (Chinese red cab, coal bunker and tender with dark green boiler jacket and domes) sometime in 1957; came "close to blowing up" due to a watchman’s neglect while in service behind the mill as a steam source after heavy snowfall, [2]-59; sold for scrap to Midwest Raleigh, Inc., 9-60; known to have worked briefly during the scrapper’s salvaging operation (moved steel from off the mountain in 12-60); conveyed by Midwest Steel Corp., 8-62; served when needed as excursion train "pusher engine" in 6-63 and early 7-63 – otherwise displayed on weekends (on the C&O house track at Cass); filled in as road engine during No. 4’s July axle repair; may have briefly reappeared as weekend pusher, but was soon rendered out-of-service by an ICC inspector (worn flanges, 9-63); received sporadic attention in the shop – including new smokebox; at one point, there was hope to get her out for the 1967 season; moved outside to the upper shop lead track and tarped, 11-69; relegated to the yard dead line track, [5]-7[4]; after the trade deal for B&O Railroad Museum’s WMRy No. 6 was sealed, cosmetic restoration occurred (snowplow blades replaced with conventional footboards and pilot, "back in black," lettered Greenbrier, Cheat & Elk); shipped on flatcars (via Durbin), 5-81; placed into the museum’s primary display.
Shay No. 3 ( Mount Emily Lumber No. 1) – c/n 3233, 1923; Class 80-3. Built as an oil-burner for Lima’s West Coast dealer, Hofius Steel & Equipment Co. (Seattle); bought by Independence Logging Co., Independence, Wash. and rostered as No. 1, [date unknown]; acquired by Mount Emily Lumber Co., LaGrande (Union County), Ore., [?]-2[8] (retained No. 1); retired when rail-logging ceased, [?]-55; donated to Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, [?]-[60]; moved to Portland and stored in the Union Pacific roundhouse for three years, then towed (sans line shafts) to the Portland yard; cosmetically maintained by volunteers of the Pacific Northwest Chapter, National Railway Historical Society; acquired by the Oregon Historical Society, [?]-[70]; a 20-year lease agreement to operate at Cass was established in [?]-70; arrived in 1-71; entered service, 5-72 – the last locomotive overhauled in the old shop (and the second major repair in the CSRR era) before it burned; timing of a return to the shop for minor repair turned out to be a setback for further operation – when the structure caught fire, she was rather dramatically rescued but not without damage; returned to service, 5-74; primarily used as the Whittaker Station road engine; a purchase opportunity in 198[9] was missed during a period of State budget austerity; stored serviceable after the 1992 season (the lease ended on 1-1-93); returned to Oregon on flatcars via the Spruce Connection, 5-94; periodic excursion service under lease agreement with the City of Prineville R.R. (Prineville, Oregon) since [6]-9[6].
Porter 0-4-0T No. 714 (St. Elizabeth’s No. 4) – c/n 8234, 4-50; 50-ton saddletank switcher, 16x24 cylinders, 44" drivers. The last "fired" steam locomotive out-shopped by H.K. Porter Company (Pittsburgh); built for the U.S. Federal Security Agency and assigned to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C. (shifted the heating plant’s steam coal); transferred to inventory of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1958; supplanted at St. Elizabeth’s by a diesel-electric, soon thereafter transferred to the Department of Defense in [?]-66; assigned to the 714th Transportation Battalion (Ry Op), Fort Eustis , Va. , [?]-67 – [operated at least a few times]; acquired as government surplus, arrived in 10-72; never in steam before being shipped to Baltimore as part of the trade for Western Maryland Shay No. 6; cosmetically rostered and shipped with Shay No. 1, 5-81; repair and operation have been considered by the B&O Railroad Museum.
Diesel-electric
GM-EMD BL2 No. 7172 (Western Maryland No. 82) – c/n 5922, 10-48; 1500-hp diesel-electric road switcher. Built by General Motor’s Electro Motive Division – Frame Number E960-2 (LaGrange, Ill.) for the Western Maryland, rostered as No. 82 (Class DF-15); originally used in road service (m.u.-equipped); renumbered to 7182 – and eventually became Chessie System No. 7172; retired from the Hagerstown (Md.) hump in [?]-83; donated by Chessie System – picked up at Durbin by "Little Henry," 11-83; used on railfan charters along the Greenbrier during 1984; standby power for CSRR’s regularly scheduled Greenbrier River excursions, 1984-85; after MRS-1 No. 27 proved hard on track, entered service as off-season shop goat beginning in [?]-8[9] – placed out-of-service after a breakdown; shipped to SBVRR via Spruce ([5]-9[2]); ownership transferred to SBVRR in [?]-95; returned to operating condition at Moorefield and run in the yard, but never saw road or work train service; for possible use on the new West Virginia Central, shipped from Moorefield to Belington (Barbour County), 10-98; repaired and placed into weekly freight service; pulled most excursions during 1999’s first season of Belington-to-Elkins runs; she is remembered as a true rust bucket, but the unit is now quite pretty – preliminary body work, painting and accurate Western Maryland 1960s-era striping and lettering (No. 82) completed in 4-00; powered New Tygart Flyer excursions in 2000 and 2001; remains in operation.
Miscellaneous
Locomotive scrapped
Ex-Premar Coal Co. Shay – c/n 1907, 1907; Class 65-3. Built for the Lewisburg & Ronceverte R.R. (Ronceverte, Greenbrier Co.) as that road’s No. 1; after electrification sold to West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co., Cass, 1914 – rostered as No. 6 (2nd); conveyed to Mower Lumber, 6-42; with boiler sidesheets getting bad, retired and offered for sale, [?]-46; bought by Preston County Coal Co., 4-47 – originally used at Monitor No. 1 Mine, West End (Preston Co.); Preston County Coal fell under ownership of the Borgman brothers’ Premar Coal Co. – moved to Monitor No. 4, near Austen (Preston Co.), [?]-5[?]; in service until the mine’s closure, [10]-6[0]; fired up and moved outside the enginehouse once in [?]-63; severely damaged by roof collapse, [2]-6[4]; eventually offered for sale ($1,000); inspected by CSRR and Bear Creek Junction (Robbinsville, N.C.), but declined (too costly to retrieve and engine’s basic condition); briefly, plans called for her to be cut up during the summer of 1969 (with parts going to Bear Creek Junction); acquired by Parkersburg railfan, Dave Corbitt, [?]-7[4]; track was marginally rebuilt between storage site and former B&O interchange at "83 Fill" (about a mile in distance) beginning in [10]-75; by the time bad weather set in (12-75), Corbitt and volunteer crew had moved the engine to the old interchange track – jacked up with trucks removed, in anticipation of a springtime move via lowboy tractor-trailer; cosmetic restoration at the West Virginia Northern shop at Kingwood (Preston Co.) was plans; all but destroyed by a B&O train derailment, 4-76; sold to the State in [?]-78; shipped in gondolas gratis by Chessie System just prior to the Greenbrier SD’s closure, [6]-78; scrapped in [?]-80; cylinders and trucks sit atop ex-Meadow River cars B-2 and B-5 on the river dead line.Stored State-owned unitsMilitary Diesel-electrics. (4) Three Alco MRS-1 road units and an Alco S-1 DES were acquired as government surplus by DNR and brought in for storage on the Cass passing siding per C&O’s permission, 8-76; the S-1 (Alco/GE c/n 69860) was considered for shop switcher use, then the GE 45-tonner arrived; inter-agency transfer to the RMA – moved to Durbin by Shay No. 5, [10]-78; two of the three MRS-1s returned from SBVRR in 10-85 (see "Inactive diesel-electric units").
Rolling stock and other rail equipment
Overview
All-time total = 90 • Current total = 74
Excursion cars = 16+1, Caboose units = 2, Work and special-use equipment = 10, Whittaker Camp No. 1 display = 8+1
Inactive log cars = 10, Inactive conventional freight cars = 8, Inactive conventional passenger cars = 6, Dead line basket cases = 12
Dismantled or destroyed = 11, Disposed to other railroads = 5
Through 10-67, exclusive use of original equipment on regularly scheduled CSRR trains afforded a genuine connection to the railroad’s heritage – cars that once hauled logs to Cass, complete with vertical brakewheels turned by steel "hickey." Those who witnessed the era are mindful that the logging railroad’s amazing rescue had legitimate limitations: no one can bemoan more Mower cars not being saved. The first "aliens" introduced into service were true-blue West Virginia steel log cars turned into three handsome Bald Knob all-weather units. A fourth car from this acquisition soon entered service. In the early 1970s, a pair of converted mainline cabooses, two additional flatcars (purportedly used for a period by a West Virginia rail-logger) and a former mainline gondola underwent conversion. Then came the rebuilds of ex-Meadow River Lumber Co. steel log cars: these supplanted the original excursion units. Today, except for the two former cabooses (other former mainline cars were retired), trains are comprised of old West Virginia log cars given second lives.
There are more than 70 pieces of rolling stock in the park’s collection. Departing the depot, you see the pair of passenger cars on the former depot house track and mixed lot of (occasionally) active and inactive items on the company store lead. Rounding the curve at the water tower, you catch a glimpse of several cars further up the "straight stretch." Into the yards, there are a few more on a siding (and if the Bald Knob train is not running with all of its cars, four spare excursion units). At Whittaker Station, it’s impossible to miss equipment displayed as part of the Camp No. 1 exhibit. Add two trains running no less than a total of 10 cars, but it still doesn’t quite add up. The secret lies on the Greenbrier River dead line, where 19 cars can be found. The dead line offers a mix of log cars, log car remains and – other than a few boxcars storing parts and materials – items which have no future use. This part of the old C&O passing siding was first used for storing equipment in 1976; those items shipped out, but the track invited further utilization. A key factor in the dead line’s evolvement was the Greenbrier SD’s closure. After the 11-85 flood, track beyond the upper switch was utilized. Those exploring should note that more cars can be found around the curve past the Yard Limit sign. Caution is advised when investigating the Greenbrier River dead line.
CSRR today
Excursion cars
Pertaining to several listings to follow, renumbering occurred in 1980
Closed Platform No. 1. A 40-foot steel flatcar built by the Norfolk & Western [class, date built and retirement unknown]; acquired by Elk River Coal & Lumber Co., Swandale (Clay County) from scrap dealer [Midwest Steel Corp. (Port Amherst, Kanawha County)], 195[5]; conveyed to successor W.M. Ritter Lumber Co., then to Georgia-Pacific Corp.; used until the end of Swandale rail-logging, [4]-67, then donated by G-P – shipped, 5-67; at Cass, the trucked-in log loader was set on this car – hence switched off during the 1967-68 off-season; conversion into CSRR No. 12 – the Bald Knob trainset’s "cinder car" (side railings, no roof, tool box) – was completed prior to the 1969 runs; fashioned into a "closed" unit during the 1991-92 off-season.
Bald Knob All-weather (aka "Boxcars") Nos. 2-4. (3) Additional 40-foot steel flatcars built by the N&W and last used commercially at Swandale (see above); came to Cass in the same 5-67 movement; converted specifically for service to Bald Knob – drop down windows and toilets in two of the three cars – prior to 5-68’s inaugural run to the top; originally rostered as CSRR Nos. 13-15.
Closed Platform Nos. 5-8, 11-13, 15-[16]. (9+1) Forty-foot steel log cars built by Meadow River Lumber Co., Rainelle (Greenbrier County) and placed into operation beginning in 3-36 – 30 car B-series fleet completed in 1942; in service until the mill’s closure, 12-70; 22 B-series cars were donated by MRL's successor, Georgia-Pacific, arriving in 5-72 (the other 12 follow in various listings); at least two of the B-series cars were converted for excursion service during the 1973-74 off-season [research of MRL numbers pending], followed soon thereafter by more; conversion commenced on the future No. [16] (ex MRL B-7) in 5-98 (a third ADA lift-equipped car) – but it was removed from the main shop (where work began) and stored on the company store siding prior to the 1998-99 off-season; no additional progress has been made.
End Units (aka "Cabooses") Nos. 9, 14. (2) Built by the Baltimore & Ohio as caboose units (30-foot, center cupola, wood body, steel frame) and acquired by Buffalo Creek & Gauley RR, Dundon ( Clay County ), [?]-58; donated by Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal Co. – arrived [2]-[70]; one – either a B&O Class I1 or I1A – was lettered as BC&G C-1, while the other – B&O Class I1A C-410 (built in 1922, retired at Washington, Ind. and sold to BC&G in 11-58) – was still in B&O lettering; the first of the pair [whether it was C-1 or C-410 = unknown] entered Whittaker service as CSRR No. 111 in 5-71; the Bald Knob unit, No. 119, followed in 5-72.
Open Platform No. 10. Another converted Meadow River B-series log car – entered service [5]-7[9]; holds the distinction since 5-92 of being the last of the CSRR "cinder cars" – banished from regular service in 1993 after one-too-many ridership complaint about cinder-related clothing damage; fall foliage visitorship prompted inclusion for Sunday afternoon Whittaker runs in 10-97 – this type of use also occurred in 10-00; it remains a valued unit for railfan charters and mountain biking events.
Caboose units
"Cass Caboose" (No. 50). Built by Standard Steel Car Co. ( Hammond , Ind. ) as Chesapeake & Ohio Railway K3-3 Class No. 90788, 11-24 – steel frame, wood-sheathed body, cupola. archbar trucks; last used in work train service on the Hinton Division; sold to State of W.Va. for Cass ($350 represented the scrap value), 11-66; with only repainting and lettering, placed into service for May Railfan Weekend, 5-67; drastically rebuilt for the 1971 operating season – curved end corners and center end cupola windows gone; aluminum frame windows and "knotty pine" interior installed; for years wore CSRR No. 90788, then with repainting (again bright red, but no lettering and numbering), decorated with the CSRR "pine tree medallion"; repainted and lettered for Western Maryland Ry. prior to use for Railfan Weekend, 5-97."
Meadow River Caboose" (No. 51). Built by Chesapeake & Ohio’s Huntington Shop as K3-2 Class No. 90658, 1924; steel frame, wood-sheathed body, center cupola model (archbar trucks); retired in [?]-53; acquired by Meadow River Lumber Co., Rainelle, [?]-56; on the active roster as MRL No. 3 until rail-logging’s closure by successor Georgia-Pacific Corp., 5-71; donated by G-P, arrived 5-72; first operated during railfan events in 5-73; continued to wear MRL lettering and No. 3 until [?]-8[?] – hence a bright red paint job and No. [90658], then, with another new coat, became No. 90789, then to oxide red and Western Maryland lettering (No. 1894) for the debut of Shay "Big Six," 5-81; received a comprehensive rebuilding and new coat of bright red paint in 1996; caboose numbering came as the result of an FRA directive in 2000.
Work and special-use equipment
Numbering came as the result of an FRA directive in 2000; original numbers are also listed
Skeleton Log Cars (Now No. 21 and No. 22, former Meadow River B-[10] and B-30). (2) Ex-Meadow River Lumber B-1[0] and B-30 are active in special event/charter service as part of log train renderings (usually several times each season); as shipped from Rainelle in 5-72, B-11 was one of eight such units sent to Frank for storage at the Howes Leather tannery; B-30 and 11 others came to Cass; the pair has also been utilized in equipment moves and m-of-w situations; Superintendent Billy Thomas arranged for a log load to be placed on one of these for display purposes (prior to the 2000 operating season).
American Log Loader and Skeleton Log Car (Now No. [25], former Meadow River B-11). (2) American Model C (c/n 565) built by American Hoist & Derrick Co. (St. Paul, Minn.) for Elk River Coal & Lumber Co., Swandale, [sometime between 1912 and 1916]; converted from coal-fired boiler to diesel in [?]-4[5]; later served ERC&L’s successors at Swandale – W.M. Ritter Lumber and Georgia-Pacific Corp.; G-P ended rail-logging at Swandale in [4]-67, donated by G-P along with other rolling stock – trucked from Cressmont, 5-67; placed at Cass aboard the Swandale flatcar that would become the Bald Knob train’s cinder car; then, as the result of the host car’s conversion, the loader was moved onto ex-Mower Lumber No. 110 in [5]-68; in post-shop fire cleanup service beginning in 9-72, "loaded across" several ex-Meadow River B-series car [numbers unknown] and ended up aboard B-10 in 11-72; moved onto B-11 prior to new cable installation (and painting of loader and car) during the 1996-97 off-season; used as needed in a variety of m-of-w situations; performed log-loading demonstration during May Railfan Weekend 2001.
Heavy Steel Flatcars (Nos. 23-24). (2) 40-foot, 100,000 lb. capacity steel cars [builder(s) and dates unknown]; designated "OB" and "OC" by their original owner, the U.S. Coast Guard, Sparrows Point (Baltimore); five such cars were acquired as government surplus by the RMA in 198[0]; three were sent to Cass in the large equipment movement of 10-85; used in m-of-w and as ersatz logging flats during special charter events.
Ballast Car (No. 5268). Built by the Pennsylvania R.R. as [either a 70-ton coal hopper or covered hopper], 10-58; as converted for ballast service, eventually became Conrail No. 52680, donated by Conrail to MSRLHA; trucked from Port Amherst (Kanawha Co.), 1-98, initially used for repair of the West Virginia Central (Spruce to Beaver Creek), 3-98.
Single Dome Chemical Tank Car. An 8,000 gallon model, built for Dow Chemical Company, 8-45 – [manufacturer unknown]; rostered as No. 318 (reporting marks DOWX, then WVAX); acquired with two identical units by RMA, [?]-8[0]; rostered as SBVRR "OL" (RMA 273) – used on-line for No. 2 diesel storage; came to Cass as part of the 10-85 equipment movement; reconditioned for auxiliary water service, 1997-98; taken to Spruce engine water supply use as needed during special charter excursions.
Single Dome Petroleum Tank Cars (Nos. 219-220). (2) Identical 8,000 gallon cars (K brakes, archbar trucks) built for General American Trans-portation Corp. (GATC), 12-28 – [manufacturer and service unknown]; donated by Pennzoil United, Inc. (Pennzoil, Charleston), [3]-72; active support cars for "oil-burning" Shays from 4-72 through 10-92; the envisioned reloading method – cycling off-line (reporting marks CSRX 219-220) – never transpired, instead filled with trucked-in No. 4 Diesel (later No. 2 Off-road) and rotated for fuel feed; after Shay No. 3’s last run stored on the river dead line; activating Shay No. 11 before grate conversion brought return to service – albeit stationary; pulled from the dead line in 8-99 and filled with No. 2 diesel early the next month; the cars have been inactive since the end of the 2000 season (on river dead line).
Whittaker Camp No. 1
This display, created by Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association volunteers, opened 5-93; interpretive services began 6-96.
Camp Bunk No. 419. A wood truss rod flatcar built by Middletown Car Works (Middletown, Pa.), for West Virginia Spruce Lumber Co., Cass, sometime between 1906 and 1909 – lettered for Greenbrier & Elk River R.R., car number unknown; subsequently operated as part of the West Virginia Pulp & Paper and Mower Lumber Co. log car fleet; converted by Mower into a woods camp bunk car, completed by 2-45 – rostered as No. 419; part of the company’s last active camp train (at Old Spruce when the job closed on 6-30-60); one of four "camp cars" acquired by the State from Midwest Steel Corp., 8-62; stored without service until moved to the engine ready track area for traction sand storage, 5-68 (side door was added prior to the 1970 season); retired from this function in [?]-7[7]; subsequently languished until made available to John Smith for his "Cass Camp Car Exhibit," which operated as an interpretive concession, 1989-91; designated for Whittaker Camp No. 1 in 1-92; incorporated into the Park’s "Cass Town Walk" program, 5-92; moved to the Whittaker display site, 5-93.
"Inexact Camp Unit Replica." A 40-foot wood flatcar built for WVP&PCo, Cass, by American Car & Foundry, Huntington, W.Va. sometime between 1912 and 1920 (fleet number unknown) – most "Huntingtons" were delivered with Greenbrier Cheat & Elk R.R. lettering; continued to serve the Cass mill until Mower Lumber Co.’s closure in 6-60; conveyed to the State by Midwest Raleigh Inc.; [believed to have been converted into the overflow open platform car – subsequently CSRR No. 6 – for excursion startup in 6-63 and retired after the 1974 season]; eventually stored on the river dead line until fashioned into a camp unit by interpretive concession venturist John Smith prior to the 1989 season – he copied the modified design of No. 419, including side door under assumption it was standard on Mower camp units; moved to the display site, 5-93.
Diesel Log Loader. Built by Meadow River Lumber’s Rainelle shop – completed in 5-53; a one-of-a-kind device for heel-booming "tree-length logs"; powered by a 6-cylinder Caterpillar engine; active until the end of rail-logging by MRL successor, Georgia-Pacific in 5-71; donated by G-P with other equipment – came to Cass atop log car B-2 in 5-72; now hosted by ex-MRL B-12 (see next item).
Skeleton (Bunk) Log Car. Ex-Meadow River Lumber B-12; home-built by the Rainelle shop around 1941, equipped with rare Andrews trucks (dated 1898); active until the end of West Virginia’s last rail-logging operation, 5-71; donated by Georgia-Pacific with 21 other ex-MRL B-series units – arrived, 5-72; became host car to the diesel log loader (see above) in 11-72.
Steel Flatcar. Standard 40-foot model [builder, construction date and original owner unknown]; bought second-hand [source unknown] by Cherry River Boom & Lumber Co. (Richwood, Nicholas County) for its logging fleet, [date unknown]; acquired by Elk River Coal & Lumber Co. and conveyed to its subsidiary Buffalo Creek & Gauley R.R., [2]-57 – rostered as No. 106; donated by BC&G’s successor parent, Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal Co., [2]-[70]; converted into CSRR closed platform car No. 106 for the 1972 season; retired due to frame rusting and dumped on the river dead line, [?]-8[?]; "excursion top" removed after selection for Camp No. 1, [?]-93; moved to the site in 11-93.
Four-wheel Caboose. A Baltimore & Ohio Class K-1 caboose built in Baltimore, Md. sometime between 1878 and 1900; believed to have been acquired by Elk River Coal & Lumber, Swandale, in the 1930s; also served at Swandale for W.M. Ritter Lumber Co. and Georgia-Pacific Corp.; active until considered excess by G-P and donated, arrived via tractor-trailer in [12]-64; the first "alien" piece of rolling stock to be operated – rostered as No. 8; used on railfan charter runs in 1965 and 1966, also off-line use to the Mountain State Forest Festival and Strawberry Festival during those years; the C&O caboose’s donation soon brought an end to operation; after reposing in the yard, moved to the former depot house track, [?]-85; availability brought use by Pocahontas County Tourism Bureau as its Cass information center, 1987-88; moved to the Whittaker site, 5-93; as of this publication, receiving overhaul in the new Cass restoration shop (work began during the winter of 2001-02).
High-lead Steam Skidder. Built by Meadow River Lumber’s Rainelle shop using older Lidgerwood skidder engines and winches – completed in 1945 – rostered as No. 1; mounted on a 55-foot car frame, the mast (tower, spar) fabrication (standing 96-feet from its base in operating condition) and cable capability (over 3,300 feet) made it one of the largest high-lead skidders ever used in the East; the purpose of the rebuild was related to handling tree-length logs; service ended sometime in 1966 (it was the last operating steam skidder in the East); brought to Rainelle in early 1968 and stored on a siding across the mill pond from MRL’s bandsaw plant); shipped to Cass as part of the donated equipment group in 5-72; the mast came on two B-series log cars (one of these also carried the boiler compartment's "cupola"); moved to Whittaker by Shay No. 2 and No. 5 in 11-93; the mast was brought to the site via the same power combination in [8]-94; one of only two Lidgerwoods extant domestically; renovation/site improvements were completed for the 2000 season.
Future Whittaker Camp No. 1 display item
Archbar 40-foot Wood Flatcar. Built by American Car & Foundry (Huntington, W.Va.) for the Cass rail-logging operation sometime between 1912 and 1920 – "K" brakes, drop-down brakewheels; rostered as No. 37; one of the 10 Mower Lumber log cars acquired to create the CSRR in 8-62; converted to Closed Platform No. 3, 5-63; retired after the 197[5] season and eventually relegated to the river dead line; with excursion fixtures long-removed, now stored on the company store siding awaiting full restoration; old WVaP&PCo lettering is visible.
Inactive log cars
Meadow River B-series (Bunk) Skeletons. (8) Balance of 22 such 40-foot ex-Meadow River Lumber cars outfitted with K brakes built between 1935 and 1942; donated by Georgia-Pacific and moved from Rainelle in 5-72 – 10 were stored at Howes Leather Co. in Frank (C&O MP 96+), removed to Cass prior to the C&O Greenbrier SD’s abandonment; B-14 has carried the replacement Climax boiler since 1991 – it can be found on the company store lead just up the tracks from the depot; B-2, B-5, B-8, B-18, B-21, B-25 and B-26 repose on the river dead line.
Meadow River E-series Log Cars. (2) Former Meadow River Lumber homebuilds (c. 1953) rostered as E-31 and E-32; used until the end of rail-logging, 5-71; donated by G-P and shipped with (aforementioned) B-series units to the Howes Leather tannery, 5-72 – and similarly retrieved; neither has seen service; stored on the river dead line, each loaded with three Army car bodies (a total of five "kits" and one drop end lowside).Inactive conventional freight cars
Boxcars. (7) All identical steel 40-foot XM cars built by Pullman-Standard for the U.S. Navy – out-shopped at various dates in 1942 and assigned to the St. Juliens Creek Bureau of Ordinance facility (Norfolk, Va.); 17 such cars were acquired as surplus by the RMA – three (61-358, 376, 377) were shipped directly from Norfolk to Cass in 2-79 – with the balance going to the RMA c/o SBVRR; four more came to the CSRR as part of the large equipment movement of 10-85; primarily used for parts storage; SBVRR 40, 229 and USN 61-377 are currently in the Cass yard; USN 61-352 (built 1-42), 61-376 (built 12-42) and 61-358 (built 1-42) are on the river dead line; ex-SBVRR 100 was used in support of MSRLHA’s Whittaker Camp No. 1 project (material storage), then returned to the Cass yard in [5]-[98].
Heavy Steel Flatcar. "OD" sits in the yard with a wheel lathe bed on rotting deck; similar style/background as " OB " and "OC" (see "Work & special-use equipment" on page 6).
Inactive conventional passenger cars
Dining Car/Kitchen (No. 968, "Fraunces Tavern"). Built by The Pullman Company for the Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. as part of The George Washington consist in 1925; air-conditioned in 1933; remodeled in 1952; acquired in Huntington by Jack Kane, moved to Cass via the C&ORy and installed on the depot house track for use as Shay Inn, a fast food concession, [5]-6[4] – painted dark blue with yellow top stripe, silver roof; the diner closed, 7-7[8]; donated by Odessa Kane (Jack’s widow) in [?]-8[4]; a candidate for use on Greenbrier river runs until inspection revealed structural damage from the rear receiving entrance’s installation; subsequently has served as the park superintendent’s office.
Dining Car (No. 980, "Stuart House"). Built by St. Louis Car Co. as a coach for the C&O, 1935; converted by the Richmond (Va.) Car Shop into part of a twin-unit dining car set, 1944 (table seating for 64); equipped for dual service as diner/movie car ("Chessie Theater on Rails" on The George Washington), 1947; retired in 1967 and acquired the same year by Jack Kane as an addition to his Shay Inn fast-food eatery; in a move related to the Greenbrier River excursion’s ridership projections, acquired from Odessa Kane in [?]-8[4]; renovated for excursion service in early 1985 and rostered as No. 101, then became No. 980; due to the 11-85 flood, operated for only one season; used in night photo session on mainline with "Big Six," 5-87; returned to the house track, [11]-94 – MSRLHA commenced interior renovation in 2-95 (a meeting room was proposed); used to store timbers for the Cass log car renovation between [11]-95 and 2-96.
Modified Coach (No. 960). Built by [ Pullman -Standard Car Manufacturing Co.] as a commuter unit for The Reading Company (AC Class PBr) between 1925 and ‘27 – rostered as No. [1141]; through mergers, ended up under Chessie System ownership; windows removed and back-to-back school bus seats installed for Chessie Steam Excursions (Car No. [8]); acquired by RMA in trade for an ex-Army hospital train unit and rostered as No. [82] – aka [No. 8 – " Petersburg "], 10-80; shipped to Cass [?]-82 (picked up along with SBVRR No. 81 at Durbin by the 45-ton diesel; originally rostered as CSRR No. 102; used on Greenbrier River runs during 1984 and 1985; stored on the river dead line.
Coach (No. 990). Built by [Pullman-Standard] for The Reading Company (Class PBh), 1913; following several line mergers, finally ended up owned by Chessie System; acquired by SBVRR following use on Chessie Steam Excursions and rostered as No. 81 "Moorefield," 10-80; came to Cass with the above SBVRR car; in service on Greenbrier River 1984 and 1985 runs; stored on the river dead line.
Coach (No. 10 "Romney"). Built by [Pullman-Standard] for the Central Railroad of New Jersey as a commuter unit [details unknown]; like the cars above, eventually became Chessie System property and used on steam excursions; acquired by RMA in trade for an Army hospital train unit, 10-80; swapped to CSRR for ex-Amtrak coach No. 542 and shipped as part of the 10-85 equipment movement; as the result of the 11-85 flood, never operated here – remains in SBVRR paint/lettering.
Baggage Car (No. 300, "Fredon"). Built by Bethlehem Steel for Norfolk & Western Ry. (N&W Class BEk, baggage and railway express, 60-foot), 1929 – rostered as No. 128; [service summary, retirement date unknown]; acquired by the State in [?]-73; painted blue, named Fredon and lettered for the Greenbrier R.R. in [5]-74; used on GRR excursions through 10-75 – [subsequent storage site is unknown]; shipped to the SBVRR, [?]-79; placed into m-of-w service; also used as the Romney "field office"; came here as part of 10-85’s equipment move; stored up the river.
Dead line basket cases
First Generation CSRR Excursion Cars. (3) Unrecoverable remnants of the Cass logging era’s Huntington 40-foot flatcar fleet; conveyed to the State by Midwest Raleigh Inc.; converted for excursion service and operated until gradually replaced by ex-Meadow River B-series cars (beginning in 1972); three rotted frames linger atop rusted trucks [exact CSRR numbers will likely not be resolved].Mower Lumber Flatcar No. 110. Built by American Car & Foundry, Huntington – see previous listings; in service until Mower Lumber’s closure, 6-60; one of two former Cass log cars not to undergo conversion (loaded with rail when the railroad was conveyed by Midwest Raleigh – remained that way [at least through [?]-6[7]); carried the American loader between [5]-68 and 9-72 before being set aside, then moved to the newly created river dead line, [?]-8[0]; rails for the log loader still rest atop its rotted deck.
Mower Lumber Camp [Lobby?] No. 418. A wood truss rod flatcar built by Middletown Car Works (Middletown, Pa.), for W.Va. Spruce Lumber Co., Cass, sometime between 190[6] and 1909 and rostered as Greenbrier & Elk River R.R. No. [?]; converted into a woods camp component by Mower Lumber Co. by 2-45 – became No. 418; part of MLbrCo’s last active camp train in 1960; one of four "camp cars" acquired by the State from Midwest Steel; restored (side benches and stove) for the 1966 season – rostered; the only former camp train unit to operate on charter specials (also off-line use for at least two Forest Festival and Elkins-to-Spruce specials – in 1969 and 1970); benign neglect (tarpaper roof not maintained) rendered its camp car addition beyond recovery; sat [a year or two] until full-out dismantlement [date is disputed – one source cites mid-1984, another insists 8-80]; set-out on the dead line, [?]-84; remains can be identified by "first-generation CSRR red" underframe.
Closed Platform Excursion Car No 107. Standard 40-foot steel flatcar [builder, construction date and original owner unknown]; operated as part of Cherry River Boom & Lumber Co.’s logging fleet (Richwood, Nicholas Co.); acquired by Elk River Coal & Lumber Co. (Swandale, Clay County) and passed on to subsidiary Buffalo Creek & Gauley R.R., [2]-5[8] – rostered as No. 107; donated by Clinchfield Coal Div. of Pittston Coal Co., [2]-[70]; converted prior to the 197[1] season as CSRR No. 107; operated until rusted frame forced retirement, [?]-8[9]; stored since that time.
Closed Platform Excursion Car No. 110. One of 500 50-ton flat-bottom gondolas built to USRA standards by American Car & Foundry (Hunt-ington, W.Va.) and allocated to the Hocking Valley R.R., 1919; became C&O No. 291[??] (Class GK) when HVRR was absorbed in 1936; last cars in the GK series were retired in 1951; acquired by the Buffalo Creek & Gauley [via Raleigh Junk Co., (Riverside, Kanawha Co.)], 195[2] – never relettered; used in tie-replacement and other m-of-w situations; donated by the Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal, arrived in [2]-[70]; converted for excursion use, entered service in 5-7[2]; similar retirement as previous listing; also stored with no future.
Wood Baggage/Coach (Combine). A classic 60 footer built by Harlon & Hollingsworth (a division of Bethlehem Steel), Wilmington, Del., for the Philadelphia & Reading in the [1880s]; P&RRR service history is unknown; eventually acquired by the Buffalo Creek & Gauley; last rostered as X-15 – the BC&G wreck train kitchen/dining car; donated by Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal and shipped with ex-Georgia-Pacific (Swandale) equipment, 5-67; out of neglect, this elegant car lost its roof then was partially burned by vandals; today, it barely lingers on.
End-cupola Caboose. A wood side, steel frame unit built by the Canadian National, 6-51 – rostered as No. 78783; retirement date [unknown] – eventually fell into the possession of a railfan; (stored at Cumberland), then brought to the SBVRR and acquired by the State in [?]-79; first rostered as No. 492, then SBVRR No. 201; shipped to Cass in poor condition (partially burned) as part of the 10-85 equipment move; stored since that time on the river dead line (rotting caused wood sheathing on side to fall in 1997).
Wrecking Derrick. A 75-ton Model P self-propelled unit with 6-wheel trucks built by Industrial Brownhoist (c/n 1502) for the U.S. Army Transportation Corp, [?]-53 – "Railway Crane, Wrecking" aka "Crane Locomotive"; stored at an unknown Army installation; acquired as government excess and shipped partially disassembled to Cass atop two cars, [5]-79 – picked up at Durbin by the 45-ton DES; assembled and received replacement couplers during the Summer of ’79, but plans for boiler testing, further shopping and activation were curtailed; in recent years, repair and operation has been discussed.
Ex-Army Flatcar. USA No. 507101; originally a drop-end lowside, 50,000 lb. capacity, "K" brakes [builder and date unknown]; last used on Fort Eustis’ Utility Rail System in 197[6]; acquired as government excess and rostered as SBVRR "OF" (RMA 263); shipped to Cass, 10-85; stacked with three ex-Army "car kits" acquired by Cass in 197[7].
Ex-Army Drop-end Lowside. USA No. 570102; 50,000 lb. capacity, "K" brakes; the only intact USA lowsides on the premises (formerly SBVRR "OG", RMA 264) – has same background as the above car, stored on the dead line’s upper end loaded with two car ex-Army kits (same as above) and a lowside body [brought from SBVRR in 10-85].
No longer on premises
Cars dismantled
First Generation Excursion Cars. (3) Standard 40-foot American Car & Foundry cars used in Cass logging, acquired from Midwest Steel Corp. in 8-62 (see other "Huntington car" listings); CSRR numbers unknown – replaced by ex-Meadow River Lumber B-series cars beginning in 1972, all were out of service by 5-75 and stored; the most recent to be "taken down" was No. [7] in 4-97.
Open Platform Excursion Car No. 10. Originally a 40-foot flatcar built by Middletown Car Works for Cass between 1906 and 1909; converted by Mower Lumber into Camp Bunk No. 4[20] by 2-45; conveyed to the State by Midwest Steel; to address the need for an additional excursion car, "camp top" removed and converted into an open car for the 196[5] season – rostered as No. 10; still available for service in 1974, retirement date [unknown]; after years of rotting away on the yard siding (with one truck off the end of the rail), "taken down" during the 1998-99 off-season to accommodate an FRA compliant end-of-track bumper.
Mower Lumber Flatcar No. 27. Another of the "Huntington" flatcars conveyed by Midwest Steel Corp., 8-62 – one of two never to undergo conversion, loaded with rail when the State took over and remained that way [at least through [?]-6[7]]; the first CSRR car dismantled – [?]-70.
Mower Lumber Camp Kitchen No. 417. Another Middletown flat car built between 1906 and 1909 and converted by Mower Lumber as part of its second mobile woods camp facility in early 1945; conveyed in good condition by Midwest Steel, but never operated; one report is that the car was considered CSRR No. 101 – never lettered as such; interior was repaired and painted (196[5]); remained in fair condition into the 1970s; rotted beyond repair due to neglected roof; after years on the dead line, "taken out" in [4]-97 – the set of wood bolster trucks survive.
Wrecktrain Water Car. Built as a 40-foot steel flatcar for the Baltimore & Ohio [manufacturer, date, number unknown]; after retirement from revenue service, outfitted with 2-8-0 loco tender – rostered as X-102, last used by the Gassaway wreck train (Gassaway, Braxton County), retired [?]-6[6]; donated, used for watering Shay No. 7 at the Strawberry Festival in Buckhannon then brought to Cass in 6-67; intended for long-term service in support of off-line festival runs, but inspection revealed severe rusting of the tender walls – thus the tender was removed during the 1969-70 off-season; conversion into a passenger unit was planned but the frame was discovered to be rusted-out; scrapped 1-73.
Steel Combine. Clerestory roof, closed vestibule (on passenger end) baggage/coach unit [believed to be built by the Pennsylvania R.R. – dates unknown]; later remodeled and served on the Pennsylvania & Reading Seashore Lines; acquired by Buffalo Creek & Gauley, [?]-3[?], in weekday morning and evening passenger service until 194[8]; subsequently assigned to the Dundon wreck train – rostered as X-16; operated on several charter excursions (final use in 6-63); donated by the Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal Co., arrived in [2]-[70]; scrapped in 1-73.
Steel Baggage/Express Car. Sister car to the previous listing; last rostered as BC&G X-17; scrapped 1-73.
Steel Hopper. Self-clearing, divided 55-ton hopper built by [unknown] for the Buffalo Creek & Gauley, 192[3] – rostered as No. [?]; interchange service until 194[5], then hauled "company coal" and used in m-of-w – stored at Dundon in the final years; donated in poor condition by the Clinchfield Coal Co. Division of Pittston Coal Co. – arrived in [2]-[70]; scrapped, 1-73.
Steel Gondola. A 50-ton standard gondola built by American Car & Foundry [Huntington] and allocated by the USRA to the Hocking Valley R.R., 1919; became C&O No. 29264 (Class GK) when HVRR was absorbed in 1936; retired in 1951; acquired by Buffalo Creek & Gauley from [Midwest Steel Corp. (Riverside, Kanawha County)]; used in m-of-w service without relettering or number change; donated in badly rusted condition by the Clinchfield Coal Division of Pittston Coal Co., arrived [2]-[70]; scrapped 1-73.Cars disposed to other railroads
Steel Combine. Baggage/coach with 6-wheel trucks and clerestory roof built by American Car & Foundry ( St. Louis ) for the Cincinnati , Indianapolis & Western, [?]-16 – rostered as No. 91; upon CI&W’s merger, became B&O No. 1497 (D-C class), [?]-23; revenue service retirement date is unknown; rostered as X-4072, last used on the Gassaway (Braxton County) wreck train; acquired in 6-67 (brought back from the Strawberry Festival in Buckhannon); declared excess and reportedly conveyed via State Surplus to an Ohio model railroad group [possibly the original non-profit shelter for Hocking Valley Scenic R.R.]], [5]-72; became HVRR property (Nelsonville, Ohio), [11]-72 – rostered as No. 4072; entered service in 6-73; commonly used as "overflow" car; a comprehensive body overhaul was completed in 1995; now the "City of Athens."
Stainless Steel Coach. A 54-seat model built for the AT&SF ( Santa Fe ) [manufacturer unknown], [?]-5[?]; became Amtrak No. 542[?], 5-71; retirement date and subsequent ownership unknown; a tourist rail industry contact spawned the plan to use this car on Greenbrier River excursion run – acquired in [?]-8[4], but never shipped to Cass because of a tunnel clearance problem east of Elkins – instead, sent to the SBVRR; traded for SBVRR No. 10 ("Romney"), 10-85; leased by Potomac Eagle Excursions beginning in 9-91 – used for cold weather service (due to steam heating/cooling) through 10-97; disposition as surplus was discussed in 1998, but there has been no action; stored at Durgon (Hardy County).
Lightweight Steel Coaches. (3) Four-wheel truck, closed vestibule, clerestory roof commuter units (76 passenger) built by Standard Steel Car Car Co. for the Erie R.R., 1921; originally used in commuter service out of Jersey City, N.J.; acquired by the Norfolk & Western (Class Pp), 1942 – used as part of the consist for factory workers between Radford, Va. and the ordnance facility near Pepper; a total of six [the entire N&W class?] were bought by the Chesapeake & Ohio in 1945 – these were rostered as Nos. 543-545 [original service on the C&O unknown]; renumbered E-13 to E-15 and classified "Employees Car," 6-50 – used as part of the Huntington (W.Va.) "Shop Train" consist (an employee shuttle between the downtown depot and shop complex); retired [?]-6[?]; donated by the C&O – arrived [?]-6[2]; stored on the upper end of the Cass yard siding; sold as state property surplus to [an Ohio excursion train operator]; shipped out during the 1965 season; [current status/disposition unknown].
Miscellaneous, all-time
Equipment stored at Cass, non-CSRR
Kitchen Car. Ex-Chesapeake & Ohio No. X-999678 (X678), work train kitchen unit with sleeping quarters; donated with fire-damaged interior by Chessie System to Marlinton Railroad Depot , Inc., [?]-80 and shipped to Cass via Durbin with three other ex-Chessie items (see below), [?]-8[0]; stored since that time – rusting away on the Greenbrier dead line.
Other Marlinton Display Cars. (3) Eventually trucked to Marlinton were a boxcar, flatcar and caboose also donated by Chessie System; these arrived at Cass in [?]-8[0] and received some service in conjunction with charter photo trains at Cass.
U.S. Army Surplus Cars. (13) Upon acquiring five diesel-electrics as government surplus, and in need of storage track for 13 cars acquired in early 1974 (leased during the period 1974-75 to the Greenbrier R.R. excursion operation), DNR received permission to use the northern end of the C&O’s Cass passing siding; in their final service for the U.S. Army as 89000 series cars, all had been used by the Transportation Corps’ 714th Operating Battalion – Rail Ops on the Fort Eustis (Va.) Utility Rail System; 10 "rail car ambulance" units (89515, 89531, 89532, 89533, 89534, 894545, 89568, 895[??]) and a companion "kitchen troop hospital" (89642) – all 11 built by St. Louis Car Co. – and two standard baggage cars (89612, 89623) [builders unknown], arrived from storage at Ronceverte (Greenbrier County); all were transferred to the RMA and shipped out to the SBVRR (using Shay No. 5 to Durbin) in [?]-79 – subsequently stored on the SBVRR; various dispositions.
Off-line cars
Ex-Western Maryland Hopper Cars. (4) Chessie System provided 55-ton standard (self-clearing, divided) units ( Nos. 17941 , 17993 , 18772 and [?] – [class and construction dates pending]) to help celebrate Shay No. 6’s debut at Cass (running on the Greenbrier line) in 5-81; remained in CSRR’s possession for [unknown period]; returned as they had come – via Durbin.
Maintenance-of-way
Original gasoline-powered track vehicles and trailers
Motorcar No. 1. A standard track motorcar (section car) [builder, motor specifics and date unknown] – wood compartment, yellow with black lettering; Mower Lumber No. 1 [believed to be built for the Cass logging operation]; used by Midwest Raleigh during its scrap operation; involved in pre-CSRR track rehabilitation – remained rostered as No. 1, retired in 197[3]; frame survives in the "boneyard" above the shop complex.
International pickup truck. A 1948 model (motor specifics unknown) bought new by Mower and used conventionally by truck logging superintendent Louis Camisa; converted to rail operation (cargo compartment and turntable device) for woods section crew, [?]-5[?]; used at least sparingly by Midwest Raleigh; reportedly retired by CSRR after minimal use in 1963; wheels were traded to Graham County R.R. [Bear Creek Junction] (Robbinsville, N.C.) for Shay parts in 196[6] – a deal arranged by Shop Foreman Leonard Long; otherwise disposition is unknown.
Dodge panel truck. A 1946 model (motor specifics unknown) model bought new by Mower and believed to have been immediately outfitted with rail wheels for use by the woods foreman (Clark Phillips, then Rocky Fisher), turntable-equipped like the International; never run by CSRR; wheels also traded for parts (see previous listing) – disposition unknown. Note: prior all-time CSRR rosters have listed this vehicle as a Chevy.
Old motorcar. A [1930s-era] wood frame unit [motor specifics and date unknown] with with 20"-wheels [believed to have been built from automobile components by the Cass shop]; retirement date unknown – "dumped" between the shop and sandhouse prior to Mower’s closure.
Hand cars (Push cars). There were three ex-Mower hand cars (trailers) conveyed by Midwest Raleigh in 8-62.
Early CSRR era
" Mountain State Motorcar." A standard track motorcar (section car) [builder, motor specifics and date unknown] – metal compartment with open sides brought to Cass by Mountain State Construction Co. for track system rebuilding project, [4]-67 – reportedly acquired for this contract from Richwood [ex-Cherry River Boom & Lumber]; left behind when new track was completed, 10-67; based on Leonard Long’s direction, a conversion to 4WD was attempted in [5]-68 – also a larger riding compartment (crude plywood sides, light blue body) was fashioned (after the Bald Knob All-weather cars were finished); operation was totally unsuccessful – it incessantly jumped switches and was never used on the mountain; dumped in the boneyard, [?]-7[?]; still survives in this abandoned state.
Kalamazoo Railbus. Built by Kalamazoo Rail Equipment Co. (Kalamazoo, Mich.), 1935 – believed to originally owned by C&ORy; acquired by Meadow River Lumber in the early 1950s – rostered as DM-4, then M-4; donated by Georgia-Pacific, came atop ex-log car B-1, 5-72; "dumped" with smashed personnel compartment by the 1973-74 off-season; sent to the SBVRR with vague plans by RMA to budget rehabilitation and operation, [?]-79 – stored at Moorefield, soon dubbed the "Ruptured Rooster"; never repaired, scrapped in [?]-8[5].
Hand cars. There were [three] "hand cars" brought in by Mountain State Construction Co. for the track rebuild and left in 10-67 – all reportedly second-hand from Richwood; it is uncertain how long the ex-Mower units remained in service; one unidentified car was lost in the shop fire).
Current m-of-w equipment
Motorcars. (3) Nos. 1-3; gasoline units, plywood sides (No. 1 and No. 2 have acetylene tanks, No. 1 is tool box-equipped); No. 1 has a 6-cylinder 300 Ford engine; No. 2, a 6-cylinder 240 Ford and was built out of two hand units acquired from [Chessie System at Hagerstown]; No. 3, a 4-cylinder 140 Ford [may have been renumbered as a second No. 2 and now nicknamed "Mr. Drifter"].
Motorcar Trailers. (7) No. 1 is in use by the shop as a parts "push car"; all of the following are active in maintenance-of-way service: Nos. 2-3 (hand cars with lowside compartments for tools); generator trailer; man carrier [as of 4-00, one trailer (the shop’s loaner?) had no deck].
Ballast Tamper. Camron Railgroup Model 8VIJWI [date built and background unknown]; acquired via State Surplus from North Carolina in 10-99.
Carbodies
Ex-U.S. Army "Car Kits" and Lowside. (18) There are six cars on the upper end of the river dead line that serve as long-term hosts (three bodies each) for these flatcars which came from Ft. Eustis, Va. via declared excess in [?]-7[6]; 17 remained after some were sent to SBVRR for assembly in [?]-7]8]; US Army numbers of those remaining are unknown except the lowside – ex-USA No. 570103.
Ex-U.S. Army "Box, Knock-down." (2) These foreign-service-style goods wagons (goods vans) were assembled from car kits acquired as government surplus, [?]-7[6] – last in service at Fort Eustis; one was placed adjacent to the coal dock for sand storage, [5]-7[7]; the other (still in olive drab, numbers illegible) is now a long-time fixture of the boneyard located above the car shop.
Ghost cars
Caboose. Ex-Mower Lumber No. 12, formerly WVP&PCo No. 12; wooden caboose with center cupola [likely a 4-wheel model of Western Maryland origin, but may have been built by the Cass shop]; there were three such units in service during the period 1928-33 – a caboose numbered according to the road engine it accompanied (Nos. 12-14); last used by MLbrCo on Sunday evening "man trips" in the late 1940s then stored at Cass; slated by Midwest Raleigh, Inc. for conveyance to the state, but heavily damaged when rammed by a skidder’s spar pole when that device was shoved into the siding; thus, burned for recovery pf scrap steel – probably no later than [4]-61.
____
NOTE: Although they never rolled a wheel on the CSRR (and in fact were sans trucks), these cars became park property in 8-62:
"Wye Camp Train ." (4) These car bodies – Mower Lumber Co. Camp Bunk Nos. 409-410, Camp [Lobby] No. 411 and Camp Kitchen No. 412 (all originally Middletown flatcars for logging) – were left on the old roadbed beyond the wye tail track; lunch was served here for members of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance when they inspected the property for possible acquisition in 10-60; initial plans by the State called for conversion into a rest stop and restaurant facility at Bald Knob; by 1972, park management had determined they had deteriorated beyond salvage for historical purposes; a description of one source’s last visit to the wye collection (1990) – "a jumble of wood shapes and pieces, collapsed into the ground"; remnants were bulldozed when the wye rebuilding project commenced, 3-97.
Supply Boxcar No. 404. Originally a 40-foot Middletown flatcar converted at Cass into a two-door supply car, ca. 1920; became the last active supply car (phased out with completion of cutting on Cabin Fork, 195[8]); left by Midwest Raleigh just above Back Mountain Crossing, [4]-61; used for m-of-w material storage until 197[3]; burned by CSRR, with scrap metal taken by the company that dismantled the old shop.
"Jack’s Cabin." Camp [Bunk] No. 406 was furnished by Midwest Raleigh to Cass grocery man, Jack Kane, after gaining permission from Mower to locate a car at Old Spruce for use as a hunting/fishing retreat; moved to the site from storage at the upper switchback in [10]-60 – crew cribbed each end with ties and removed trucks; later fell into neglect and repeatedly vandalized; park management ordered it burned in 6-72.
The Deeper Picture
Locomotives
Geared Locomotive Weights
By tons, this is an expanded weight compilation first provided by Dr. George Deike for RosterVersion 2.0 – and now enlarged. Much of his data comes from Shay authority George Kadelak.The average weight in working order was most frequently cited. This figure represents a total of the following:a half-full bunker, half-full water tankwater in boiler, fire on the grates, engineer and fireman, and shovel.
"Light" = no water and no coal
| Cass No. | Type | c/n or s/n | Class | Light Wgt | Avg Wgt | Full Wgt |
| 1 | Shay | 1519 | 65-3 | 55 | 68 | 77 |
| 2 | Shay | 3320 | PC-13 | 77.5 | 92 | 101 |
| 3 | Shay | 3233 | 80-3 | 82 | 97 | 106.5 |
| 4 | Shay | 3189 | 70-3 | 71 | 85 | 93.5 |
| 5 | Shay | 1503 | 80-3 | 71 | 86 | 96 |
| 6 | Heisler | 3189 | 90-3 | [?] | [?] | [?] |
| 6 | Shay | 3354 | 150-3 | 135 | 162 | 179 |
| 7 | Shay | 3131 | 70-3 | 65 | 78.5 | 87 |
| 9 | Climax | 1551 | C-70 | [?] | [?] | [?] |
| 10 | Shay | 2804 | 70-3 | 62 | 76 | 85 |
| 11 | Shay | 3221 | 90-3 | 87 | 105 | 116 |
| New | Shay | 3142 | 80-3 | 81 | 97.5 | 108 |
| -------- | Shay | 1907 | 65-3 | 58 | 72.5 | 82 |
General notes
1.) In terms of Shays, use of Construction Number (c/n) is retained for this release; but sticklers can argue Shop Number (s/n) is more correct. Walt Casler, leading Climax authority, set us straight years ago about s/n for all of the Corry, Pa. products. Tom Lawson notes that Casler talked him into using "s/n" for Shays several years ago, but adds that he would also be comfortable with "b/n" in light of Lima using Builder’s Number for field service reports. In Shay Repair Parts catalogs, a locomotive’s Shop Number is a noted requirement for ordering.
2.) The true essence of West Virginia logging Shays – complete with riveted coal bunker and welded water tank – was represented by the ex-Mower engines as originally used by CSRR.
3.) One big problem encountered during the past decade (great expense and inconvenience) has been asbestos abatement – replacing boiler lagging to OSHA-compliance. Boiler insulation is now calcium silicate marketed by the Johns Manville Corp. as Kay-Lo. No. 4 received this work subsequent to boiler being removed from frame in 4-92. Dates of abatement for the other locomotives will be included in a future roster release.
Shay No. 1
1.) Recent findings dispute a story thought settled more than 30 years ago though Kyle Neighbor’s research. Items for consideration follow:
• This is the formerly accepted story: Built for G.W. Huntley Lumber Co., Ronceverte (Greenbrier County), sold later in 1905 to Flint, Erving & Stoner Lumber Co., Thornwood – aka Dunlevie – (Pocahontas County), acquired by North Fork Lumber Co., Nottingham (Pocahontas County) in 1915, then later that year traded to Cass for Class B Shay No. 1. [Huntley’s location has also been cited as Neola and White Sulphur Springs.]
• Roster authority Tom Lawson got the ball rolling on the no Flint , Erving & Stoner and North Fork Lumber slants. Bill McNeel’s efforts to establish connections between c/n 1519 and the two ownerships concur that she may very well have remained in Greenbrier County until 1915.
• G.W. Huntley’s contracting relationship with St. Lawrence Boom & Lumber is the apparent root of its Ronceverte address – the Shay never operated there. In terms of piecing together Huntley’s timbering, there are few conclusions to be drawn from courthouse investigation. It acquired small, scattered white pine tracts (for example – four in 1905, between 100 and 172 acres each), sold them to StLB&LCo and performed contract timbering. Possibly, c/n 1519 is the "big Shay" cited as owned by the Iron Mountain & Greenbrier R.R. A log train ran down the line to the C&O interchange at White Sulphur Springs (10-to-15 cars daily for the Ronceverte mill) – until 1909, when StLB&LCo’s bandsaw mill on the IM&GRR opened. Huntley may have bought the Shay for eventual use around Neola, but apparently didn’t make it to the North Fork of Anthony’s Creek until 1915. (Previous to Huntley, the Neola bandsaw mill was operated by Neola Lumber Co.)
• It is not possible for the Shay to have come to North Fork from Flint , Erving & Stoner in 1915. FE&S changed its name to Thornwood Lumber Co. in 12-10, then went bankrupt – the property was bought at auction in 9-13 and subsequently run as Thorny Creek Lumber Co.
• Complicating things are two recent findings: 1.) Clyde Galford noted that Cass fireman, Jack Haley, claimed his leg was cut off by No. 1 when he worked at Dunlevie (Thornwood); 2.) there is an oral history account (from a sharp old-timer) that c/n 1519 indeed operated at North Fork Lumber and was traded for GC&E’s No. 1 – the reason NFLbrCo got rid of her had to do with light trestles located on the mainline.
• Until assured that North Fork Lumber is not involved in the story, the rest of the sketch: company was formed in 6-15 to run the mill and logging operation formerly owned by Virginia Lumber. Interchange with the C&O was at Boyer Siding (MP 92+); original operator M.P. Bock Lumber was followed by Brushy Run Lumber. Track was owned by the Pocahontas R.R. from 1901 until 1930.• A view allegedly of c/n 1519 working for FE&S (straight-stacked, steel factory cab, wearing a No. 5 front plate, but with no side ownership or number lettering) appeared in MSRLHA’s 1988 calendar. The pictured Shay is c/n 1751 – Thornwood Lumber No. 5, former FE&S No. 2.
2.) Steel cab installation date was probably by 1924. Recent confirmation of a C&O Class 150-4 steel cab structure as the basic ingredient for Shay No. 5’s upgrade may apply here (with roof similarly sliced in the middle and sundry revisions to windows, etc.).
3.) Installation of pilot snow blades came in response to Mower suffering wintertime backlash for building up from Old Spruce and rail-logging the ridges beginning in 1950. In worst conditions, No. 1 was used above Old Spruce for "busting the road open" ahead of the log train. Clark Phillips (woods foreman) always ran the "snow engine" as needed until he fell ill and left the company in 1-57.
4.) Reportedly, she was normally assigned as road engine during winter months [beginning in 11-58?].
5.) No exact date for the red and green paint job, but No. 1 is wearing the scheme (with grime) in 10-57 – the earliest known photo. Documented by a photo taken during the summer of 1954, No. 1 sported what Wally Johnson describes as
"roof and barn red.
6.) Prior to the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance visit (10-23-60), with Mower Lumber lettering blocked off in white, she was crudely dressed-up with white side trim, cab step sides, top hand railing, smokebox rim, smokebox latches, ends of pilots and poling pockets. For the 4-61 visit by Governor W.W. Barron, state delegates and senators and the media, No. 1 wore [cardboard] lettering "Midwest Raleigh R.R." For the 5-61 excursion run for C.P. Huntington Chapter (NRHS), received yellow lettering for "Cass, Greenbrier, Cheat & Bald Knob Scenic Railroad"; this was replaced by "Cass Scenic Railroad" (also yellow, but with strange curlicues on C, S and R) in 6-63.
7.) No. 1’s front plate walked-off sometime after 7-59 (last known photo with plate); outfitted with metal disk (hand-painted "1" in yellow) prior to the 5-61 NRHS excursion. A new plate ("1" in center and "Cass" and "Railroad" in the circle) was donated – Carlton McKinney, officer of NRHS’s Old Dominion Chapter, arranged for casting by a foundry in Richmond (one was also made for No. 4). The motive was to assist CSRR, plus enhance the engines for photos during Old Dominion charters. The casting patterns remain stored in McKinney ’s basement in Richmond .
8.) Lots of folks are astonished to learn how No. 1 came to be adorned in its crazy color scheme (red cab, bunker and tender and green boiler jacket and domes). In a nutshell, "times were tight" (rail-logging cutbacks coinciding with feuding among the Mowers after F. Edwin’s death), she was in need of paint but black was not on hand. The red shade has often been referred to as "Chinese." Many a 1963 Cass visitor (and many railfans since 1963 when they see a colored image of the Shay) has jumped the gun and assumed it was a scenic railroad gimmick for visitorship appeal. She was given a new coat of "Mower red and green" prior to the opening season.
9.) A printed reference to No. 1 cites pusher service in 1964. This is believed to be erroneous due to the failed ICC inspection.
10.) Had No. 7 not been acquired, it is quite possible that No. 1 would have enjoyed a much different future – operation. With No. 7 to reinforce the power pool, priorities focused funds and manpower elsewhere. When the two West Coast Shays arrived, a bleak future became bleaker.
11.) No. 1’s bell was placed on No. 5 prior to that Cass vintage gem entering service on the CSRR; it remains on that engine in 2001.
12.) Trucks received from Meadow River Lumber as part of the Heisler No. 6 deal – off MRL Shay No. 3 – were installed in [?]-6[7]. Max Robbin pointed out these made her look like she was "standing on tippy toes."
13.) Date of shipment to Baltimore , originally cited as 1-81 (Rosters 1 through 3), was queried by Grady Smith, who saw No. 1 at Elkins on his way home from Railfan Weekend in 5-81. Subsequently, a dated slide by Richard Sparks was found – the Shay and Porter 0-4-0 loaded on flatcars sit on the Cass mainline during the first week of May.
Shay No. 2
1.) It is believed the purchaser got cold feet about a superheated wood burner’s fueling needs and requested the reconfiguration to oil.
2.) On the North Vancouver wharves, shared duties with Railway Research Appliances, Ltd. No. 115, another Pacific Coast Shay (ex-Hillcrest Lbr.).
3.) Credited for negotiating sale and ownership transfer to Cass is Doug Cummings of Vancouver , B.C.
4.) Fittingly, service debut for Shays No. 2 and No. 3 occurred in conjunction to the charter event commemorating the release of Mike Koch’s book, Shay Locomotive: Titan of the Timber, May 5-7, 1972 .
5.) With the conversion to coal, No. 2 became the only Shay to ever have been wood, oil and coal-burning.
6.) The conversion for coal firing was just one task of the lengthy shopping; there were also sidesheets (inside and out), refluing, new (old-style) cast iron smokebox door, floorboards, changes to front and rear of cab – solid back ("all-weather") replaced along with coal bunker – and new bolsters for front and middle trucks installed.
7.) A new water tank (riveted) was built and installed prior to the 1992 season – also repainted during this period (old tank is at Whittaker Run).
8.) Notable service: the first CSRR power to work on the old GC&E (via the Cass Hill and Spruce) – dumping gravel to Beaver Creek in 4-98. The first Shay to the Big Cut since 1939 – 54 years.
Shay No. 3
1.) Mt. Emily ’s logging railroad was 40 miles long; the mainline’s ruling grade was 7.5%.
2.) Some of the dates found in the text are now suspect. City of Prineville R.R.’s website sketch claims donation to the Oregon Museum of Science & Technology in the late ‘50s, transferred to Oregon Historical Society in the late ‘50s. Input is sought on the exact story.
3.) Shay authority Jack Holst, of Portland , suggested – and was instrumental in working out – the lease transaction between the state and the Oregon Historical Society (OHS).
4.) The rather dramatic shop fire rescue in brief: Shay No. 4, with Park Superintendent Jim Reep at throttle, hooked to two Meadow River B-series skeleton log cars, rammed the doors and successfully coupled to the Shay. Gauges, glass, bell were melted (wood parts destroyed – obviously).
5.) Some major shopping, including [crankshafts] occurred in 198[?]; she was reflued in 1992.
6.) This was the only CSRR geared engine ever equipped with a roof-mounted radio antennae – installed by regular engineer, Red McMillion.
7.) The 20-year lease deal expired in 1-93, but shipment occurred after a spring thaw in 1994; c/n 3233 was stored serviceable after the 1992 season with plans for an "as soon as possible" return. OHS got hot about the delay and filed suit in 8-93. The state made repeated attempts to arrange shipment during the summer and fall of 1993; but the OHS failed to provide instructions until after CSRR was shut down for the season.
8.) Board attorney and railfan Martin Hanson was asked to find a new home for c/n 3233 by OHS directors. A 10-year lease by the City of Prineville R.R. began in 11-93. Besides the tardy return, the historical group got cranky about the purported condition as she arrived in Prineville. There was a claim of mechanical problems and the State was sued for repair costs. The lease stipulated a return in "working condition"; Cass felt mechanical problems encountered by COPRR amounted to normal maintenance on a 70-year-old Shay stored for months and then shipped across the country on a flatcar. A motion of dismissal for the lawsuit was eventually signed by all parties.
9.) For shipping aboard an 8-axle heavy-duty flatcar, c/n 3233 was loaded via a temporary pit dug on the old C&O main. Due to clearance restrictions, the cab was removed by the Cass crew – it was re-attached in Cumberland and placed on the flatcar which carried the tender. Shays No. 2 and 5 provided power for this movement to CSX at Spruce.
10.) City of Prineville ’s original plans were to run six excursions per year, including two fund-raisers for Oregon Historical Society. When she is not in service, c/n 3233 reposes in a modern shop. She has attended a recent Sacramento Railfest (raced ex-Graham County Shay No. 1925).
Shay No. 4
1.) Although she was owned by Birch Valley Lumber Co. until the sale to Mower Lumber, c/n 3189 was inspected and ICC-certified under the auspices of Strouds Creek & Muddlety R.R., BVLbrCo’s common-carrier subsidiary, beginning in 193[?].
2.) Sprucie Low Gap wreck victims in 2-41: Omer Fitzwater, engineer; Veon Cox, fireman; Moody McCoy, brakeman; and George Harrison, the "last male owner of the old Tioga Lumber Co.," who had gotten on just a mile prior to the wreck.
3.) A specification sheet was issued by Lima on 2-26-42 . The citing of repair at Richwood and a return to operation at Tioga stands as correct; reports about coming to Cass and being overhauled had to do with what Clyde Galford termed "not being kept up." Artie Barkley cites specific cases Galford provided in terms of jury-rigging by BVLbrCo. There was time and expense incurred prior to putting No. 4 into service.
4.) Mower shopmen rendered the red/black mix paint job on cab, bunker and tender out of the demand for using "what was on hand." This paint blend appears in photos as early as the summer of 1954.
5.) Builder’s plates walked off in the late 1950s – one (crowbar-damaged) was recovered in 1983. The number plate was still present in 6-60; for CSRR’s activation, she wore a crude "4" painted on a disk; a replacement plate with "4" circled by "Cass" and "Railroad" (see No. 1 above) came in 9-63; the accurate Lima replica plate was mounted in [6]-70 – photos document the Cass Railroad No. 4 plate still affixed in 5-70.
6.) See Shay No. 1 "Deeper Picture" notes for lettering during the period of 10-60 to 6-63.
7.) To promote the state’s pending acquisition of the railroad, No. 4 was "limbered up" – providing free demonstration runs between the depot and shop – during [September and] October 1961.
8.) Prior to scenic excursion start-up, c/n 3189 received a flue job and new boiler jacket. One account claims the work began in [10]-62 and continued during the winter.
9.) No. 4 was the first locomotive (pre-season 1964) to receive the gold, standard CSRR lettering and striping style that lasted 34 years.
10.) All five remaining Mower-era axles were replaced by GP30 (diesel-electric) axles prior to the 1966 season.
11.) For the first off-line venture – to the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins (10-65) – No. 4 powered a 5-car excursion set and C&O caboose.
12.) It would be years before the original look – riveted tender and bunker, "scars acquired from decades of timbering use" – finally faded.
13.) Between [1981 and 1993], while run by Richard Carter, No. 4 wore ornate cornered [style name needed] gold striping which framed the cab sides, bunker and tender (sides and rear).
14.) No. 4 suffered another broken axle on 10-3-85 – en route to Cass at MP 5 after Bald Knob pusher service. A spare wheel and axle set were taken to the site and installed with the help of the American loader; the ordeal concluded by 1 a.m. with the "wreck train," No. 4 and the Bald Knob train’s return to Cass. Next day, a wheel and axle set was removed from No. 7 (the set used for the rescue was not identical to No. 4’s); with No. 4’s tires installed. She was back in service after just one day of hard, intensive work.
Shay No. 5
1.) Arrived 11-08-05 ; first run on 11-11-05 (Shaffer-to-Slaymaker correspondence, extant company correspondence).
2.) No. 5 held down Cass Hill duties until Class 100-3 No. 8’s arrival in 1912, then mostly worked out of Spruce transferring log cars from pick-up spots along Shaver’s Fork until that venue was logged-out, then went over to Bergoo and worked Leatherwood Creek’s two forks; later served regularly out of Slaty Fork (she enjoyed an occasional odd call, but typically relegated to woods spurs – and Baldwin Mine runs in the 1930s). The end of the Class 150-4s (Nos. 12-13), returned her to status as the largest operational Shay.
3.) The steel cab was off of one of the scrapped C&ORy Shays – part of two carloads of parts included in the deal when Cass selected two Class 150-4s for purchase; the date of installation would be after 2-23. George Kadelak helped firm-up the theory that existed for many years by arranging for Allen County Historical Society to send cab drawings to Artie Barkley, who took measurements in 4-01.
4.) Oral history citing the Mower organization somehow misinterpreting the ICC edict and thus installing the power reverse is considered inaccurate at this time. All steam power 100-tons or larger operating over a common-carrier fell under ICC compliance.
5.) Documented service in 4-56 and [?]-[58]. The miles of almost-ridgetop track between Big Run and Cabin Fork offered added challenge to operating this size of Shay because of the soggy "piece of Canada gone astray" surface conditions in tandem with 65 lb. rail spiked directly to ties without plates and untreated ties on unballasted surface.
6.) No. 5’s use at the Cass Mill came as the result of heavy snow blocking movement of logs from the woods; as built, the boilerhouse was equipped to optionally burn coal, but Mower did away with this capability. The mission was to feed the boilerhouse enough steam to keep pipes from again bursting (previous damage under similar conditions was considerable). Thanks to Ivan Clarkson’s slides, she is documented behind the mill (black smoke rolling in one view) during the "Big Freeze" on 3-23-58 . No. 5 was operating on the mountain at least a few times during 1958, so reports of the cylinder cracking incident occurring during the Big Freeze are erroneous – the incapacitation occurred during the winter of 1958-59. Stored in the upper right corner of the shop, No. 5 sat in one spot so long that the rail sagged under her weight.
7.) Appearance has changed considerably since early CSRR years, including loss of riveted tender and bunker and removal of the power reverse (with air cylinder moved back and replaced by a tool box) [between 1977 and ‘79]); a one-piece bottom bracket was installed prior to 1987 service. Her original look (1966) included decorative coal bunker farings, unusual cab backhead/bunker skirt and high-mounted tender headlight.
8.) Builder’s plates were not affixed to the smokebox replacement made during the logging era (c. 1925?).
9.) No. 5’s front plate was removed, likely by a visitor, prior to 1958; she was in service on the CSRR for several years before an authentic Lima front number plate was acquired – first outfitted with a very una