Earlier this month the Shay Number 4 locomotive made the eight-mile trip up Cheat Mountain, from the Cass Scenic Railroad depot in Pochantas County to the former work camp at Whittaker Station.
It marked the 50th anniversary of hauling a cargo of people, rather than timber.
It was 1963 when Cass Scenic Railroad became a tourist train, preserving railroad history.
West Virginia Pulp and Paper owned the Cass Scenic railroad until 1942....at the time the state had more than 3000 miles of track used for logging purposes. Only 11 miles of that track remain.
Here’s some sound from Allegheny Mountain Radio in West Virginia with Arden Curry speaking. His family owned the land on which the park is now located.
Audio File
Audio Courtesy of Heather Niday, Allegheny Mountain Radio
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