On to Cleveland

After the mountain of touring Pittsburg, I took my drive to Cleveland OH. Why Cleveland, you ask? They is light rail, subways as well as Norfolk Southern RR. Cleveland I only 3 hours from Pittsburgh and only three hours back into WVA. I arrive late in the afternoon and found my Hotel for the night and had several hours before dark. I went to Brookmark Subway station to catch the train to the ideal place to take video. That evening I took a lot of video which I edited into the following video:

and this:

Public Art, Pittsburg

As those familiar with me, I love to note art open to the public. This is more that architetual detain. Here are a few I found in Pittsburg.

Pittsburg, Cont.

There is more to Pittsburgh than one incline. There is another incline and light rail. I took a ride on the Monongahela Incline.

Notice the difference between this and the Duquesne Incline. From both incline's observation decks, you get a clear view of the CSX along the river. I saw and videoed two trains. Onfe from Monongahela Incline and one from the Duquesne Incline

Between the CSX and the observation decks, there is the NS. I could not find a good location to watch them.

Beginning Day 3, Pittsburg

It might seem strange for a vacation to WVA include a side trip to Pittsburg. In my research, I learned that there was light rail in Pittsburg. Than I learned that there were two inclines. OK a great occassion to watch. I tried to connect Pittsburg to a Philadelphia trip but the timing for trains were bad. I even tried it as part of a out and back to Chicago. Again timing was not good. Pittsburg and Cleveland were both about three hours fromMorgantown, WVA and for a vacation it seemed workable.

First stop on day three was Pittsburg. First up was the Duquesne Incline. It was great to see it.

At the top, there is an observation deck, to view the skyline of the city.
To be continued

End of Day Two

After leaving Cass, I went north. First to Durbiin, WVA. There is a scenic Railroad that operated out of there. Years ago, the rails went from Cass to Durbin. During those railfan weekends, there would be a Durbin run. Since then, the rails have been washed out. Unfortunatedly the excursion was not operating on the days I might be there. The same was true on my next stop, Elkins. Both trains are operated by the same person.

I finally took my evening stop in Morgantown, WV. The University of WVA has a people mover in Morgantown. Due to the time of year, and the nature of the people mover, I did not expect to see it running. I did get picture of it in downtown. There is a parking deck that overlooks one of the station stops.

Too bad  I could not get video of it operating.

Souvenirs

Following, the return of the first trip, I than wen souvenir shopping. The old lumber company store is now a general store with a restaurant. I sell a lot of souvenir items. We all buy them. Many items are just fun things. I remember the bull whip that I bought, along with friends, while in the Smokies, After whipping a few fingers and backs (most were our own). I finally was relegated to under the bed or some others out of the way place, in a box marked collectibles. I am not sure if that was where it found a home or was put there by mom so we could not find it. There is the buck knife and various mountain toys, we caught over the years, now gone with the wind.

Kin to the fun stuff, are the cute items that we assume we will use to decorate.  Some we actually use. Often, these are not seen a souvenirs but decoration. I ended up with a cast iron train when I went to Charleston. I am a train lover so you can see why I got it. I now sits on my mantle along with grandmas mantle clock and an old pipe stand, less the pipes, that I have not smoked in more than 35 years. (Pipe stand was a Christmas gift). There are other items that I don't thing of as souvenirs, but decoration, purchased for that purpose.
There are many souvenirs that resulted from choosing items that have the flavor of the place. They might be the "made in Taiwan" but resembles a mountain craft. Or the She sold the sea shell lamp while at the sea shore. Some are actually what they say they are, like the shaker craft bought in the shaker village.

Many collect an item with the place name, like thimbles, shot glasses, etc. I started collecting postcards when I was around 10. I selected two per place we visited and one for each motel we visited. My brother took over the collection along with additions of grandma's. In time it was relegated to the basement in a box, I retrieved them and scanned them and now in special boxes marked collectibles.

For those not familar, postcards are im with pics sent snail mail, with the tag line "having a great time. Wish you were here."

When I began watching trains, I would get patch and a button for each excursion. i eventually sew them on a patch shirt. it was an old army surplus shirt. I soon purchased  four railroad logo patches. the front of the patch shirt was for excursion, scenic railroads patches and the back for Railroad.

To that I added park patches. Now, I collect mugs as souvenirs. Of course, I like that expression "take only pictures, leave only footprints." I take a lot of pictures. Pictures for static scenes like views from the mountain, trains that are not moving, and even others. Trains and things that move, I will take video

Day Two, First Stop, Cass

My drove to Cass was relatively eventful. I did miss on turn and ended up a few miles off course. First stop as Cass was the parking lot and getting myself orientated. This was not my first visit to Cass. My first visit was way back in 1973. I was in college and had just begun to model railroad. One of my friends was a modeller and told me about Cass. I was living in Williamsburg VA at the time and going to Virginia Tech. That September, I took a swing by Cass, on my way to school. I got pictures and rode to the bald knob, froze to death during the ride. I returned to Cass in April, 1982. A group off friends, including the one that told me about Cass in the first place, decided to take off for the Cass Railfan weekend. That was a hoot an a half. 10 half drunk guys spanning....OK not all of us were drunk, but is was fun watching us camp, as well. That weekend was the first revenue run of the Western Maryland Shay 6 There was another trip to Cass, but it had been almost 30 years since my last encounter of Cass.
Two things were first on the agenda. I wanted to check on the railroad crossing for parking and viability. I has an hour before the first run. I also wanted to check out the old company store, now a souvenir store and restaurant. I got some still pictures, found the best crossing and setup in the parking lot furthest from the station.
First up is Cass 4 pushing a trip to Whitaker Station, about a two hour trip, round trip. I caught it just out of the station, once at the crossing and as it returned to the station:

Finally, While waiting for the return, I caught video of Western Maryland 6 on its beginning and at the crossing. I had seen the first revenue run of this engine back in 1982, at the Railfan Weekend. Nice to see it again.

I got some pictures of the shops and the ruins of the old mill.