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.

Day One, 2013 Vacation

My first objective on this vacation is to see Cass Scenic Railroad, in Cass, WVa. Options include a complete drive to Cass. This is over 6 hours of driving, in one day. If there were a good place to stay, that might be good. Google maps did not give a good place. Those that looked like possibilities were a little iffy in quality. I tool a different option and went as far as Covington, Va. And find an nice place to spend the night. I would have around and hour drive on day two. I had too much time that afternoon so I I drove downtown to see what I could see. I took another drive into Clifton Forge that would be better for train watching.
I drove past the C& O Heritage center. I stopped but it was after hours, so I took a few still pictures of what I could, from the parking lot.



As I stood there a young man walked up and he offered to let me enter, even thought it was after hours. I did not want to keep him but we did talk for more than an hour. On my way back to the motel I did take on video of a CSX freight, Westbound.
Over all, a good decision to stay here before heading for WVA.

Planning and More

It has  been a while since my last post. For one thing, Just to post to show videos is a bit much. I simply upload videos to YouTube and leave it at that. It is only the still pictures that might need some input and display. However, I take very few of those, these days, when it comes down to trains. Some of my stills are not something you might be interested in, such as family pictures of my niece dressed up a Emily Earnhardt for her class presentation on Earnhardt. It was a cute picture but hardly news or of interest to others, except family.

Since Christmas, I worked on some trip planning. As a friend calls such work, they are projects, something to do in the boring evenings, home alone, and again alone. Over time, I have prepared out and back trips and vacation trips that I may never take. I planned a vacation to West (by God) Virginia. I than tried to expand my Philadelphia agenda to include Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Buffalo. I could not make it work, by the way. Buffalo has light rail and that would be nice to see. The same with Pittsburgh and Cleveland. I noticed that each city was three hours, driving, for another. Than I noticed they were only three hours out of WVA. So, instead of trying to attach them to a New England or Northeast trip, or even a trip to Chicago, they would be better to attach to a WVA trip. If I didn't mind the drive, it could only add one day to the trip to WVA.

Toward Spring, this past year, I had it all planned out, but had not thought about what I wanted to do for vacation. I finally chose to do the WVA trip. So! More on that, so hang on to your hats!

Okay, just for a teaser here is a picture I took of the skyline of Pittsburg:

Day 4, Tide, Light Rail, Norfolk, VA

I can always find something to do in Richmond. But I had an intention of going to Norfolk to see their new light rail. I had, originally planned to do this on the way home, with a swing by Norfolk and the trip south. As always, the plan can and often is changed. I decided to do it today and come back to Richmond and leave for home, tomorrow. Nothing special for this trip but to park near Norfolk, Harbor Park. That is where the new Amtrak Station is. However, the new Northeast Regional will not come while I am in Norfolk.

I head south on I 95 and head west on 460. This allows me to parallel the Race Track, the Norfolk Southern mainline. It is one of the longest  straight lines in the country. Nothing came through, however. In Norfolk, I chose several places in Norfolk to video

Tide, Light Rail, Norfolk, VA downtown, January 1, 2013

Day 3, A Train Chase

New Year's Day!! A new year and new videos, still in Richmond. First on my wish list, is to head downtown to main Street Station. Main Street Station station is story and half off street level. All trains passing the station are on a viaduct at lobby level. At one time there was a train shed off the back, that was used by the railroad for northbound trains. Through through trains went to the side of the station, as they do today. At one time, the train shed was in enclosed, to make a shopping mall, to help revitalize downtown. The mall failed, but it is still enclosed. I have pictures of the open train shed take more thirty five years ago.

The nice thing about the station, is that you can take pictures from one the balcony overlooking the rail. First passing the station is CSX 7371, leading Northbound Freight and entering the interchange and heading north for Acca yard. I came to the station to see Amtrak 194, led by 129 northbound from Newport News heading north for Washington, New York, and Boston. The first freight was bonus, for the trip. After the train arrived I headed north to Staples Mill Station, and Hermitage road crossing, hoping to get there before the train. No big deal. My video call it a chase but that is not really true. The train takes it slow through the interchange while I used the interstate. 

After arriving in time an seeing the Northeast Regional, there was CSX 5433 leading southbound Freight,followed by Amtrak 67 led by 165 southbound, the Silver Star, CSX 863, leading Southbound frieght, and CSX 685 leading northbound freight. Over all, it was a good day. I did not just watch trains but did other things as well, mostly looking over things.