Steam & Excursion > The Sharp and Authoritative Tone of WM Shay "Big 6"

"She speaks in a sharp and authoritative tone when she is working hard." -Rich Melvin from the 1981 Hopewell Productions video "The Big Six."

What Rich said back then still holds true today. Western Maryland Shay "Big 6" stands out from all the other Cass locomotives not only in looks but in sound as well with a stack talk that seems to the loudest on the entire roster of the Cass Scenic Railroad.

In this video, Engineer Danny Seldomridge puts on a show for a photorunby with Big 6 on the curve at Oats Run during the 2015 Railfan Weekend. The loud stack talk is also accompanied with Danny's unique whistle work.

Today, Cass is still successful as an operation of the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad.

Tickets are still available for the "Rail Heritage Weekend" next month which will feature three days of several unique opportunities to photograph Big 6 and the other Cass Shays.

More information is available at this link: http://mountainrailwv.com/tour/spring-photo-special/

Enjoy and thanks for watching.

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I hope everyone was off the train for that Photo Run-by because I never saw a Cass train so empty. That is scary if it left the depot with that number of passengers. Sounds great.

PlyWoody Wrote:
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> I hope everyone was off the train for that Photo
> Run-by because I never saw a Cass train so empty.
> That is scary if it left the depot with that
> number of passengers. Sounds great.

Yes, most of the passengers were on the ground for the runby.

So this was a "heritage weekend, not just a normal service train. So what's the point of a photo run by if tourist equipment is involved? Why not run proper logging equipment on one train with a second train leading hauling the passengers? The attraction for me is to recreate prototypical scenes from the past, not document a tourist operation.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> So this was a "heritage weekend, not just a normal
> service train. So what's the point of a photo run
> by if tourist equipment is involved? Why not run
> proper logging equipment on one train with a
> second train leading hauling the passengers? The
> attraction for me is to recreate prototypical
> scenes from the past, not document a tourist
> operation.

If you haven't been to any of the Cass photo charters before, aside from the train the participants ride in, there is always a photo freight consist. This video shows the photo freight following that day pulled by Shay 4.

If you did not click on the link, here are the parts where it specifically says photo freights are used each day during the event next month.

"The event begins Friday evening, May 18 with a special train from Cass to Whittaker for a logger’s dinner at Whittaker Station, followed with a night photography session at Whittaker featuring a steam-powered freight train."

"On Saturday May 19, a freight and passenger train will depart from Cass with photo stops enroute to Spruce."

"While part of Sunday’s trip will concentrate on unique angles around Cass, there will also be photo opportunities along the former Greenbrier line featuring steam-powered freight consists."

However, if you want more detailed information about the freight consists themselves, I would recommend contacting them directly: http://mountainrailwv.com/contact-us/

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The shot of the rail has a inside 2nd rail. For what purpose is it used for. I seen no real need looking from my arm chair.

czuleget Wrote:
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> The shot of the rail has a inside 2nd rail. For
> what purpose is it used for. I seen no real need
> looking from my arm chair.

It is a guide rail, used on sharp curves to guide the backside of the flange on the inside wheels, so the outer rail is not taking the full force of the curve. Used to help extend the life of the outside rail, and help prevent rolling the outside rail over. They also will have the 3rd rail in some spots so that in the event of a derailment, the the wheels will contact the 3rd rail, and prevent the train from going over the side of the mountain, or at the very least, help hold the train closer to the rails it needs to go back onto.

Ahh a fine example of the "Ephraim Shay Racing Team"!

Excellent video - enjoyed the unique and wonderful whistling. Thanks for sharing!

Excellent from the Wild Mary Shay!!

SuperChiefDon

Thanks for posting Cass on this TO site where it is seldom seen. The major purpose of the inner guard rail is to prevent the lead wheel of the locomotive from having it's outer wheel flange trying to climb up on the head and over the rail. It tries to go straight and the rail is at a angle. The guard rail pulls the "back to back" of the inside of the wheels just like a guard rail does at a frog. Great place for whistles as the nimbys are too far away to hear them.
I still wonder how much track has been rebuilt to connect Cass and Durbin? That ballast car was likely returning empty from the start of the repairs at Cass. Thanks for the later answer - only 3.8 miles and some of it only needing ties and not rebuild pull out of the river.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/18 04:14 by PlyWoody.

Just close your eyes and listen and you'd think it was the 20th Century at 90mph.

I've been to Cass about 10 times, and I always LOVE it. Most of the time, I have gone on various photo charters. However, what I like best is watching and hearing geared steam locomotives working hard in a beautiful setting.

I highly recommend staying in one of the Cass company houses.

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PlyWoody Wrote:
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> I still wonder how much track has been rebuilt to
> connect Cass and Durbin?

As of March 13, this was the progress on the C&O Greenbrier Branch restoration from DGVR's Facebook page.

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