Once all passengers, luggage, and lunches were transferred from the Cheat Mountain Salamander, the Cass train continued its trip up to Bald Knob. The bag lunches from the Cheat Mountain Salamander were distributed to the Cass passengers. They are advertised as “King of the Road” hobo lunches consisting of a cold lunch meat and cheese sandwich, chips, cookie, and bottled water - basically the same lunch we had on the Cheat Mountain Salamander, only there we fixed our own sandwiches. This picture shows passengers eating while Shay #6 pushes the train up the mountain. Clearly visible in this picture is one of the characteristics of a Shay - the big boiler is offset on the locomotive to allow room for steam pistons on the other side.

In addition to fuel, steam engines require water. A little over half way up to Bald Knob from Cass is the Oats Creek water tank. On an 8% grade, the train stops here to take on water. Unlike conventional steam locomotives which need a water tower, Shay locomotives can use a steam siphon to draw water from any convenient source. Water from Oats Creek is diverted into an old boiler shell so the engines can draw water here. In the image on the left one of the crew is taking a hose from the water tank which will be connected to the Shay. In the right image the hose has been connected and, as illustrated by the black smoke coming out the smokestack, the engine has been powered up to ativate the siphon.

Filled with water the Shay continued pushing us up the mountain. Since it was originally a logging railroad, the tracks climb the using a very steep grade - up to 12% in places. As can be seen from the black smoke and white steam, the engine is working hard during this part of the trip.

We were pushed up to Bald Knob by the railroad's Shay No 6 - a 162-ton behemoth. It is Cass's biggest locomotive, the largest Shay in existence and the last Shay ever built (in 1945). This picture, taken at the top of Bald Knob, shows how Shays differ from conventional steam locomotives. The most noticeable items are the three vertical steam pistons which are connected to and power a horizontal drive shaft. This drive shaft is geared and powers three sets of four wheels underneath the length of the engine and tender. Because of the gearing it requires two full piston strokes to turn the wheels one revolution. While not obviously visible in this picture, but shown in a "Lunch Time" picture, the boiler is offset from center to allow for the vertical pistons. By contrast a conventional locomotive has only two steam pistons, mounted horizontally on each side of the engine. Each piston drives two-to four large drive wheels one revolution per piston stroke. Since the Shay locomotive has both more drive wheels (12 compared to the 4 to 8) and each drive wheel receives more power a Shay generates more traction and can negotiate a significantly steeper slopes - up to 12% as opposed to the 1-2% typically found on railroad mainlines. It should be noted that this increased traction comes at the expense of speed. Shays are significantly slower than conventional steam locomotives.

Bald Knob is the end of the line for the Cass Scenic Railroad. At 4,843 ft Bald Knob is the third highest peak in West Virginia. It is only 21 feet lower than the highest peak Spruce Knob. Until 2001, it was thought to be the second highest point in the state, but a survey conducted by Snowshoe Ski Resort using GPS technology concluded that Thorny Flat (roughly 5 mi south of Bald Knob) is 5 feet higher. Since then, at least one other summit on Cheat Mountain has been identified as being potentially a few feet higher than Bald Knob. Because of the Cass Scenic Railroad, Bald Knob is the highest point reached by a standard gauge railroad east of the Mississippi River. This picture shows the train "depot" at Bald Knob. The train stopped for about 45 minutes while the passengers were allowed to explore the area.

Cass Scenic Railroad offers cabooses for rent by the day trip or for overnight or longer. There are three historic cabooses available. This is the one at the top of Bald Knob. Each caboose is equipped with a coal heating stove and sink. Coal and drinking water are provided by the railroad.

Bald Knob overlooks the National Radio Observatory Green Bank. This is the view of the observatory from there. The white object visible to the left of center is the Robert C Byrd Green Bank Telescope. At 100 m (328 ft 1 in) It is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope.

After spending an hour on the top of Bald Knob, we reboarded for the trip back down to Cass. For this part of the trip the engine's job was to be the break which kept the passenger cars from going too fast. The missing black smoke and the drifting white steam show the low power being used by the engine during this part of the trip.

We backed down the track from Bald Knob for about an hour until we arrived at Whittaker Station (elevation 3280). The upper picture in this collage shows the station looking from the track. It consists of shelter pavilion, a number of picnic tables and restrooms. In the distance is Camp Whittaker, a recreated 1940s logging camp. The lower picture shows the station looking from the recreated camp

This is a recreated 1940s logging camp constructed by volunteers from the Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association. From left to right: 1) Unpainted wood shanties: while most of the men lived in bunk cars (none shown), some of the more skilled employees were provided with separate shanties. Other shanties were workshops. The shanties were 12 by 16 feet and built so they could be picked up by a log loader and put on a railroad car when camp was moved. These shanties were reconstructed from measurements of ruins in the woods and photographs. 2) The red kitchen / dining car. 3) A track mounted red diesel-powered log loader, 4) A red transportable Lidgerwood Log Skidder - a steam driven device which could be set up at a siding, to bring logs from up to 3,000 feet away via a complex aerial “cable car” system to be loaded on log cars by the log loader and 5) a fire watch tower. I took this picture as we were steaming past the camp on the way back to Spruce Junction

1) The top left picture shows the interior of the surveyor / cruiser's shanty. This person is responsible for deciding what timber should be cut and how to efficiently get the logs off the mountain. These accommodations were typically a cut above the normal workers' shanties and included a desk. The cardboard on the walls was typical shanty insulation. 2) The top right picture shows the interior of the Kitchen / Dining Car as viewed from one end. Large and good tasting meals were a major feature of camp life. The cook was probably the most important person in the camp. The loggers burned a lot of calories and if the camp food was not good, they would move on to other camps. 3) The lower right picture shows an old diesel powered crane which would be taken into the forest and used to load logs onto flatcars. This particular loader was built in 1939 by the Meadow River Lumber Company in nearby Greenbrier County. It was designed to handle "tree length" logs. These are trees that are felled, delimbed and topped. 4) The lower left picture shows Shay #6 being steamed up prior to our departure from Whittaker

Even though Shay engines can climb steep grades, the mountain is so steep that they need to use switchbacks where they enter in one direction, throw the switch and exit the opposite direction, continuing the climb. Switchbacks also provide a place where an ascending train can pass a descending train. In this picture our ascending train entered the switchback. Then the switch is thrown and the descending train (Shay #11) follows us into the switchback. After that the switch is thrown and the descending train heads out, continuing down. Finally, the switch is thrown a last time and our train continued to ascend.

Shay #6 continued pushing us up the mountain. As we went around an "S" curve I took this picture of it and a couple of coaches.

Our ride on the Cass Scenic ended with Shay #6 retuning to Spruce Junction. After disembarking and while waiting for the Cheat Mountain Salamander to arrive, I walked around the train and took this picture of the entire train.