The Cheat Mountain Salamander pulling three coaches crosses a bridge over the Tygart Valley River as it pulls into the Elkins Station. After crossing into the next valley, the bulk of train's route will follow the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River from Elkins to the site of the old town of Spruce. The train is named in honor of the little endangered creature whose sole habitat is the Cheat River. The coaches consist of a "modern" coach car, a dining car with tables, and a baggage car containing the buffet lunch.

This collage shows interior views of the Cheat Mountain Salamander's coaches. From top to bottom (which is also from front to back on the train) they are 1) the coach car, the dining car, and the baggage car. The latter was configured with a buffet lunch and offered two open upper half doors through which we photographers could take unimpeded pictures

After leaving Elkins the train followed tracks which more or less paralleled US route 33 until it reached the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. For about 4 miles both the tracks and route 33 followed the river until 33 crossed the river and headed east while the river and the tracks turned south and headed into mountainous and forested countryside. the river continues uphill through Spruce Junction, until it reaches its source on the highest peak of the Cheat mountain near the Snowshoe ski resort where its upper reaches constitute the highest river in the eastern US. This picture shows a typical view from the train as it ran alongside the river. As can be seen, being mid-October, the leaves were beginning to change color.

A little over an hour into our train ride we came to the "High Falls of the Cheat". The train stopped here for about 30 minutes and allowed us to walk down to the falls. The river widens here and the water cascades over the layer of hard granite in several places. This collage shows The upper left image looks across the river at the falls. This is the view you first see as you descend the path from the tracks. The lower left image was taken from a short way down the river on the other side of the pool below the falls, looking back at the falls. The upper right image looks back at the place from which I took the upper left image. Other passengers are standing at that location. The lower right image shows the place from which I took the lower left image. Again, there are several passengers in that location.

The Cheat Mountain Salamander was pulled by Western Maryland EMB-BL2 road switcher locomotive. It is used both to haul rail cars over the mainline and can perform switching duties at stops along the way. The locomotive was built by General Electric's Electro-Motive Division in the late 1940s and originally sold to the Western Maryland Railroad. This railroad became part of the Chessie System in 1973, The decline of logging and other freight in West Virginia resulted in much of the line being abandoned in that area. With the rise of scenic and tourist railroads this locomotive was acquired by the Mountain Railroad of West Virginia where it is maintained in its original Western Maryland colors. To the left in the picture is the little "depot" used for the stop at the High Falls of the Cheat.

About an hour after our stop at the falls it was time for lunch. We were invited back to the baggage car where a cold cut buffet was set up. It was catered by one of the restaurants near the Elkins depot. In addition to feeding us, they provided a number of bag lunches which would be transferred to the Cass Scenic Railroad train along with us at Spruce Junction. These bag lunches were to feed the passengers on that train.

In the railroad world a junction is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. They are usually named for a local geographic feature, in this case the old ghost town of Spruce WV. At Spruce Junction the Old Western Maryland (now the Mountain Railroad of West Virginia) and the Cass Scenic Railroad come together. Spruce Junction is also on a watershed divide between Shavers Fork watershed (on the right) and the Greenbriar River watershed (on the left). Here those of us who were transferring to the Cass Railroad got off, picked up our luggage and walked over to an open coach which had been reserved for us, and boarded. In addition to showing both trains at the junction, this picture also illustrates the switcher features of locomotive 82. Looking closely at its top one can see that it slants inward allowing a window in the cab which allows the engineer to see the back of the train. It is these two windows (one on each side) which allow the locomotive to function as a switch engine when needed.

We returned to Spruce Junction on the Cass Mountain Railroad. Those of us transferring back to the Cheat Mountain Salamander disembarked with our luggage and awaited its arrival. After about 10 minutes its headlight appeared comThe next day we returned to Spruce Junction on the Cass Mountain Railroad. Those of us transferring back to the Cheat Mountain Salamander disembarked with our luggage and awaited its arrival. After about 10 minutes its headlight appeared coming up the track. A few minutes later, after lunches and incoming passengers were offloaded, we boarded for the ride back to Elkins.ing up the track. A few minutes later, after lunches and incoming passengers were offloaded, we boarded for the ride back to Elkins.

Having picked us up at Spruce Junction the Cheat Mountain Salamander backed down to the track to the Cheat switch. There the train reversed direction and took us up to the site of the town of Spruce. Settled in 1902 to support the logging industry, the town was only accessible by rail. At an elevation of 3,853 feet it was known as the "highest and coldest town east of the Mississippi". The town provided a pulp mill which was active until 1925 when it was closed, disassembled and moved away. The other industry - steam engine servicing was moved to Cass. The town subsequently declined and was abandoned. We disembarked the train to explore the town's remains. Here is a view of the town site being explored by passengers.

A railroad wye is a three cornered arrangement of tracks with a switch at each corner. It is used to turn around an engine or (with sufficiently long track) a complete train. After disembarking passengers at Spruce Engine 82 uncoupled from the coaches. Being on one segment of the "Three Junction Wye", it proceeded forward around a sharp horseshoe turn to complete a turnaround using the wye. This picture shows the engine in the horse shoe turn. After completing the turnaround the engine coupled to the other end of the coaches, embarked its passengers and began the journey (forward) back to Elkins.

The train made a non-stop trip back to Elkins. Along the way we saw several fishermen enjoying the afternoon. Since I don't see any container with caught fish in the picture, I'm not sure how much luck they were having.

After a day of riding on both the Cass Mountain Railroad and the Cheat Mountain Salamander we arrived back in Elkins about 5:30 in the evening. The train station was buzzing with activity. Seen on the near track in this picture are a number of utility rail cars with associated volunteers who had been out maintaining the Mountain Rail West Virginia tracks. On the far track are coaches of the Mountain Explorer dinner train which was getting ready to depart Elkins for four-hour dinner trip to the High Falls and back.

As we walked out of the station, we went by Locomotive 243 which would be pulling the Mountain Explorer. It is a 1,500-horsepower passenger and freight-hauling engine built in the early 1950s by General Electric's Electro-Motive Division in Ontario Canada for the Canadian Pacific as #4071 and was subsequently sold to the Western Maryland and renumbered 243.