The WV Presents "THE POWER OF THREE AND MORE" Cass Scenic Railroad Railfan Weekend 2014 runbys 

It was a photo special...the passengers were on the ground taking photos of it passing by. Even loaded still really didn't "need" a tripleheader...was just for photos. :)

Brandon Jones...Yes this is true however, I was concerned that they was going too run low or out of whistle fluid.

@@BornAgain77757 "whistle fluid"

The last two "official" runbys were at Gum Curve and the S-curve. However, the last two shots on this video were actually standing next to the Whittaker gate.

If you go to the Cass Scenic Railroad you will be riding on a train propelled by a steam engine. They have six engines, if memory serves, all gear driven, 5 Shays and one Heisler. The grades are over 10% in places, way too steep for diesels. The Diesels shown are from a different excursion train and travel much flatter rails.

Just to be perfectly clear, up to this point in 2019, all of the Cass Scenic Railroad's traditional tourist excursions up the mountain to Whittaker or Bald Knob have been powered by geared steam locomotives, largely because of the steep grades that most conventional locomotives can't handle easily. It is true that the Durbin &Greenbrier Valley Railroad, which took over operations of the railroad at Cass shortly after this video was filmed in 2014, has operated diesels between Cass and Old Spruce on the mountain, but thus far, none of those trips have been for revenue but rather just to allow the diesels to access the Cass Shop complex (in other words, the diesels were "deadheading"). It is unknown whether there is a diesel engine that could handle the grades with a full load of passengers. I would suspect if someone wanted to prove it could be done, it would be possible, but I doubt it would really be a "cost saving" measure because running the heavy grades like that with a locomotive not meant for it would probably cause far more damage and require more repairs than they would save financially to do so. WITH THAT SAID, D&GV is reaching the completion milestone of reconnecting to Durbin, and I would imagine that diesels WILL play a part in the regular runs between Cass and Durbin once they finally make the connection. So, nightlightabcd, as it stands now, if you want guaranteed steam at Cass, book one of the traditional trips to Whittaker or Bald Knob! Also, the tripleheader in this video was for a special railfan event, and yes, it is true that doing this was not really a profitable measure, but it was done for the fans. In fact, this was the most recent tripleheader to go up the mountain, and it was filmed five years ago now! I am all but 100% certain that tripleheading at Cass--even for special occasions--is now a thing of the past, with the exception of the short "three train race" on the old C&O trackage.

Hi Scott! The Railfan Weekend event is traditionally organized by the Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association and usually occurs the weekend BEFORE Memorial Day Weekend. Visit the website shown at 20:28 in the video for more information about next year's event as it becomes available. Thanks for viewing!

Huh? This was recorded on a Sony prosumer camera. But this WAS the first railfan where I saw someone else using an iPad to do ALL their recording.

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