Once through that switch and we bear to the right, my new rail mileage started and we were on the way up Bald Knob.
The track on the left goes to Spruce and the track we are on goes to Bald Knob.
Passing a flag stop sign.
The climb was on.
The view ahead.
The engine behind.
Milepost 7.
Shay 11 pushing hard at Milepost 7.
The grade ahead.
The Unfinished Railroad Grade.
Views of the climb ahead.
Looking to the southwest as we climb the grade.
The grade ahead.
Oats Run Waterhole.
Shay 11 took water both ways at Oats Run Waterhole.
The grade ahead of us once we were underway again.
Leaving the Oats Run Waterhole.
The grade was steep and curvy.
Our engine sounded great as it worked up the mountain.
Tracks ahead.
Curving through the forest.
At a clearing you can look all the way down to Spruce.
The view forward.
Milepost 8.
Views as we climb the grade to Bald Knob.
Johnson Run.
Two more views as we climb the grade.
Looking back.
The landscape ahead.
Cass Shay 11 still working hard.
The curve on the grade ahead.
Expansion rail.
Milepost 9.
The wye.
Looking back at Shay 11.
View ahead as we made our way to the Logging Road crossing.
Logging Road crossing.
The train passing Milepost 10.
As we neared the top of the grade at Bald Knob.
A seldom-used water tank.
Shay 11 would have to tackle the final nine percent grade up Bald Knob.
Two views ahead.
The last crossing before Bald Knob.
View looking back.
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The last of the grade to the top of Bald Knob at the platform is 4,700 feet. The summit of Bald Knob off to the southwest is 4,842 feet and is the third highest peak in West Virginia.
Views as we arrived and were given thirty minutes to look around. Some passengers brought picnic lunches to have at the tables provided.
This caboose is rented to a family of three. I walked over to the platform to take in the view on this great clear afternoon.
The vista from Bald Knob.
Passengers enjoying the observation platform.
Other passengers start their picnics.
Shay 11 was having a well-deserved rest.
The Bald Knob sign.
Our train at rest.
The platform. I soon reboarded the train for the trip back down the mountain to Cass and would just relax on the journey. It is fun to watch the brakemen in each car working as a team as we descended working the brakes.
One view as we dropped down the steep grades towards Cass.
We met the Whittaker turn at the Upper Switchback on our way back.
A steam engine boiler was being delivered as we returned to Cass. Anyone who likes trains should make it a point to ride this unique railroad. It had been an excellent trip to Bald Knob aboard the Cass Scenic Railroad.
I started the long drive to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, driving east on US 260, which I took north to US 220 then filled the car with petrol for the final time at Churchville. I took the bypass road, Virginia 262, north around Staunton to Interstate 81, taking that north to Woodstock where I stopped at KFC then reached West Virginia, when the highway traffic came to a stop. A major accident had shut down the road and traffic was backed up for miles. I finally turned around and took West Virginia 51 towards Harpers Ferry.
Shamokin Valley Railroad (formerly Norfolk and Western) Charles Town station built in the 1880's and now a community center.
Replica of the Baltimore and Ohio Charles Town station which was originally built in 1880 and destroyed by fire in 1980.
I crossed the Potomac River into Maryland then took Maryland 67 north to the US 40 East Bypass, which took me to US 15. I took this road north through Gettysburg and made my way to Mechanicsburg and the Best Western Plantation Inn for the night.
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