Cass Scenic Railroad, West Virginia

It's June 2017: I've been to the USA again and found another spectacular steam railway. I have to admit that I like the American Olde Steamy railroads. They seem to do higher, steeper and/or longer than we do in the UK; some to a massive extent and Cass Scenic Railroad is one of these.

I've visited the Cumbres and Toltec, Durango and Silverton, Georgetown Loop, Mount Rainier and a few others before. Cass was new to me and what a gem. It's steepest gradient is 11% or 1 in 9.09 and, according to wikipedia, is the third steepest non-rack railway in the world.

Cass is the home for Shay locomotives. Like Joyce (there is a connection), Shays are geared locomotives and they don't go fast. They are designed for steep gradients, sharp curves and poor track as built for logging railroads in the last century or earlier. Cass has about five operational Shays plus a Heisler and a Climax although not all in workable condition.

So what's a Shay?

Shay No. 2 at Bald Knob Summit

Shays have a three cylinder vertical steam engine along the right hand side. The engine drives a flexible shaft which powers all axles using a ~2:1 bevel gear mechanism. To counteract the weight of the side-mounted engines, the boiler is offset to the left of the chassis; I wouldn't describe this as an elegant feature but it probably prevents a lot of toppling accidents.

Three cylinder vertical engine

Three cylinder vertical engine with air brake pump in the foreground.
Driveshafts are below.

Like Joyce, the engines revolve quite fast and produce a purr rather than a chuff when in motion. A variable length drive shaft with gimbal bearings enables the drive to reach the axles whilst also being able to negotiate sharp curves and undulating track. Bevel gears provide the 2:1 gear reduction.

Drive shaft with gimbal bearing and square variable length shaft joint

Other end of above drive shaft

2:1 Bevel gearing to axles

All the action is on the right hand side. Although one-sided, it does make preparation easier by avoiding the need for access to both sides.

RHS Action Packed side

LHS not so populated

Cass Scenic Railroad is steep. It runs for 11 miles to a height of 4842 feet through some of the most spectacular forestry locations. It also has a zig-zag.

Route from Cass to Bald Knob summit

There is an extensive loco fleet, definitely not of the conventional type.

Loco Fleet

Trains arrive loco-first from the yard to depart propelled from the 'Depot' at Cass.

Arriving at the 'Depot'

Video clip is here on YouTube (including bells & whistles).
The train propels the carriages (cars) from the depot up to the summit except in the zig-zag.

Departing from the depot.

Video clip is here on YouTube (including bell but no whistles).
The train passes this location by the maintenance shed.

Running line leftmost

It begins the ascent and approaches a level crossing. Note that, in the USA, heavy use is made of the whistle when approaching a hazard. (Memo to me: must get one like this for Joyce).

Crossing approach

Being a propelled train, it's possible to book to be in the carriage adjacent to the smoke stack. Whilst this seems like an enthusiasts' heaven, the smoke stack is extremely loud. Many passengers use ear defenders and I'd very much recommend this as 2-3 hours of the noise is somewhat fatiguing and it also drowns the informative commentary.
Video clip is here on YouTube (including whistles galore but no bells).

Cass Level Crossing

A second video clip is here on YouTube (including whistles galore, no bells but many birds).
The line climbs up the hillside.

Line fades away behind

Video clip is here on YouTube (including no bells, whistles or birds but the gentle purring of the fast revving steam engine).

Onwards and Upwards

To gain height in a short distance, the Cass railroad has a zig-zag. I've tried to capture the gradients encountered.
Video clip on YouTube of the train arriving at the zig (including no special sounds).

Line climbing to meet the zig-zag middle section

Video clip of Shay setting off hauling the train up the middle section of the zig-zag (sounds different hauling in reverse).

The train approaches the down-coming train waiting on the top section of the zig-zag.

Down train ahead on left

Video clip on YouTube of the train meeting the down train.
The up train goes into a long spur and waits while the down train follows into the spur. The down train then reverses out and down the zig; the up train then reverses out and up the zag.

The line climbs onwards to the summit at Bald Knob (4842 feet) through some amazing countryside.

Almost at the summit

Shay No. 2 at the Bald Knob summit

View backwards from whence we came

Finally, Shay No. 2 descends somewhat more quietly than when climbing (including not much noise at all!).

A fantastic 5 hour journey, one of the best there is.

Sentinel 7109's Lower Gear Housings

Since July 2011 (now September), I've taken some better photos for this article so here's the new 'enhanced' version!

Three new inspection bolts have been made for the level check holes in the lower gear housings.

Inspection bolt with blind axial hole and linked radial aperture
for oil level checking

The bolt is partly removed to check if oil comes out of the radial aperture

View from above

So why three level check holes and not just one? Simply, it depends on the size of the gear wheel inside. Sentinel offered the ability to change the gear ratio to suit each customer's haulage and speed requirements.

7109 was set up for slow, heavy haulage (I'm guessing here but it will be obvious in due course); hence it will have a large gear in the lower gear case. As a result, it will not need such a deep oil bath as one set up for higher speed with a smaller gear in the same place. So the the check hole actually used will be to suit the expected oil level inside.

Going off-subject for a moment, the Teifi Valley Railway visit on 18th September 2011 revealed an interesting angle on this with the double geared Sentinel 9622 built in 1958. Have a look at the next two photos:

Near side lower gear casing (9622)

Off side lower gear casing (9622)

Note that the drain cock (posh way of doing it) on the near side is on the middle level whereas, on the off side, the drain cock is on the top level. At first, this seems to be a mistake; however, it is a double geared loco with different sized gears in the near and off side casings. Hence a different oil level is needed for each. (It's inevitable that however many photos are taken at the time, something else needs to be illustrated when the time comes. Anyway, hopefully these are just about good enough to illustrate the point).

Also noteworthy in the 9622 photos is that bolts rather than studs/nuts are used to fix the plate in place.

Does anybody know what that big nut-like thing is in the middle of each cover plate? I guess it's a means of draining condensate from the gear case but it was so covered in green slime and it was raining hard that day so I didn't feel much like crawling about underneath and cleaning it up to find out!

A final noteworthy point: in the bottom right of the off side photo can be seen a drive chain. 9622 has double width chains whereas 7109 has single. The double chains would have been used for extra strength as, with double gearing, the drive would be only via the left or right hand chain depending on whether high or low gear was selected. 7109 has one single width chain per engine.

Back to 7109: the new gear housing bottom plates are under construction in preparation for crankcase oil to be added. Hopefully the oil will dampen the unceremonious 'clanking' heard when running on compressed air without a load.

The bottom plate goes here

Crankcase oil is a special type designed for Sentinel steam engines. Its specific characteristic is that water condensate separates out and sinks to the bottom easily for draining off.

Definitely Crankcase oil required!

When fitting 7109's gear case bottom plates, a gasket will be required between the plate and the housing. Hexagonal headed screws will need to be used with fibre washers to hold it in place as some of the holes into the housing are open to the oil contained within; without fibre washers and fixed-head screws, the oil will be able to seep out via the thread in the housing and the thread in the nut and possibly also between the nut and the bottom plate.

Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad

So what has this to do with Sentinel 7109, I hear you ask! Well not an immediately obvious lot except that on my travels to Washington State USA in July 2011, I landed almost accidentally on the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad. Not expecting too much to begin with, I was pleased to be cordially invited to visit the 'shops' and see the steam locos not in use at the time.

I was stunned to be presented there with a Heisler, a Climax and a Willamette - all in working order. A Shay under restoration was also there in the shed.

On returning home, the photos I'd taken in the 'shops'' shed (yes, the apostrophes are correct; a quote of a genitive plural!) were far from as good as I'd hoped. However, here are some of the best ones.

Willamette 34

Not a Shay

The less mechanical side

Leading drive-train

Trailing and tender drive-train

And finally, the Climax!

Having had a good look around the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad website, I can't come close to their pictures. Try these:

Heisler, Climax, Willamette (On the right).

Have a look around the Gallery; it's a superb collection of photos of Steam Logging locos.

Meanwhile, Sentinel 7109's whistle has featured prominently during its refurbishment. Strange noises from my garage have kept the neighbours bemused for hours (well, minutes anyway). So if Midsomer Norton station can manage to replace its missing Silver Street bridge with a level crossing, how about if we upgrade 7109's whistle and blow it like this to frighten the traffic away! (Also on YouTube)

Whistling in the USA!

The culprit in the video: July 29th 2011,
MRSR's newly restored Baldwin 2-8-2 Rod Locomotive
No 70, Polson Logging, near Elbe, Washington State, USA.

And after all that, there is a connection with Sentinel 7109 - it is also a gear driven locomotive!