Sunday at Cass Senic Railroad

On Sunday our plans included a trip to Cass. Everyone was up early. Sarah, Jeff, and Sam had to pack since they had to leave from Cass to go back home. We were to meet John, Rachael, Flora, and Lucy at 1:00 for a picnic before the train ride. Velva and Tim were also to meet us.

Before we left the cabin, we had a call from Rachael. They were leaving late and would not make it in time for the ride to Whittaker Station. We were a little sad that we would not be sharing this experience with all our grandkids.

Sarah and Jeff arrived at Cass first. They found Tim and Velva riding this contraption below. The old hand car was traveling down the tracks with Tim and Velva on board!

At 1:00 we had a fine lunch along the Greenbrier River.

There was some time to explore the banks of the river before we had to board the train. Jeff is teaching Sam how to skip rocks along the river's surface. That boy has a great teacher!


I was so excited to find another of my plants that I hold dear in my memory banks. Here was blooming the cardinal flower. This has to be one of the brightest reds in the plant world. Few native plants has this intensity of color. Guess what! Are you surprised that humming birds love the blossoms?

Beautiful but deadly, this plant has been used as a medicine but is also very poisonous. It contains fourteen alkaloids similar to those in nicotine. Extracts of the leaves and fruit produce vomiting, sweating, pain and finally death.


Jeff is preparing Sam for the train. He blows through his hand in order to produce the sound of the Shay locomotive. Now with the training session completed, we head toward the depot.

Shay #2 is ready for boarding. Shay #2, a Pacific Coast Shay, was constructed in July of 1928 for the Mayo Lumber Company of Paldi, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The locomotive ended its career switching cars on Vancouver docks in 1970, making it one of the last commercially-used Shays, and came to Cass in that same year.

Sam is trying to decide if it is going to be OK to ride this belching iron dragon. Tomorrow we will post our ride to Whittaker Station.