Cass Scenic Railroad: The Triumphant Return to Durbin

In May of 2023, the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad in West Virginia hosted their annual Rail Heritage Weekend at the Cass Scenic Railroad. 2023 marks a milestone year for Cass as it is the 60th anniversary of tourist operations. It was during the summer of 1963 when over 23,000 people rode the old logging line up to Whittaker Station and back, convincing the state legislature that the railroad had indeed become a very worthy investment. This year is also a momentous one for the railroad in that it brings about the debut of a project over 30 years and nearly a decade's worth of hard work in the making. For the first time since 1985, trains traversed the former Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad's Greenbrier Division from Cass to Durbin, West Virginia!

The line originally ran from the connection with the C&O mainline at Ronceverte, WV, north through Cass to the interchange with the Western Maryland Railway at Durbin, and was heavily used as it proved to be a vital link between the remote rail lines and the tiny communities they served. In 1979, the C&O abandoned the 95-mile line, selling it to the state of West Virginia the following year. Trains operated between Cass and Durbin for 5 short years before a raging flood in 1985 wiped out the tracks, leaving them in severe disrepair. Beginning in 1997, the D&GV began clearing the line south of Durbin to kickstart their small excursions, originally boasting 5 miles of track. By 2015, crews began working tirelessly to repair and rebuild the heavily damaged Greenbrier Line, with track gangs steadily making progress north from Cass and south from Durbin. With the delivery and installation of a brand new bridge spanning Trout Run in early 2023, the time had finally come to re-open the line, and the Rail Heritage Weekend marked the first trains to run over the entire 15 miles from Cass to Durbin in 38 years!

Organized by photographer Walter Scriptunas II, the first day of the event featured Shay locomotives #5 & #11 traveling from Cass to Durbin and return, performing runbys at some very scenic locations along the Greenbrier River. Shay #11 pulled a mixed freight consist featuring some recently restored rolling stock, while Shay #5 led a string of heavyweight passenger coaches. The day was an exciting and historic one that officially revived the Greenbrier Line! The second day began with both Shays performing runbys at the Cass Depot, before heading up the mountain to Whittaker where a lunch break took place. #5 led a pair of log cars, appropriately wearing Mower Lumber Company lettering on her tender. #11 took charge of the passenger train, with recently re-lettered coaches sporting a 1960s-inspired logo from the early days of the railroad. It was a fun and historic weekend, and as a popular song states, Cass certainly is "Almost Heaven!"

Sit back and enjoy the first trains to Durbin since 1985 as Big Banana Productions presents "The Triumphant Return to Durbin!"

Enjoy!

Shay #5 was built by Lima in 1905 and is the oldest operating Shay in existence. She has worked at Cass since the days of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, which later became the Mower Lumber Company in 1943. Retired in the late '50s, she entered service on the Cass Scenic in 1966. She is the official steam locomotive of the state of West Virginia.

Shay #11 was built by Lima in 1923 for California's Hutchinson Lumber Company, which was later re-branded as the Feather River Railway, and was given the number of #3. Retired in 1965, she was sold to the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo, CA in 1967, and was used on occasional excursion trains until 1991. She was bought by Cass in 1998, delivered in October of that year. Entering regular service in 2000, she was converted from an oil burner to a coal fired locomotive and has ran at Cass ever since. #11 celebrates her 100th birthday in 2023!