..

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Shay #11 weighs in at 103 tons (compared to Big 6 at 162
tons), and was originally put in service on July 14th, 1923 -
88 years young and still going strong!​

#11 is the second-largest surviving Shay. It has a fascinating
history, having spent the vast majority of its life in California,
with much of that working for the Hutchinson Lumber Company (as #3)
and regularly running the Feather River Canyon. Shay #11 was acquired
by the Cass Scenic Railroad in 1998:​

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Here's a very interesting link to more info on #11, from the San Diego
Railroad Museum: http://www.sdrm.org/roster/<WBR>steam/s-3/​

Also note that the final verbiage on the page indicates that #11 is
still on display in San Diego - oops! The page was last updated in 1995...​

Here's a very cool musical and photographic tribute to Shay #11 (not my video):​

<IFRAME height=480 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WWnw4yEUbHc" frameBorder=0 width=640 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>​

The last photo for this installment is a shot of Shay #4 "under steam"
back at the maintenance yard in Cass. #4 is a year older than #11, and
weighs in at 80 tons, making it the smallest and lightest Shay in
Cass' fleet (imagine weighing 160,000 pounds and being the baby of the bunch... ):​

​

Here's more info on #4, including an interesting on-the-job repair
story, and links for additional photos:
http://www.cassrailroad.com/<WBR>shay4.html​

We were plumb wore out by the time we arrived back at Cass. Not sure
why - we hadn't really done anything - but the heat was certainly a
factor.​

I didn't take any photos when we got back, but I did ask Fireman Chris
Lambert for a very special gift for Ma Bueller,
and we also "obtained" a unique memento for our collection,
something I had spied in a scrap pile when we first arrived in Cass
this morning. Pix to come. ​

For now it's back to the Inn at Showshoe for a
long-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g, hot shower, a quick nap, then up to the
Village tonight for brews and bluegrass. Pix to come. ​

In case you're like me and can't get enough of this stuff,
here's one more long, "alternate" look at the wonder that is the
Cass Scenic Railroad. If your 'puter and internet connection will allow,
crank the resolution up to 1080, and by all means
TURN UP THE VOLUME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ​

<IFRAME height=480 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CEREoPka7ww" frameBorder=0 width=853 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>​

Hey bluegrss, we cruised through your 'hood yesterday:



You're right: Siloam Road is a gem!
I'll post-up pix from yesterday's ride as soon as I wrap up our Cass adventure.
Sorry I didn't ping you in advance we were coming down,
but we kinda made this one up on the fly.
(PS: Yer sign is crooked! )

In our last installment, we'd taken long-g-g-g-g-g-g-g, hot showers
after our coal-fired train ride, grabbed a much-needed power nap, and
headed up the mountain to Showshoe Village for brews and bluegrass.​

Were at the Village now, Sunday evening, and it seems our showers were so long and hot
that we've shrunk and our feet no longer reach all the way to the ground!​

​

That's OK, we had medicine in the form of Yuengling Black & Tan
(served in canning jars, no less) to assuage our angst.
Me 'n D like our suds now 'n then (mostly now...), and
some cold, dark Yuengling (America's oldest brewery, doncha know, made
just up the mountains a-ways) tonight hit us right in our "Gee!" spots:​

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This weekend was our first visit to Snowshoe, West Virginia, and we came away
mightily pleased. Kinda an Appalachian version of Vail, Aspen or
Whistler, British Columbia, only scaled down several notches, prolly with a bunch
less pretentiousness, and with a "How y'all doin'?!?" twang.​

The Village was celebrating our country's independence all weekend,
including live music in the plaza every evening. Our table at The
Junction (railroad theme'd - how apropos!) was right at the corner of
the stage, by far the best seats in the house, and we were graced
by one of the best bands we've ever heard perform live,
The Steel Wheels.​

We've listened to a lot of bluegrass and old-time music since we
arrived in these here mountains, and The Steel Wheels are the real deal.
Can't begin to describe what an unexpected treat this was, and after
the concert we got to meet and mingle with the band for few minutes,
which was extra special.​

Their song "Hymn for the Unsung," presented with a long, heartfelt
introduction from lead singer Trent Wagler (in the middle, white
shirt), a song written in honor of his grandfather, will blow you away. ​

The entire Village festival was free for the taking this weekend
(including a spectacular up-close-and-personal fireworks show Saturday
night), and although we expected massive hordes up top as a result, there
were just enough people to make it interesting, but never enough to make it a crowd. ​

Welcome to West-by-God-Virginia.​

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Note the two acoustic git-tars parked on the stand in the lower left.
They belong to Jay Lapp, the feller on the left pickin' on his mandolin. ​

They were built by the feller on the right, Brian Dickel, bangin' on his stand-up bass. ​

Gives me goosebumps to be around such talent, it really does.​

The guitars were absolutely gorgeous to behold - Jay came to our table and showed one of them off
after the concert - and although I don't know for sure, I'm betting Brian built his bass, too. ​

Really, really good stuff.​

​

~ Dnutz and Trent Wagler ~​

<IFRAME height=480 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/j3486mZLEnY" frameBorder=0 width=853 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>​

~ The Steel Wheels ~
http://www.thesteelwheels.com/​

Goodnight, Snowshoe and Cass, West Virginia USA.
Thank you.​

This. Weekend. Rocked.​

​

This is moments after we arrived home, near dusk on July 5th.
It'd been a cooker of a day in the saddle, about 325 miles or so,
and we were way ready to call it quits for the weekend.
You'll readily note our special memento noted in an earlier post. ​

They (Cass Scenic Railroad State Park) were doing a major revamp of the
public parking area (which explains, in part, why there are no
"panorama" shots of Big 6 chuffing up to the train station and
company store - I couldn't grab a photo without a plethora of
barricades and day-glo orange cones blighting the picture), and while
parking the bike I spied a hidden treasure, a weathered but proud
wooden sign tossed in a heap of construction debris waiting to be hauled off.​

Well, it's a teeny bit more complicated than that. The sign was
still attached to the rusty old metal gate it spent its life tethered
to, held on by two solid pieces of wire about the diameter of a drinking straw.​

The sign was being discarded, of that there was no question.
It bore all the evidence of having swung in the wind for many a year.
It was nearly buried in the rubble, but I couldn't even begin to imagine
discarding such a neato artifact.​

When we were done getting our kicks on Shay #6, I pulled out my
Leatherman tool (don't leave home without it!) and set about freeing
the sign from the gate. The wire was stout. It took a bit of sweating
in the sun, even with an assist from my Leatherman, and on the ride
back to our motel at the base of Snowshoe Mountain Dnutz carried
our treasure wedged between the two of us for safekeeping.​

I imagine that during our journey home on Monday we garnered a curious smile or two
from passersby as we motored blithely along in all our splendid official-ness. ​

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~ The End ~
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Nothing epic this weekend, just wandering around close to home, doing our best to work the fading daylight and weather conditions this time of year. I needed something for the Road King, so Saturday morning me 'n Dnutz took aim on Tilley Harley-Davidson in Statesville, North Carolina, USA.​

I first met Don Tilley in 1997 at the American Sportbike Festival in Willow Springs, California, USA. This was a Buell American Motorcycle BRAG-sponsored dealio. Don was sponsoring Shawn Higbee in the Pro Thunder series, and they raced at Willow that weekend. Don and Shawn were the guests-of-honor at the BRAG supper that night, and fielded questions from the Buell faithful afterwards, very much a treat for us all. ​

Ya can't not love Don Tilley, and I was hoping we might get a chance to visit with him on Saturday; Dnutz had not yet had the pleasure of meeting him. Don is just coming off knee surgery, but was back working the dealership even before he could walk, and so I wasn't too surprised to see him floating around on Saturday, but it was way cool when he walked up to the parts counter while we were grabbing our stuff and we all had a chance to visit for a spell. ​

I asked him if he'd mind a quick photo with us by the Road King, and he was kind enough to say yes, accompanied by a big smile. We thanked him for his time, and he said, "Heck, I'm just flattered that someone wants a picture of this ugly ol' mug!" ​

Thanks Don, you rock!!​

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http://www.tilleyhd.com/​