Train tourism possibilities in West Virginia and Maryland

[cliffg]

We (family) are visiting my sister this summer in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. We'll be there from June 29th thru July 11th, and will mix in train related activities with some of the usual destinations (e.g. Antietam, C&O canal, Natural History and A&S museums at Smithsonian, Baltimore inner harbor). I've already got a list much bigger than we have time for, so I need help on deciding our best mix (or if I've left something out that I should consider). Besides me and my wife, we have a son who will be six that loves trains (both excursions and the model train variety).

We will go to the B&O Museum in Baltimore for sure. We're also going to spend at least 2 days, maybe 3, in some of the mountain areas, including some logging railroad excursions. Is Cass Scenic a "must do"? I also noticed the Durbin and Greenbrier is not too far away from Cass - is there a lot of overlap (scenery, experience), in the Durbin Rocket and the Cass Scenic trips? We're also considering either the "Castaway Caboose" of the Durbin Rocket, or the similar "stay overnight in a caboose" offerings of the Cass Scenic - any comments on one or the other? We will want to do as much hiking in the WV hills / mountains as makes sense (we love to hike here in the Washington state mountains - we're not expecting quite as dramatic mountain hiking, but pretty forest / mountain stream hiking is good anywhere).

My sister mentioned the Western Maryland railroad in Cumberland. The steam excusion sounds interesting - recommended?

We'll probably go to the Harpers Ferry Toy Train Museum while visiting some of the Harpers Ferry historical area sites.

Any special events or model railroad offerings we shouldn't miss? I haven't found anything that "pops out" while researching on the Web (including the Trains site) or in my magazine collection.

And in particular - places to consider as a "see this while on the way to" type of visit are greatly appreciated (the Trains site lists a number of places both in Maryland and West Virginia that might be possibilities - personal comments are typically more helpful than the web site info for making our final decisions). For example, we're considering whether to do an overnight trip to either the Maryland or Delaware coast, and a nice 1-2 hour break related to trains would be nice on the drive.

I know that we could spend a month doing train stuff just in Pennsylvania, but we'll save that for another trip (Steamtown, Altoona, Horseshoe, etc).

Virginia has a smaller amount of train tourism than I expected (would love to see some of the museums in Roanoke, but we probably won't have time ... and I've been to the Old Dominion Railway Museum).

Many thanks for any comments or suggestions,

Cliff

[RudyRockvilleMD]

Cliff:
Welcome to the forum. If you are staying in Shepherdstown check out the NS bridge which carries the NS H Line or what was formerly called the Shenandoah Division across the Potomac River. The place to watch or photograph NS trains in Shepherdstown is the Rumsey Memorial which is a monument to John Rumsey who invented the steamboat 11 years before Robert Fulton. To reach the park take the first north-south running street west of the NS tracks to the end, and the entrance to the park will be on your right. The NS runs approximately six trains during daylight hours on the H Line.

The Western Maryland Scenic Railway;s excursions out between Cumberland and Frostburg are highly recommended; they use a steam engine on weekends. Also check out Sandpatch which is the summit of the CSX line to Chicago over the Allegheney Mountains.The traffic seems to peak on Friday and Saturday, but it is not as busy today as in the past; it is approximately a half-hour drive from Cumberland, or approximately two hours from Shepherdstown.

The B&O Museum in Baltimore is a also must-see. It is approximately a 2 hour drive from Shepherdstown.

[chessiecat]

Cliff : Welcome to the forum !

I highly recommend Cass as I have rode the train at least a dozen times. I would gladly ride it everyday if I could.
The Durban & Greenbrier is definitly on my list of places and things to do this summer. I have been through the area that this train runs and it is pretty country,but then all of that area is fantastic! I understand that there are several different trains that you can ride and I guess making up my mind will be hard to do. What the heck I might ride all of them!

Well I hope you can visit at least Cass,W.V. as I am sure you and your family will enjoy it. [:)] Jim

[cnw4001]

All four railroad attractions in the Cass area are more than worth the time. If you can take the trip all the way to the top on Cass it is worthwhile but the Whittaker Station trip is no slouch either. You can stay in one of the "company" houses at Cass which have been outfitted with all the modern conveniences and that would make an excellent base for hiking and train watching at the same time.

Another very interesting thing near Cass is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. (I may have the title slightly off.) There you will see the huge radio telescopes, some of the largest in the US and they have a very interesting visitor center. You pass the site on the way to Cass.

I've not ridden the three Durban area lines but understand they are quite good.

In addition to the WM Scenic investigate the Potomac Eagle at Berkley (I thnk that's the location?) as it is worthwhile as well.

A search will produce URL's for these attractions and more details as to operating hours and such.

[PNWRMNM]

If you have any interest in logging railroads, geared locomotives or shays, Cass is a must ride. Did it many years ago and still rememeber it well. I am not familiar t\with the others except B&O Museum, which is fascinating for the really old equipment, but I doubt it will be more than one day visit.

Mac

[jsoderq]

I hope you realize these places are not next door to each other. Cumberland is a goodly distance from Sherpardstown as is Cass. That is an awfully long time on the road for a 6 year old. Where did you find the reference to the Toy Train Museum, which I believe is no longer there. I helped build it way back in the 80's..

[cliffg]

Thanks for the good comments! A few replies, newest first:

jsoderq: "I hope you realize these places are not next door to each other."

Yes - we're not doing all of this in one day (we'll be visiting for a week and a half). If we do the WM, that will probably be the main activity for that day. Cass and / or Durbin is at least a 2 day, more likely 3 day trip with 2 nights away from my sisters home.

The Toy Train Museum is listed in the Trains web site list of tourist railroads. I know something is still there, since my sister mentioned there's a train related attraction as part of the Harpers Ferry museum.

So far it sounds like Cass is the leading candidate for geared steam and logging railroads (specially with the "company house" overnighting). It seemed like (from the websites) that Cass and the Durbin Rocket had quite a bit of "overlap" in scenery / experience ... of course if we have the time and budget we can always do both.

CNW4001, thanks for the NRAO suggestion - that's exactly the kind of variety we would all enjoy.

RudyRockvilleMD, thanks for the local suggestions - that's exactly what I'm looking for (Nathan is still too young for dedicated "by the rail" trainwatching, but he loves going to parks / beaches / etc where a mainline is nearby and will take a break from his play to watch a big consist go by). We're definitely going to the B&O museum, and most likely the WM for a day trip.

Cliff