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  • West Virginia- The New Tygart Flyer

  • Discussion related to railroad activities past and present in West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennesee, Alabama, Arkansas and Loiusiana. For discussion specific to Washington, D.C/DelMarVa, please click here.
Discussion related to railroad activities past and present in West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennesee, Alabama, Arkansas and Loiusiana. For discussion specific to Washington, D.C/DelMarVa, please click here.
 #955735  by WSH
 
I just wanted to do a little write up on the New Tygart Flyer now that I've actually been on the trip

Here's what their website has to say:

This ride features two separate mountain grades, an “S” curve tunnel, passage into a 1,500 feet deep canyon with steep, densely forested slopes, and a high bridge over the rushing Shavers Fork of the Cheat River.

This smooth climate-controlled passenger train has gained a reputation as one of the most exciting mountain wilderness excursion rides in the US. The 4-hour, 46 mile round trip departs at 11 AM from the restored Elkins Depot on Railroad Avenue.

This trip culminates at the inspirational “High Falls of Cheat,” an 18’ high, 150’ wide waterfall in one of the most remote and pristine settings in the Eastern United States. So for a comfortable ride through spectacular mountain wilderness on a vintage passenger train, come ride along with us on the NEW TYGART FLYER!
http://mountainrailwv.com/choose-a-train/tygart-flyer

My family and I took this train on Saturday, July 23rd. Our gang consisted of myself, my wife, our 3 kids (aged 1,3, and 5) my mother and my grandmother. My wife and kids had never been on a real train before, so I was very eager to introduce them to something that I love so much.

When we first go to the Elkins, WV Station I was greated by the two former Western Maryland F7's. They were parked right in front of the station and everyone had a good time getting a very up close look at them. After a brief wait we boarded the train and were shown to our car. You aren't given a specific seat but assigned to a car that is made up of 4 person tables (they run a lot of dinner trains too) and seating is first come first serve. All the cars were nice and clean and had AC. The train began to move at 11am sharp. My kids eyes all lit up when we pulled out of the station. After backing onto the main line we headed off to our destination, roughly 2 hours of steep grades away. I took my two oldest kids to the vestibule so they could hear some of the great sounds a train makes while climbing up the mountain. At some point we were called to lunch which consisted or a cold, make-your-own sandwitch buffet. We passed through one tunnel and went over a few smaller bridges and one final large bridge before the locomotive broke off and moved to the then rear of the train to push us up the final climb to our destination.

The destination of this trip was the High Falls of the Cheat River. If you're not taking the RR the only way to get to the falls is a at least full day hike. The "station" consisted of a small trackside shack. There were two nicely maintained trails leading to views above and below the falls. After about 25min. the whistle went off alerting us all that we better get back to the train ASAP, remember it's a days hike back to civilization if you miss the train! The ride back was as smooth as the trip up, we were back in Elkins in no time.

As were were leaving we stopped to ask the conductor if my son could see in the cab, as he had asked me a few times about where the "driver" sat. They were more than accomadating and he (and I) got a nice tour and he got to sit in the engineer's seat!

I took a lot of great photos that I will post here soon!
 #955801  by Noel Weaver
 
My experience on this ride a couple of years ago was also very positive, it is a very beautiful part of our country and it is well worth riding. Cass is not far away and I would suggest at least two or three days around these parts.
Good food and accomodations can be had close by too.
Noel Weaver
 #956067  by WSH
 
We have a cabin in Buckhannon (about 25 miles away) so I have no expierence with accomodations, but you make a great point between GDRR and Cass one could easily make for great weekend or railroading!
 #960545  by NellieBly
 
I hi-railed this line twice, in 1998 and 1999, in preparation for its transfer from CSX to the State of WV. It's a fantastic piece of railroad, although I'd counsel that you should wait until trains are running again to Spruce and Big Cut.

There are no grade crossings on the line between MP 39 at Bemis (and that's a dirt road) and MP 74 at Cheat Bridge, which may be the longest distance in the East between road crossings (there are no highway crossings of any kind, and no highways, between those two points. The Big Cut at 4066 feet is the highest mountain pass east of the Rockies. Just south of High Falls is a 29 degree curve followed by a 33 degree curve, which is why the passenger train from Elkins stops short of that point. WV Scenic used to use an Edwards railcar south of High Falls, and presumably will again. This is the "Cheat Mountain salamander".

There is a connection to the Cass Scenic at Spruce (about mile 90), and Cass has run through trains to Elkins a few times. There is, by the way, no way to drive into Spruce without four wheel drive, and even with 4WD it's rough. Our hi-rail almost got stuck fording a stream.

Beyond the Big Cut the railroad is intact and passable down to Slaty Fork (as far as we could go in the hi-rail), but there is a BIG washout just beyond the summit, with about 50 feet of track hanging in the air. Needless to say, we didn't try to negotiate it, but backed down to Spruce, set off (and almost got stuck), drove around to Slaty Fork, and headed back north from there.

Hi-rails hate to back up, by the way. The engine can overheat. We should have had a speeder.
 #961275  by WSH
 
Thanks for the aditional information. I never knew some of those statistics. Also, I do know that on very special occasions they do run special trains from Elkins to Cass. And they still do operate the Salamander as far as I know.
 #989688  by dgvrengineer
 
Just a couple of notes on the Salamander. The Salamander no longer uses the motor car. It is now 3 open window cars and a power car using 2 locomotives usually a GP9 and BL2 from Elkins to Cheat Bridge. The line beyond Cheat Bridge is out of service due to a river reclamation project that started in 2011 and is expected to take 3 years. After that, trips to Spruce and Big Cut should resume. Spruce is MP 87 and Big Cut is MP89. The washout near MP 91 has been repaired and the Salamander was actually running down to that location until another smaller washout occured near MP 90 in late 2010. The remainder of the line down to Slaty Fork (Laurel Bank) is intact until MP 101 just before Slaty Fork where a large washout has occured. I usually am the engineer of the Salamander and I must say even though it doesn't currently go all the way to Spruce it is still a beautiful ride. I never get tired of that trip.
Larry
 #997879  by WSH
 
Hey Larry!

Thanks for the updated info. I didn't know they had quit using the motor car. It's been a few years back but I had fished in and around Shaver's Fork and seen the Salamander motor car go by a few times (prehaps under your control). We have a camp in Buckhannon and now that my kids are the right age I plan on checking out all that the DGVRR has to offer. I'm still upset I missed out on the Polar Express train this season!