Without a doubt the coolest train whistle I've ever heard. The guy on the wistle is a real artist ! My 2 year old grandson loves this video & I do too. West Virginia is a beautiful state.
My grandpa always loved these. I never saw one moving until now, so I never really understood the attraction. We were both gearheads, but I didn't understand why he didn't prefer the larger steam engines, like the UP Big Boy, or one of the other mallets. Watching this one, I can understand why he liked these so much.
What you're hearing with the whistling is the engineer telling his train crew what he wants them to do, as well as warnings for crossings and people in the area. This train appears to have its brakes operated by hand, so among the whistle signal set are signals telling the brakemen when to adjust them. Steam locomotives typically operate their whistles at boiler pressure, and have their pitch determined by supply pressure and whistle geometry. Usually a skilled engineer gets a feel for the whistle cord on his engine and can make the wide variety of sounds you hear with it.
It's really good that this unique line is operating with these incredible Shay locos; many otherwise knowledgeable people have never heard that there were such amazing engines. Definitely a railway to see!
My family went to Cass, WV in the late 1970's & rode the train that surrounds the town. My father is a train enthusiast. What a wonderful idyllic town! Of course, most of WV is breathtakingly beautiful. Thanx 4 the memories.
From what I've read, they were designed for logging RRs in mountainous terrain. Because every wheel is driven with this design, they can handle much steeper grades & navigate poorer quality track without derailing. I saw one of these when I was younger, it was an awesome sight. All steam engines have visible moving parts but the amount that these have is insane!
I have been fortunate enough to have ridden the Cass Railroad on one of these majestic pieces. As much as I love flying, trains come a very close second.
These guys are probably the best I've ever heard at playing a whistle out. Some of the whistles themselves aren't that pleasing, but the guy on the other side of the string can definitely make it talk!
I love these whistles. I was lucky enough to be a kid and hear the Night of Ghost Whistles on Bald Knob in Cass, WV. Eerie and haunting, but absolutely magical. You could hear it echo for miles.
I can't stop watching this video. Huge locomotive + flatbed log carriers + caboose + awesome steam whistle = me and my Son (2yrs old) just looooooove this video. Thank you for filming and posting it. HD too, whew! Fantastic.
That's the greatest train whistle I ever heard. What is it that's so cool about those old trains? They're almost like seeing an old friend or something. Awesome.
Sorry about the necro, but I think it has something to do with the fact that with steam locomotives, you can actually see the motion of the connecting rods and pistons. Visually, there's a lot more going on.
The Cass Steam Railroad came very close to being scrapped in the early 1960s. It had been an operating lumber business for 50+ years but they had cut all the Spruce trees off the mountains, so the railroad was no longer needed. Thanks to Governor Cecil Underwood the Cass Railroad became a WV State Park, then later a historic landmark. The Shay engines were saved and fixed up like new, & for 50 years now people can enjoy riding authentic steam locomotives up to Bald Knob mountain and back!
Man, I just can NOT get over that soulful, haunting whistle... It has this deep, moving effect on me that ain't a whole hell of a lot that compares. ♥ If I try, I can do a decent job of emulating this. I can't explain it well since it's more of a feeling than a thought, but it's just... Cathartic, in a way; like letting something out that you didn't know NEEDED out. .... That's probs gonna sound weird to peeps that don't quite get it, but eh. As many people as there is, SOMEONE'S gotta relate. :D
It's something to experience, but OH MY GOD is it LOUD! I rode in the cab of #7 and #11 for a parts trip I did back in 2003, and it was just a little shy of painful for how loud it was in the cab. I knew they were loud from the ground, and being further up the train, but in the cab was unbelievably loud. God Bless those men!
I've been a train lover since my teenage years...in the 1960's. And now at age 65. I aim to make sure my 5 grandchildren get to visit, and ride on one of those Glorious Old Works of Art before I leave this world.
Ha don't know how I ended up here either but I sure love riding next to trains parallel, and I do believe in Steam powered. Look at that, shaft drive steam engine, what a beautiful sight of all the mechanics, made in a time before computers, just smart dudes.
This type of loco was designed for steep and irregular track as used in mountain logging regions. The engine (cylinders) can run at a good, even speed, and the gearing makes for a strong, easy pull on rough and steeper grades.
I´m 71 and had never seen before this type of locomotive. When young I used to travel to the beach in steam locomotives often in the summer, they were very old already, came from England I think, but they were the other type and were bigger. I´m from the Yucatan Peninsula SE of Mexico. Nice video.
I'm 13 and your lucky I'm a steam fan as well but I will never get to see as Much steam locomotives as you did and also maby the reason you never saw any of these is because it's a wester loco :) but as I was saying, I'm a steam fan as well and I have a layout with many tyco locomotives. I have 3 engines that have a logging rout to bad I won't get to see as much real ones as up you did. I live in newton so not a lot happens in my life.....
I believe so. That is why signals and whistle talk became so vital. Also why diesel-electric locomotive were so popular when introduced to the railroad market.
Nice video I was a brakeman there that year, now I plan the event and over the tours. These are beautiful machines and I love each and everyone! renegadeoflife87 yes the train whistle does give us brakeman and the conductor signals but we manually operate the brakes with no real whistle signals from the engineer except in certain areas, we learn the route and go from there. Very rewarding and unique job.
Lima Locomotive Works, Inc., engineered the Shay to be practical in the cab; wood- and coal-fired versions (e.g., the Mower Lumber Company Class C's shown this video) give the fireman all the maneuvering room needed to spot-hod fresh fuel to specific points on the firebox grate. The engineer has excellent forward vision and short reach to all controls.
what was different about these engines was the fact they used soft driver wheels where the conventional design used hard cast driver wheels . the soft axles bit into the rails and did not need a sand mill as they bit into the rails with much less slippage. the trade off was they had to have their traction drive axles rebuilt quicker but the the tracks held up a lot longer than with hard driver wheels using sand to traction boost.
In a Shay the pistons are mounted on the left side and are up and down. They turn a rod that links to all of the wheels with a beveled gear. VS Standard steam engine, the pistons are on both sides mounted horizontally. The pistons directly drive the wheels. The Shay is designed for slow speed which increases its climbing power. Perfect for inclined track in the mountains.
Ive been and ridden. If you havent, you are missing a great thrill, not to be duplicated anywhere. Ridden several steam railroads in the US and they are all different in many ways. When you have time, go, and share in the memories. Your kids wont ever forget it either.
What an awesome piece of machinery! My head is still trying to grasp the lack of the typical giant drive wheels one finds on a steam locomotive. Gorgeous scenery to be working in as well.
I wish my grampa was still around he would have loved to see these kinds of videos. He had all kinds of lionel trains and track, and a very neat display. Wish I new about youtube back then. Thank You for sharing this beautiful video with us train fans.
Shays use bevel gears to transfer power from the drive shaft to the wheels. All wheels on the locomotive and tender provide traction. There are some universal joints in the drive shaft so it can flex in places. The engine has three cylinders and you can see that each has two cams as part of the valve gear. Other types of geared locos include the Heisler and the Climax. They use different arrangements of cylinders, cranks, and transmission than the Shays and each other.
It was widely maintained among the loggers out west that a Shay locomotive could climb a tree if it wanted to. Glad to see that there are still some of the type in operating condition. I had wondered for some time how they looked when in motion, since the old photographs are not clear on the mechanism motions.
Great video, nicely put together. I forgot how good the whistles are! All of my childhood videos the whistles were over modulated because they're so loud!
This is an amazing sequence of videos. The locomotive is a fantastic piece of machinery. It's worth preserving for the whistle alone an eerie evocation of times long past. Marvellous.
A wonderful video. Great locations, cool engines and much steam. Everything well filmed and edited. I enjoyed especially the detailed clips of the crankshaft and driving shaft of the shay. Thumbs up! :)
My special needs son and I really like Shays too! I personally like their 3 pistons on the right side that move up and down instead of side to side, I think it is a very interesting mechanical system!
The Shays shown here could haul one heck of a lot more than is being shown; those three flatcars loaded with short-sawn oldgrowth logs are mostly just for show and really a pretty light load. Consists of twenty or more such cars each loaded with ten or so whole ten to twenty-foot-long topped and bottomed timber were the common load for such trains, back when these engines were the in their heyday (which was not that long ago, such were still in regular use on some logging lines as late as the mid-1950s).
OMG, this was AWESOME! I think i want to do an HO LAYOUT with just Shays! I loved this video and would love to visit this place. Thanks a million for the coolest shay video EVER!
Very nice vid. thank you for sharing. I go up to Cass at least every other year to take a ride. You video has me ready to go again, as soon as they open for the year. Those whistles give me chills down my spine. Love it.
"What a fantastic and awesome video, could only imagine living in those hills with the sound of "Old #5" coming around the bend, love that horn!!!, thank you for sharing"!!! 😉☺😎
Loved this vid! This is the first one I've seen in action myself. It's a weird engine to be sure with its vertical pistons and "offset" boiler. I see that the tender when used is actually part of the drive train. I find that interesting to say the least. So are the drive wheels on the right tied to the wheels on the left through the axle or are the left side wheels "free spinning"?
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Without a doubt the coolest train whistle I've ever heard. The guy on the wistle is a real artist ! My 2 year old grandson loves this video & I do too. West Virginia is a beautiful state.
My Dad was a fireman on one of these and could make a whistle sing , this brought a tear to my eye and great memories of wonderful times,THANK YOU!!!!
My grandpa always loved these. I never saw one moving until now, so I never really understood the attraction. We were both gearheads, but I didn't understand why he didn't prefer the larger steam engines, like the UP Big Boy, or one of the other mallets.
Watching this one, I can understand why he liked these so much.
What you're hearing with the whistling is the engineer telling his train crew what he wants them to do, as well as warnings for crossings and people in the area. This train appears to have its brakes operated by hand, so among the whistle signal set are signals telling the brakemen when to adjust them.
Steam locomotives typically operate their whistles at boiler pressure, and have their pitch determined by supply pressure and whistle geometry. Usually a skilled engineer gets a feel for the whistle cord on his engine and can make the wide variety of sounds you hear with it.
What's cooler than a steam locomotive whistle? The echoing whistle of a geared steam locomotive! Love the scenery too!
It's really good that this unique line is operating with these incredible Shay locos; many otherwise knowledgeable people have never heard that there were such amazing engines.
Definitely a railway to see!
There are a lot of many beautiful steam locomotives, along with the ones at the Cass Scenic Railroad.
My family went to Cass, WV in the late 1970's & rode the train that surrounds the town. My father is a train enthusiast. What a wonderful idyllic town! Of course, most of WV is breathtakingly beautiful. Thanx 4 the memories.
ONE OF MY OLD CHILDHOOD VIDEOS ❤ THAT I NEVER FORGET...
From what I've read, they were designed for logging RRs in mountainous terrain. Because every wheel is driven with this design, they can handle much steeper grades & navigate poorer quality track without derailing. I saw one of these when I was younger, it was an awesome sight. All steam engines have visible moving parts but the amount that these have is insane!
The Shays broke conventions in steam locomotive construction in so many ways. Way ahead of it's time!
I love the sound of #5's whistle. Just echos in the wilderness so lovely
I have been fortunate enough to have ridden the Cass Railroad on one of these majestic pieces. As much as I love flying, trains come a very close second.
These guys are probably the best I've ever heard at playing a whistle out. Some of the whistles themselves aren't that pleasing, but the guy on the other side of the string can definitely make it talk!
That's the most mournful whistle I've ever heard, beautiful.
It´s moving ,smoking,stinking and whistling..it´s great!!!And this whistle sounds like in old songs from Jimmy Rodgers!!!Beautiful!
I'm not really a train person or anything, not sure how I ended up here in fact. But, jeez, that whistle echoing is haunting... Beautiful.
I love these whistles. I was lucky enough to be a kid and hear the Night of Ghost Whistles on Bald Knob in Cass, WV. Eerie and haunting, but absolutely magical. You could hear it echo for miles.
Loved the Shay passing the F unit and BL-2 lashup. Her whistle alongside the diesel horns was quite a sound.
Genuine proof that steam locomotives are not just machines... They are living, breathing beasts!
Marvelous video!
I can't stop watching this video. Huge locomotive + flatbed log carriers + caboose + awesome steam whistle = me and my Son (2yrs old) just looooooove this video. Thank you for filming and posting it. HD too, whew! Fantastic.
I've watched this 828 times my son who is 2 yrs old wants to see it every day!
The enginier is a true musician, the music he makes with the whistles are just haunting!
That's the greatest train whistle I ever heard. What is it that's so cool about those old trains? They're almost like seeing an old friend or something. Awesome.
Pardon the necropoke, but that couldn't be more accurate if you tried. :)
Sorry about the necro, but I think it has something to do with the fact that with steam locomotives, you can actually see the motion of the connecting rods and pistons. Visually, there's a lot more going on.
I last watched this video back in 2011, when I was 6 years old, this brings me back.
The Cass Steam Railroad came very close to being scrapped in the early 1960s.
It had been an operating lumber business for 50+ years but they had cut all the
Spruce trees off the mountains, so the railroad was no longer needed.
Thanks to Governor Cecil Underwood the Cass Railroad became a WV State
Park, then later a historic landmark. The Shay engines were saved and fixed
up like new, & for 50 years now people can enjoy riding authentic steam
locomotives up to Bald Knob mountain and back!
Man, I just can NOT get over that soulful, haunting whistle... It has this deep, moving effect on me that ain't a whole hell of a lot that compares. ♥ If I try, I can do a decent job of emulating this. I can't explain it well since it's more of a feeling than a thought, but it's just... Cathartic, in a way; like letting something out that you didn't know NEEDED out.
.... That's probs gonna sound weird to peeps that don't quite get it, but eh. As many people as there is, SOMEONE'S gotta relate. :D
Road on this line quite a few times back in the 80's. Miss it!
Wow, this thing's got more power sitting still than all of the diesels got with the hammer down and full throttle
Fascinating! I'm 60 years old and never saw geared steam locomotive. Very nice video. Thanks for post.
listen to that whistle cry , bloody beautiful
makes me want to return to the days when America built the real deal. I could fall asleep to the marvelous sound of a Shay locomotive whistle.
It's something to experience, but OH MY GOD is it LOUD! I rode in the cab of #7 and #11 for a parts trip I did back in 2003, and it was just a little shy of painful for how loud it was in the cab. I knew they were loud from the ground, and being further up the train, but in the cab was unbelievably loud. God Bless those men!
I've been a train lover since my teenage years...in the 1960's. And now at age 65. I aim to make sure my 5 grandchildren get to visit, and ride on one of those Glorious Old Works of Art before I leave this world.
Ha don't know how I ended up here either but I sure love riding next to trains parallel, and I do believe in Steam powered. Look at that, shaft drive steam engine, what a beautiful sight of all the mechanics, made in a time before computers, just smart dudes.
I like the triple-piston engine on the side, never seen anything like that on a train before. Love the turbine-like whirring noise at 6:40!
This type of loco was designed for steep and irregular track as used in mountain logging regions. The engine (cylinders) can run at a good, even speed, and the gearing makes for a strong, easy pull on rough and steeper grades.
I´m 71 and had never seen before this type of locomotive. When young I used to travel to the beach in steam locomotives often in the summer, they were very old already, came from England I think, but they were the other type and were bigger. I´m from the Yucatan Peninsula SE of Mexico. Nice video.
I'm 13 and your lucky I'm a steam fan as well but I will never get to see as Much steam locomotives as you did and also maby the reason you never saw any of these is because it's a wester loco :) but as I was saying, I'm a steam fan as well and I have a layout with many tyco locomotives. I have 3 engines that have a logging rout to bad I won't get to see as much real ones as up you did. I live in newton so not a lot happens in my life.....
Also, now WE have the biggest locomotives we got the challenger and the big boy is near down with its restoration.
I believe so. That is why signals and whistle talk became so vital. Also why diesel-electric locomotive were so popular when introduced to the railroad market.
Love to hear a steam engines song echo through the hills and the trees and the plains and the mountains...
Nice video I was a brakeman there that year, now I plan the event and over the tours. These are beautiful machines and I love each and everyone! renegadeoflife87
yes the train whistle does give us brakeman and the conductor signals but we manually operate the brakes with no real whistle signals from the engineer except in certain areas, we learn the route and go from there. Very rewarding and unique job.
Eye catching screenplay and beautiful clear video. The shriek whistling of the steam locomotive is reminiscent of the golden days of Steam Trains.
Lima Locomotive Works, Inc., engineered the Shay to be practical in the cab; wood- and coal-fired versions (e.g., the Mower Lumber Company Class C's shown this video) give the fireman all the maneuvering room needed to spot-hod fresh fuel to specific points on the firebox grate. The engineer has excellent forward vision and short reach to all controls.
what was different about these engines was the fact they used soft driver wheels where the conventional design used hard cast driver wheels . the soft axles bit into the rails and did not need a sand mill as they bit into the rails with much less slippage. the trade off was they had to have their traction drive axles rebuilt quicker but the the tracks held up a lot longer than with hard driver wheels using sand to traction boost.
In a Shay the pistons are mounted on the left side and are up and down. They turn a rod that links to all of the wheels with a beveled gear. VS Standard steam engine, the pistons are on both sides mounted horizontally. The pistons directly drive the wheels. The Shay is designed for slow speed which increases its climbing power. Perfect for inclined track in the mountains.
Beautifully composed filming. Magnificent scenery. Great locomotives and I loved those whistles. Full of character!
That whistle though. Sounds great.
I love the singing of that whistle!
This is one of the best that I have come across,Wish I could see IT
Learn somethin new everyday, I want that job! I'm more into antique motorcycles, but I'd love a steam one!
Ive been and ridden. If you havent, you are missing a great thrill, not to be duplicated anywhere. Ridden several steam railroads in the US and they are all different in many ways. When you have time, go, and share in the memories. Your kids wont ever forget it either.
There is something sweet about a Shay Geared under full load & straining with its load up an incline.
What an impressive machine! And I didn't think geared steam locomotives ever caught on.
fantastic video,never seen a geared engine ,thank you for keeping the engines alive
What an awesome piece of machinery! My head is still trying to grasp the lack of the typical giant drive wheels one finds on a steam locomotive. Gorgeous scenery to be working in as well.
Hands down Cass is one of the greatest locations in the world!!!
Worldwide Railfan Productions not only that but the whistle quilling is amazing
I wish my grampa was still around he would have loved to see these kinds of videos. He had all kinds of lionel trains and track, and a very neat display. Wish I new about youtube back then. Thank You for sharing this beautiful video with us train fans.
Shays use bevel gears to transfer power from the drive shaft to the wheels. All wheels on the locomotive and tender provide traction. There are some universal joints in the drive shaft so it can flex in places. The engine has three cylinders and you can see that each has two cams as part of the valve gear. Other types of geared locos include the Heisler and the Climax. They use different arrangements of cylinders, cranks, and transmission than the Shays and each other.
It was widely maintained among the loggers out west that a Shay locomotive could climb a tree if it wanted to.
Glad to see that there are still some of the type in operating condition. I had wondered for some time how they looked when in motion, since the old photographs are not clear on the mechanism motions.
I've only ever seen Shay's static in a museum. Would be interesting to see one live, but great video :)
They’re quite a nice site. I’ve gotten to see them a lot in NH on the Clark’s Trading Post.
I remember watching this when I was a kid
Great video. Nice equipment and scenery, but what I really enjoyed was the engineer's
artistry on his steam whistles. Thx.
Beautifully shot video. Lovely old locos. Great fun. 5*
Mit Abstand das Beste was ich eisenbahnmäßig in Amerika je gesehen habe.
Shay locos are unique in everyway
I like the whistles at Cass. :) Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for posting this. I have never seen a geared locomotive, and I have been around this business for over 35 years now. Fascinating. Randal
I'm over 50 year, and have never seen such a Loco
the whistle almost sounds like a warcry . excellent video.
Glad I'm not the only that thought so.
+escobarl103 ,dc xx ,W2special x weather
Great video, nicely put together. I forgot how good the whistles are! All of my childhood videos the whistles were over modulated because they're so loud!
Nostalgia hits harder then a train with this video :)
GREAT VIDEO! What a beautiful train.
This is an amazing sequence of videos. The locomotive is a fantastic piece of machinery. It's worth preserving for the whistle alone an eerie evocation of times long past. Marvellous.
1:40 2:20 Formula 1 Sounds Whistle Steam Train
What a, beautiful machine. Love the idea, never ever seen such a locomotive.
A wonderful video. Great locations, cool engines and much steam. Everything well filmed and edited. I enjoyed especially the detailed clips of the crankshaft and driving shaft of the shay. Thumbs up! :)
Beautiful. I too have never seen a locomotive with a drivetrain like that. Learned something new today. Thanks
That is a very good video. I love the final bit of the video on that corner that was great
Always loved these engines thanks to the gear system they can really put the power to the rails.
My special needs son and I really like Shays too! I personally like their 3 pistons on the right side that move up and down instead of side to side, I think it is a very interesting mechanical system!
Best steam engine train video I've seen. Good job on positioning the camera. Great whistle sounds.
Thanks.
GREAT VIDEO !!! One of the BEST looking & very unique running engines around...."The Ephraim Shay"... AWESOME !!!
The sound of the whistle is just so haunting
Awesome sights and sounds, I'd love to visit this line.
That is one Beautiful whistle
Great video. Great whistle. I loved the image at 2:20 as it came around a bend. Thank you for posting this unique treasure.
It makes me tear up and I can't explain it. I guess I pine for those simpler days. Thanks very much. Beautiful.
wow these steam engine designes are sooo rare to today (even in museums) im really surprised that they still have these running
The Shays shown here could haul one heck of a lot more than is being shown; those three flatcars loaded with short-sawn oldgrowth logs are mostly just for show and really a pretty light load. Consists of twenty or more such cars each loaded with ten or so whole ten to twenty-foot-long topped and bottomed timber were the common load for such trains, back when these engines were the in their heyday (which was not that long ago, such were still in regular use on some logging lines as late as the mid-1950s).
alors là ! je n'avais encore jamais vu de locomotive de ce type , c'est formidable !
I remember watching this when I was 4
SAME!!!
OMG, this was AWESOME! I think i want to do an HO LAYOUT with just Shays! I loved this video and would love to visit this place. Thanks a million for the coolest shay video EVER!
Trains are such a masterpiece of engineering and craftsmanship
Imagine having a train powered by a triple expansion machine
Very nice vid. thank you for sharing. I go up to Cass at least every other year to take a ride. You video has me ready to go again, as soon as they open for the year. Those whistles give me chills down my spine. Love it.
Fascinating train and beautiful scenery - great video! My great-grandfather worked on the railroad in Cass, WV around 1910.
Thankyou for this great footage! My 2 year old son and I watch it and we are both mesmerised by it.
What is it about Geared shays that's just so...Magical...
Their whistles!
There unique design :D
"What a fantastic and awesome video, could only imagine living in those hills with the sound of "Old #5" coming around the bend, love that horn!!!, thank you for sharing"!!! 😉☺😎
loved it at the end when you see the f7 unit at the end of that fright line
Great view of a shay locomotive in action.
Loved this vid! This is the first one I've seen in action myself. It's a weird engine to be sure with its vertical pistons and "offset" boiler. I see that the tender when used is actually part of the drive train. I find that interesting to say the least. So are the drive wheels on the right tied to the wheels on the left through the axle or are the left side wheels "free spinning"?