Gilkar wrote:
Started to go balmy during the lull in the pandemic in October. So we took a family trip to ride the Cass Scenic Railroad in Cass, WV to Bald Knob. A 4 hour trip with a provided box lunch in open railway cars. The weather did not cooperate. It was cold, rainy, and very foggy with no views. On the way to Cass, we went through the small town of Durbin. In the center of Durbin, we noticed a steam train depot. From the looks of the depot, it seemed that Durbin tried to be a copy of the Cass railroad model but without success. As we drove through the town center we noticed several steam locomotives off to the right under a full head of steam. We stopped and spent a half-hour taking pictures. These snapshots, (no art here), were taken with my trusty P-900 my go-to, all in one, vacation camera. The buildings photographed are right on the main street through Durbin. Not sure if I would stay in the hotel. The last photo shows the town's attempt to copy the Cass model.
Started to go balmy during the lull in the pandemi... (
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Durbin is currently home base for a short steam powered train ride along the Greenbrier River operated by the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley RR. They also operate much longer trains out of Elkins, WV, and are currently the operator of the trains at Cass. Long term plans are to finish track work on washed out portions of the former C&O along the river and re-connect Cass and Durbin. A standard gauge 2-8-0 locomotive is currently in the Cass shop being re-built to power these trains along the river. I suspect things are slow in Durbin with the end of the tourist season. Cass homes were re-built for tourist lodging as part of its State Park status. No such luck in Durbin-it is what is left of the original town-once an interchange point between the Western Maryland & C&O railroads. My dad was born there in 1930 when his father was C&O operator/agent at the depot in your photos.