MountainRail — Attraction in Elkins

We did the Wild West trip to Durbin. When booking this trip it clearly stated it was from 10am to 3:30pm. We then planned the rest of our day and vacation around this time frame. We drove 3.5 hours to get to Cass and were really excited for the first part of our weekend. Seeing the steam engine was neat! The station has an amazing gift shop and it's very nostalgic. The ride to Durbin was slow scenic trip along the river though the only wildlife we saw was a Great Blue Heron and a snapping turtle. The staged train robbery was awesome! The actors were all in period clothing and rode in on horses guns blazing! It was a really cool experience. Once in Durbin they served a cold cut lunch with a drink and we had a chance to get off the train for a bit. The only place to purchase anything in town is in the gift shop which has a VERY limited selection for drinks and snacks for the ride home but you can get ice cream there. Before we left town they staged a bank robbery and we boarded again for the ride home. Again, we expected to be back by 3:30 as we had an hour car ride ahead of us for a 5pm reservation in another town. At a snails pace we headed back towards Cass. When I say slow...a 3 legged dog could have out-paced the train. You'd think on the ride back they'd pick up the pace a smidge but they don't. At 3:30 (remember we were supposed to be back at this time) I asked a staff member if we were close to the station and she said NO! She tells us that it's more than another hour back to the station!!! I was shocked and extremely upset at this point. We sat at a table top in banquet style metal chairs with 2 kids. To say it was uncomfortable and extremely boring on the ride back would be an understatement. Then to find out the trip was going to run THAT much over was infuriating. The only bathroom on the train ran out of toilet paper not long after we left town so women were forced to hold it. They don't mention that it's a good idea to bring a small cooler for the long ride or to bring cash to purchase limited water on the train. So, we were stuck with no bathroom, no drinks or snacks, and absolutely nothing to do or see as we were stuck on the side that had a mountain wall on the way back. If that didn't make things bad enough a giant tree fell on the tracks which held us up even longer. Did I mention there's absolutely no signal? Miles and miles of no signal down there so we couldn't call, text, or email our host for the 5 o'clock reservation OR keep ourselves or the kids occupied while we crawled back to the station. We finally pulled back into Cass at 5:30!! Not 3:30...or even 4! No, 5:30!! Seven and half hours on that train felt like being held hostage! The moral of the story is this: Take a map or written directions. GPS won't help! You will enjoy stepping back in time and getting to experience a staged train heist. The actors were very friendly and did a great job. Do not plan to be back as stated at 3:30 and allow up to 3 hour window for yourself to get back to the station. Do not choose table seating! It's uncomfortable and jam packed. When you're sitting in your chair you can turn your head and tell a secret to the passenger behind you. And if you're a bigger person you're going to hate your life for the next 7+ hours. Pack a bag! Please!! Bring cards, board games, a small pillow, download videos if you have to! Anything to bust up the time on the ride back. Snacks and hard candy... it's gonna be a long trip. BRING TOILET PAPER, you'll thank me later. Load up a small cooler because you won't have anything to drink for the 6+ hours your butt is stuck in a seat. Consider bringing a nice sized chain saw! The one the guy has on the train is like 12" and if anything larger than a branch falls on the tracks you're gonna need your own STIHL to get back home. Lastly, bring headphones because of your luck's like mine you will get stuck on a car with a lady that talks loud enough so EVERYONE can hear her tell her entire life story in 7 hours. Trust me, I'm telling you from...

My family and I took the Cass Scenic Railroad up to Bald Knob this past weekend. As a child I took this trip multiple times with my parents and siblings and this year we returned with my parents and my husband and young son who loves trains. It was a joy to take this ride and experience it through the lens of my son's experience and I am very thankful that the State of WV has taken the resources to preserve this railroad. The whole experience was very easy. The ticket booking was simple, ticket collection at the train station was easy and everything was well organized. As far as recommendations for the trip - the train is very loud, we brought ear protection (for myself and my husband and my son). I would definitely recommend this if you have young children. A lunch is provided, it is very simple, a build your own sandwich and a couple sides. We brought a few extra snacks because it is a long train ride and we had a toddler. The ride up is long but there is plenty of opportunity to get up and move around your train car. We did go in mid May so it was a bit cool at the top of the mountain, I would recommend an extra layer of clothing just to be on the safe side. Another recommendation would be that if you plan to get any souvenirs then I would get them before the train ride or promptly after the train ride. After we got back to the station we watched the historical video then planned to got to the station gift shop to browse but they were closed by the time we finally got down there. This is not a complaint, we weren't really at a loss of anything and we certainly weren't moving fast - it's just a note, if you want souvenirs then don't wait too long like we did. Thankfully the gift shop attached to the restaurant was still open so we did still get some memorabilia. All in all, a fun family experience, (and for me a trip down memory lane) that I would certainly recommend to any family that has children (or adults) that love trains. The engine that we had, Engine 6, was beautiful and well maintained. It was an intense sensory experience - all the train noises, the smell of burning coal, and the rattling...

Greenbrier Express from Cass to Durbin: This was a very disappointing train ride. We had looked forward to it for months. It cost $175 for two tickets, which included lunch at a small town with 5-6 businesses, two of which you were given your lunch from. Your stop there is for an hour to eat a cold cut lunch. There is an ice cream shop that has souvenirs, but that is about all other than a campground close by. On the train ride that travels about 10 miles per hour, one side of the train the guests look mainly at the side of the mountain or wooded areas in hopes to see wildlife. When you travel back to to the depot you look at the opposite side which would be the creek/river that runs next to the tracks. You might see ducks, a goose or two, people waving at you. About an 1 1/2 hours into the ride, plan to stop for 30 minutes for the train to fill up with water and grease the wheels, which isn't announced prior or anywhere before you buy your ticket. If you don't want to be bored - you should bring your own entertainment. I looked around at the faces of the fellow train guests and saw how extremely bored everyone was. It made me think they regretted their choice to purchase the ticket. As far as the seating. Don't expect luxury comfort. You will sit at a dinner style table, with a straight chair for a total of 4 1/2 hours round trip. I hope this post saves a couple $175 because I wish I would have been told before purchasing tickets, we would have spent our anniversary time doing something...