Wow - what a trip! A week of trains: from Virginia, to North Carolina, to Tennessee, to West Virginia, finally ending up in Pennsylvania. Doug Matheson had started planning this trip over two years ago and it finally came together. Great weather, great friends, and great times! Saturday, Doug and Gaétan Charette drove down to my place where we had a chance to operate a bit on the J&B.
There was also time to relax; each of us enjoyed our favorite beverage.
Doug created some switching problems for me; unfortunately, I failed all the tests. 
Sunday dawned and we were off to North Carolina. Road Trip!
We stopped over at Matt Brown’s and ran a bit on the Slate Creek.
On Monday we went over to the North Carolina Transportation Museum, home of the Spencer Shops. They have a nice collection there, but the highlight of our visit was being able to crawl over ET&WNC Combine #15. We spent well over an hour inside and out. The combine is in very rough condition, but it is being restored; we really enjoyed viewing this historical treasure.
You can just imagine taking a trip on this beauty…well, maybe a few decades back.
We headed down to the roundhouse, but before we got there, Ric and Jan Golding arrived.
The roundhouse has a neat collection of locomotives and lots of other exhibits.
Ric, Jan, and Gaétan finished off the visit with a cab ride; and of course we needed our obligatory picture at the historical marker.
Tuesday we first visited the Cradle of Forestry; an unlikely spot for a railroad itinerary. But here we first found a portable sawmill.
Just beyond that was the Climax that looks a LOT like the Bachmann model.
Next we met Matt over at the Doe River Gorge, along the route of the ET&WNC. Matt had arranged a speeder ride for us along the original right of way and we started at tunnel #2 and traveled past tunnel #3.
We stopped at historic Pardee point and shot many pictures.
The track is rough in spots, but was quite a ride. The speeder was electric, so it was fairly quiet and our guide provided lots of historical background. But, there came a time when we had to leave the speeder and go on foot. Rocks cover the track and they really don’t have the funds to clear them.
But, our foot travel was stopped by a bridge that sure didn’t look safe enough to walk on.
Before we left Boone on Wednesday, we went over to see Tweetsie. Tim Smith was the engineer for the day and we got lots of pictures of #12.
After our brief visit, we started the long drive to Cass, WV. That evening, we went over to Durbin to view the equipment on display.
Thursday was our day at Cass and we had a nice ride up to Bald Knob on #6. They had 6 engines steamed up that day: 5 Shays, and one Heisler. We also got a great shop tour.
Friday, we left Cass and headed up to Altoona. We visited the Horseshoe Curve and in our short time there saw 6 neat trains. The viewing platform is quite close to the trains.
Saturday morning we headed over to the East Broad Top for our final Narrow Gauge stop. Naturally, I had to get some pictures of the steel boxcars there.
It’s a wonderful area to just wander around and explore.
#15 was old but ran just fine.
