Sepember 28, 2016–New River Gorge

Today we headed north to a few more coal sites, but first we stopped at New River Gorge.  Despite the name, the New River is actually one of the oldest rivers in the US.  It carved out about 900 feet of gorge during its 65 million years and at one time flowed into the Mississippi River.  The last glacier buried the most northern parts, so now it empties into the Ohio River.

Yes, it flows north.  We are across some Eastern Continental Divide, we first learned of it while in Maryland and all rivers on this side flow north.  We have no idea where that Divide line runs.  The Potomac, for example flows northwest to southeast.  It is weird though to see the New River flowing north.

The noteworthy thing around here is the New River Gorge Bridge.  Quite an engineering marvel.  Built in 1977, it’s 3030 feet long and the longest, single span bridge.  West Virginia is so proud of it that it is on the West Virginia quarter.

The gorge is pretty, but doesn’t knock your socks off.  As you can see water levels are down maybe 3 feet, which likely detracts from its beauty.

We made a few stops to more coal heritage sites and learned a little more about coal.  There are two types of coal; “hard” coal or Anthracite and “soft” or Bituminous.  Hard coal is cleaner to handle and not brittle.  It is preferred where clean burn is necessary, but it is hard to light and keep lit.  Bituminous is pretty much the opposite and has given coal the bad name.  Coal quality impacts BTU, smoke, ash, and sulfur.  West Virginia’s coal is advertised as smokeless.

WV Coal has more carbon and less ash, making it most desireable.  I wonder if that is what is used for the Cass train?

The next picture is of a tipple.  This a semi modern gizmo (1920s) that transports coal to a waiting RR coal hopper car.  We found this one in Nuttallburg.  This mine is located in the New River Gorge.

This is the conveyor system that leads to the mine entrance.  The coal is transported from the mine to the tipple via this conveyor, then to the hopper car.  Now the interesting part.  Henry Ford leased this mine between 1920 and 1928.  He installed this tipple and conveyor to boost production.  Due to the brittle nature of the WV coal,  if a conveyor belt was used, the vibration would have broken down the coal and caused a high loss rates off the belt.  A belt is also failure prone.  So Henry used a trough with a disk and cable system to move the coal down the conveyor.

We thought it amazing he would come to WV for his coal.  It must have been good stuff.  He abandoned the mine after 1928 due to problems with the railroad.  The gorge was a pinch point for moving coal out of it.  Too many mines, not enough track.

The road getting us to this place was a real stinker.  Rough, narrow, tight turns, and a big embankment on one side.  You prayed you would not meet an oncoming vehicle.  Fortunately, we were lucky!

September 26 & 27, 2016–Beckley and Coal History

The scenery in West Virginia is awesome with mountain views in almost any direction; that’s good and bad.  The bad is just about anywhere you want to go, you’re going to be driving a 2 lane, often narrow, blacktop road.  So distances here are measured in time, not miles.  We are in pursuit of learning about the coal industry here which dates back to the 1870s.  Coal fueled the post Civil War Industrial Revolution and West Virginia played a huge role.  Beckley is in the center of the coal heritage trail.

A little history.  Much of West Virginia was farmland in the early 1800s, settled by immigrants from Italy, Germany, and Eastern Europe.  It was always known that West Virginia had an abundance of coal, but it was used only locally as there was no way to transport it from the region.  Then the railroads came to WV, and now they had a way to get it to market.  Coal mining took off and many of the farmers left their farms to work in the coalfields.  Farming was tough around here and many were on the brink of losing their farms.  Mining offered steady work with a regular wage.  They saw it as a way to create a better living for their families and a good future as coal mining was growing.  Jobs were so plentiful, they even encouraged friends and relatives to come to the US to share in this good fortune.

Population exploded with all the new miners and new mines opening up.  Well, it was not the paradise they hoped for.  The work was hard and dangerous.    To accomodate the huge influx of workers, the mine companies built housing they rented to the miners.  They built “towns” or coal camps that included everything the miner and his family needed; a school, church, doctor services, and a general store in each of these camps.  No need to leave and travel many miles for these amenities.  Sounds like paradise right?  Well, not so much.  The average life expentancy was 40 years.  Usually they were killed on the job or black lung got them.

The coal companies paid workers in script that could only be used in the company store.  So, the miner was paid based on the coal he produced at 20 cents per ton.  A miner could produce between 10 and 12 tons per day.   They were paid every 2 weeks.  An automatic deduction was made for the rent, plus the cost of goods purchased in the company store during prior pay periods. These items consisted of food, clothing, doctor services, tools, black powder, helmets, etc.  The companies charged high prices in the company store for these items.  If the miner did not have enough money left he could borrow it to buy these things, thus running a debt that would be paid for with next paycheck.  Yes, the “birth” of a company credit card.

Think about the song, “Sixteen Tons”, it pretty much tells the story.  It was a losing proposition.  Once the miner’s debt got high enough and he could not pay it off, the mine companies had him.  This went on for several years until the miners realized they were in a no win situation.  There were attempts at work stoppages by a few miners that were met with immediate eviction from their homes.  These workers were made examples of so others did not follow.

We’ll cover the union push later when we get to Matewan.  West Virginia has established what they call the Coal Heritage Trail and as we said, Beckley is roughly in the center.  We have travelled the southern portion that runs down to Bluefield and visited the Coal Exhibition Mine in Beckley.  First the mine.

The local funeral home did that statue.  Guess they were showing appreciation for the steady business the miners provided.

The mine in Beckley was a small family operatation.  They moved to another location and Beckley bought it for tours and education about coal mining.  At the back of the drift is the coal vein that is about 40 inches tall.  Most of the mines were less than 4 feet in height, because the veins of coal were only that wide.  Why waste the effort moving all that rock?  This mine was enlarged to accommodate our tour tram.  The men worked squatting or lying on their side.  Even today these openings are that small.

This an example of the script the workers were paid.  Each mine’s script was unique, even the shape of the hole was part of the identification.  This is a $5.00 dollar piece.  Today, there appears to be a collector’s market for these things.

This is a company store.  It has seen restoration back in the 90s, but it’s currently vacant.

As you would surmise, mine owners were West Virginia’s millionaires.  They seemed to all settle in Bramwell.  We think because of train access in Bramwell.  The homes for the most part are restored to their early 1850s appearance.

When you compare this to what the workers lived in, you can appreciate the workers’ frustration.   The owners put up the capital taking a financial risk, but you’ve got to wonder; would it kill them to let the workers earn enough to pay their necessities and own a little smaller house?

Tomorrow we head toward Ansted.

September 23, 2016–Cass Scenic Railroad

Today we drove about 50 miles south to Cass, WV to ride the vintage Cass Scenic Railroad.  Some of you heard us talk about whether to take the Cass RR, or the Tygart Flyer out of Elkins.  The Tygart Flyer is pulled by diesel locomotives and you ride in an enclosed pullman car with buffet lunch and drinks.  Or you can ride on the Cass Scenic Train, which is pulled by a steam engine.  You ride in a coverted, open air, lumber flat car and are served a sandwich.  Both are 4 hours.

Dan wanted Cass, Lynn wanted Tygart.  Well, as you can tell, Dan won!  We obtained seats in the last car, furthest from the loco, and we brought cushions to make  the ride more comfortable.  Hey, you sometimes need a little compromise,  although having a sweetie for a wife helps.   Why did Dan want the Cass Scenic RR?  Where else can you ride a steam powered train and to top it off, the engine is a Shay. 

The Shay was invented in Michigan specifically for logging.  We first learned of the Shay in Cadillac where one is located in the city park.  It has a relatively short wheelbase to handle sharp curves and has a lots of power for moving log cars.  Its design incorperates 3 vertical cylinders, with the crank turning a drive shaft that drives all wheels.   Other locos had 2 horizontal pistons and often some gearing.  The Shay had smaller wheels giving it a lot of pulling power, but top speed was about 12 mph.  It averaged 5 to 6 mph during the trip and handled a section with a 9% grade.

 

The three vertical cylinders are  visible in this picture.  The 22 mile journey took us to Bald Knob, elevation 4700 feet, third highest point in West Virginia.  Views from their observation deck were very pretty.

It did not take long to see why steam was replaced by diesel.  This thing was noisey and bellowed smoke that lingered for quite sometime. 

During our journey we stopped for water.  It uses 2000 gallons per trip.

Logging was big in West Virginia and rail, along with the Shay, played a big role.  They have the largest collection of working Shay engines, including the largest ever built weighing in at 162 tons. 

Cass was a lumber and wood pulp mill town.  But just like we found last year, new technology took over and the lumber and wood pulp business dried up in the 60s.  Cass has reinvented itself as a historic tourist attraction.  The Cass Scenic Railroad is now a state park.

It was interesting to step back nearly 100 years in time to experience this.

September 21 & 22, 2016–Seneca Rocks

We left Lake Fairfax Tuesday morning and headed for Seneca Rocks, WV.  Kind of glad to be leaving the hustle & bustle of the DC area.  And boy this IS the complete opposite.  Our campground  is in a National Wildlife Area; it is quiet and in the middle of nothing.  It’s 20 miles to anything.

It’s Wednesday and it’s cooler with lower humidity;  a welcome relief.   Our first stop is to hike up Seneca Rocks.  The rocks are a vertical uprising made of quartzite.  They are popular with hikers and rock climbers.  There are several rock climbing schools, but we will hike up the 1000 feet on the 1.5 mile trail.  We are promised a great view from the top.

Our destination is to the left of the left peak where there is an observation platform.  So up we go.

It took  over an hour to reach the platform.  The trail was well maintained but pretty steep in places.  Whew!  The view was worth the effort!

From here we went to Seneca Caverns, a privately owned cave.  As you know, if you’ve seen our earlier posts, we have seen some caves.  This one was OK, not very big, but had some very pretty formations.

Our tour guide was also a waitress at the adjoining restrauant.  So we wonder how that job description looks, “Wanted, Waitress and Cave Guide” ?? 

Our last stop was a drive into Smoke Hole Canyon.  A very scenic area.  It is all part of the same rock outcroppings as Seneca Rocks. 

Along the way we found quite the unusual little settlement.  Located along a 2 rut drive called Campden Lane.

There were about 25 trailers along about 1/4 mile here.  It appears they have built a kind of house around the trailer.  They all look like they have been here a while.  Hmm…. note the Puma on the left is for sale.  We thought about inquiring.  A perfect summer or year round retreat don’t you think?

Tomorrow we plan to drive to Cass, WV to hop on a train for a ride back in time.

September 19 & 20, 2016–Smithsonian Washington DC

They have been threatening rain for the last 2 days.  Well today, Monday, they got it right.  Only sprinkling at the campground, but a pretty steady rain when we got to DC.  We tested our skills in riding the Metro into DC.  Actually worked out pretty well.  We parked at a nearby station about 5 miles from the campground jumped on the silver line to the Smithsonian stop.  About 45-50 min. total travel time.  Cost round trip with parking was about $17 for both of us with our senior card. Our visit spanned 2 day and Tuesday was cloudy, but no rain.

Our goal Monday was the Smithsonian “Castle.”  This was the first and original museum.  It was designed to look like a castle and completed in 1855.  It originally housed the entire collection that today is spread over 19 museums.

However, the interesting story is how it came about.  The original funding came from James Smithson, an English scientist who lived between 1765 and 1829.  He bequeathed his fortune to the US for creation of an institution for learning to be located in Washington, DC.

The interesting part is he never visited the US and never told anyone in the US of his plans.  So upon his death, the US recieved information that they inherited a bunch of money.  Nice surprise!  With those funds, the Smithsonian Institute was off and runnning in 1846.  Think about this.  I doubt the opinion in England was very favorable toward the US after 1776 and 1812.  So James must not have shared his intentions with his countrymen either; it was merely written in his will.  Even then, the US was actually quite surprised when they got the money.

Today, the building houses the offices and a visitor center, but the architecture inside and out is beautiful.  A couple of shots follow.

Because it is a visitor center, they have collections of items that hit the high points of the other museums. Check out some of the interesting old stuff.

The first Apple Computer

Howdy Doody

It’s really bad when you are old enough to actually own, have owned, or can relate to, items you see in a museum.

Now for the wierd part.  James Smithson was originally buried in England, but they planned to move the cemetary he was in, so the Smithsonian managed to have  his remains sent here and they are in a cyrpt in a wing of the Castle.  He had no living decendants.  So, what looks like a covered bathtub is where James now rests.  Think he prowls the halls after closing?

We spent the rest of Monday and Tuesday exploring the American History and Natural History museums.  No pictures to share, but take it from us, there was lots to see and some really unusual items.  Probably our favorite was the gemstones in the Natural History Museum.

There was a makeover in process along  the Mall, scheduled to be completed in December, so things were a bit of a mess around there. The weather even on Tuesday was still looking like rain at times, so we did not venture around much since we have both been to DC before.

We had a special treat on Monday night visiting some of Dan’s friends from his ExxonMobil days.  A great time!

Wednesday we head into West Virginia to Seneca Recreation Area.  Looking forward to some awesome scenery.

September 18, 2016 Sunday–Discovery

As planned, we went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum located near Dulles Airport.  This is a relatively new facility.  The main A&S is located on the Mall in DC.  We actually took a bus from a stop a couple of miles from the campground.  It drops you right at the museum front door after about a 1/2 hour of travel, sweet!

Our main objective was to see the Space Shuttle Discovery and it was great.  It appears  as if it just completed a mission.  It shows the streaks and stains from its re-entry after nearly 40 missions.  No polishing or painting.

 

The Discovery  was in service from 1984 to 2011 and last flew the 133rd Space Shuttle Mission in 2011.  It was the longest serving Shuttle in the fleet of six.   39 missions, 150 million miles.  Wow, some frequent flyer points there.  As you know, to protect it from re-entry heat of 2500 plus degrees, it is covered with 24,000 tiles.  They are 1 to 4 inches thick and made of a carbon coated, ceramic honey combed, material.

Each tile is individual, with unique identifying information printed on it.

The circles are locations to inject a waterproofing material.  If water were trapped in the honeycomb, freezing or boiling could break the tile, causing it to fail.  This injection is manual and done after every mission.  Pretty labor intensive.  I wonder what job skills are required for that job, other than lots of patience.  About 100 tiles get replaced after every mission.

Check out the wear and tear.

 

Note the streaks from the extreme velocity on re-entry.

There are many unique, one of a kind, aircraft here.  One that is notable is the B-29 Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.  To accommodate the size and weight of that bomb, the bomb bay had to be modified and a lot of stuff, like guns and paint, were removed to save weight to give it the necessary range.  It departed from the Aleutian Islands, a round trip of 5000 miles.  The max range for the B-29.

We followed an excellent tour about military, historical aircraft, from balloons used in the Civil War for observation to helicopters used in Vietnam.  Our docent, retired Air Force, was a walking history book.  The tour lasted over 2 hours, with some really interesting side stories.  How he remembered all this without a single note was remarkable.

An interesting day!

September 17, 2016 Saturday–C&O Canal Part 3–Great Falls

Today we embarked on our final segment of the C&O Canal.  The destination is The Great Falls Tavern; one of the NPS visitor centers. 

In its day, it was used by touring passengers from DC and the working folks on the commercial boats.  As we learned, this area was a common destination for folks from DC, as a weekend getaway.  We were looking forward to a mule drawn canal boat ride that usually operates on weekends.  Unfortunately, due to low water levels in the Canal they were not in operation.  The boat used for the tours, the Charles F. Mercer, was not one of the “freighters”, but a smaller passenger carrying boat.  The Charles F. Mercer is not a replica, but actually the original “Mercer” restored.

Although a disappointment, we did have the opportunity to chat with a captain that conducts the tour. 

One of the things he explained was how the lock doors functioned.  Did you know that Leonardo daVinci designed how lock doors are angled, or mitered, toward the up current end of locks when closed?  This configuration caused the doors to press tighter against each other the higher the water presssure.  That design is universal today. 

The following picture shows a closed lock against the down flowing current.  Notice in each door there are two vertical iron shafts.  Theses shafts connected to rotating shutters that allowed the water to flow in or out of the lock.  Most locks we have seen, have tubes or ducts on either side of the lock that pass water.  We understand that was tried here, but they plugged with silt.

 

The place got its name from a series of rapids and falls in the Potomac, a drop of 41 feet.  So there are five, closely spaced locks in this area.

Not much water passing here today.  Normally those rocks would be covered.  What did they do in the Canal’s heyday if water levels were low like now?  In Cumberland a huge steam powered lift pump would pump water from the Potomac into the Canal to keep it watered.  Additionally, there were weirs, dams, etc. to keep water in the canal.

We also got a couple of other questions answered. Mules are crossed from a mare and a donkey (jack), but mules are infertile.  Their DNA gets screwed up.  So if you want another mule, you need another mare and jack.  They  live about 10 years.  A horse and donkey live over twice that long.

At the end of the Canal, in Georgetown, there was an incline plane.  It’s a sloped railway that permitted the boats to be lowered or raised, between the Canal and the Potomac; only a ruins now.  Why would they want that?  The Potomac offered better ways to off load cargo, remember 10,000 lbs of coal per hour, per man?  Being a larger body of water, it was not so congested, allowing the boats to turn around.

A couple of additional pixs.

  Stantions at the lock.  Note the grooves, made a hundred years ago, caused by wear from lines where they tied up the boats.  We have also seen wear grooves along the sides of aqueducts and locks from the boats as they slid through.

Another Blue Heron.  We saw one of these up at another lock we visited.  At least for us, rarely seen, and now we have seen two of them.

A Canal cargo boat crossection showing the cabins and cargo holds.  At the bow was the mule barn, the center was the hay barn and where the mule driver slept, and the stern was the family quarters.

Our next stop was going to be Georgetown to see the very end of the Canal.  However our attempt was in vain.  It’s Saturday for crying out loud, but the traffic and total lack of parking prevented us from stopping here.  We thought it gets bad around Detroit. Hah, not on it’s worst day.  This place was a zoo!  People everywhere.  So we will not be sharing that milepost 0 photograph.

This completes one of our trip objectives, to learn about the C&O Canal.  And we have learned a bunch.  This Canal is an important piece of US transportation history.  We hope you have also found it interesting.

Tomorrow we head to the Air & Space Museum near Dulles airport.  We want to see Discovery at it’s retirement home.  Then into DC.  We’ll be using the rail system to get there.  A bit of a new gig for us.  Stay tuned.