Last month we had the pleasure of visiting Cass Scenic Railroad State Park in West Virginia. What a fantastic family trip!

We rented one of the many restored company houses in Cass. The entire town of Cass was purchased by the State of WV in 1976, fifteen years after the state purchase the railroad. Staying in the company house was a neat experience for the kids.

It also offered creature comforts for the adults. I am pictured below attempting to acquire a wireless signal. A fruitless endeavor, I would later learn. Apparently Cass is a stone’s throw away from Green Bank, WV, home of the largest world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope. Therefore, there are no cellular towers near Cass.

In desperation the first evening, I jumped in the Prius and high-tailed it to Snowshoe Mountain about 25 minutes West of Cass. For the record, you can’t get Verizon wireless internet service anywhere near Cass. Even on the top of Snowshoe Mountain. Even if you’re standing, in your socks, on the top of the car. Let that be a lesson to you. You can, however, smoke the brakes of a Prius if you double-time it back to Cass. Just watch out, that last S-curve back to town is a poor mistress when your brake pads are on fire. Note to self, it’s a Prius, not a Porsche.

Our train took us to Bald Knob, the second highest peak in WV:

Regardless of the lack of wireless internet service, the trip on the Cass Scenic Railroad, and our time in the authentic company town, was well worth the three hour drive from our home in Boones Mill, VA.

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