Thumbing through Roy Clarkson's book On Beyond Leatherbark: The Cass Saga when I came across this picture of Harvey Cromer, George, Charlie, and Otts' father. He was recruited by West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company as a timber surveyor in 1902.

Logging Engineer: Charlie Cromer

Again, before getting to the modern, scenic railroad era, here are a few vignettes of logging-era locomotive engineers. These are all taken from Phillip Bagdon's excellent Shay Logging Locomotives At Cass, West Virginia.

Charlie Cromer (1885-1983) was an extremely important link between the logging and scenic railroad eras at Cass, as he was always willing to share his recollections with others.

From E. Shay's 1882 Catalog, the first Shay on Cheat Mountain

Cromer was the middle of three brothers, who all worked on the Cass job. George, the elder brother, took Charlie to see Dewing & Sons' T-boiler Shay at Cheat Bridge; from that point on, young Charlie was hooked on railroading.

Cromer was among the most versatile trainmen to ever work the Cass job. Primarily, he was a woods engineer: working out of lumber camps, he'd bring empties from the main to the hollows and loads from the hollows to the main, where engineers like Piney Williams would take them to the mill. Additionally, Cromer was often assigned to exotic, off-property situations. In 1912-13 and again in 1914-15, he  ran the locomotive at the Stony River Dam project in Grant County. Cromer also moonlighted as a steam drill operator around 1915, when the Company owned and operated its own coal mines. In the early 20's, the Cass line was planning to connect with the Western Maryland Railroad at the north end of Cheat River; Cromer was sent to work with WMRy, away from Cass-owned rails. When the Luke family (owners of the Cass job) made one of their inspection tours, Cromer was one of the few engineers trusted to pull their private car.

Though he had a wild youth (on two separate occasions, relationships with women almost brought about Cromer's death by gunshot), by 1915 he was settled down and married, though it once took an Act of God to bring him and his wife together. He was living at a lumber camp when, in his own words:

"...They wouldn't let me come home [from the lumber camp]. They were afraid something would happen to the engines ... didn't know much about them ... Finally I wrote my wife to come over. [She arrived] and it was six o' clock when I came in, changed out of my clothes and said, 'Oh Lord, I wish something would happen that I could spend two or three days with you. ... About half past 10, somebody hit the door and yelled, 'You all come out of there, and come out quick.'

Charlie Cromer (right) in 1913

There was a flash flood and logs were already hitting the tank ... it came down that creek and took [out] the bridge above us and the one down below us. And it was three days before they got them fixed. My prayer was answered! We loafed all over that country - we were just like little kids, all over the woods and everything else. I took care of the engine and would go about my business."

Charlie Cromer (right) with Kyle Neighbors in 1974

 As an old-timer, he was well-known for his front porch bull sessions with Cass historians Kyle Neighbors and Phillip Bagdon during the 1970's. From low beginnings as a fireman at 16, he worked up through the ranks to become one of the most steady, trustworthy, and adaptable engineers to ever work at Cass, West Virginia.

I recorded Number 4 Engine leaving the depot, taking her train up leatherbark run. Whether 2008 or 1960, this is what you'd have heard on another working day at Cass.

Logging Engineer: George "Piney" Williams

Before getting to the modern, scenic railroad era, here are a few vignettes of logging-era locomotive engineers. These are all taken from Phillip Bagdon's excellent Shay Logging Locomotives At Cass, West Virginia.

George Tecumseh Williams (1872-193[9]) was by far the most famous of Cass engineers. He first came to Cass in 1902, and by 1904 was assigned a regular engine on the Cass Hill, the same hill that the tourist line follows today.

Piney Williams (far left) with Number 11 Engine around 1915

As the man who brought the logs down from their mountain spur lines to Cass proper, Williams was the face most associated with Cass Shays. Many children, who looked up to locomotive engineers as heroes, were outright admirers of Piney Williams and his engines.

Considered by Superintendent E. P. Shaffer as one of the company's most valuable employees, Williams was known for the corncob pipe he always had on hand, despite the company's no smoking policy. If he ever lost the pipe overboard, he was known to stop the train right where it was to look for it. Once, after a derailment, his first thoughts turned to his pipe: where did it go? He soon found it, the stem at least, still clenched in his teeth where he had bitten through it.

Of course, Williams had a a wild streak as well. He was known for drinking and fighting with the loggers in East Cass, and once a logger bit off part of his ear (recalled by Clyde Galford, the last Cass logging engineer). At least once, Shaffer laid off Williams for a few days on account of his drinking. In 1917, he was arrested for the murder of Thaddeus Hall, a C&O brakeman who was supposedly seeing Williams' wife. In court, inconclusive evidence led to Williams being cleared of charges. 

Fame and notoriety have raised Piney Williams into an almost legendary figure of Old Cass, and like any good myth, it is hard to tell where fact ends and fiction begins. For instance, near the end of his career, the story goes that he suffered a stroke while bringing a loaded train down the mountain. Piney, heroically battling against the crippling attack, managed to bring in the train safely. The stroke actually occurred while he was switching cars in the mill yard at Cass.

Welcome to Wolfie's blog! In the following posts, I will introduce you to the men and women that keep the Iron Mules of Cass running. Listen to the roaring fire, the bellowing whistle, the feathery chuff of steam hauling 90 tons of steel up the side of a mountain. Then, hear from the people that make it possible.