Mosaic Stairway to Dish Osteria: A T&M Pittsburgh Steps & Dine Hike
February 28, 2024
Pittsburgh is known as the City of Bridges, but it also qualifies as the Steps Capital of North America with more than 800 public staircases. Over the past decade, Pittsburgh has become a foodie destination, with its many restaurants and pop-ups. My husband and dog (T&M) have been exploring and mapping out loop hikes of all different lengths and elevations, often walking past fantastic restaurants such as Dish Osteria. One sunny, winter afternoon, it all came together in a 3.3 mile Pittsburgh steps hike ending with amazing pasta, drinks and conversation.
 |
| Melia leading the way up the Mosaic portion of Oakley on our summer explorations of South Side steps |
 |
| Continuing up Oakley St. Steps on our winter Steps & Dine hike |
 |
| Dish Osteria - Rigatoni alla Scamorza |
 |
| Summer View from St. Thomas Steps |
 |
| St. Josephat Church on Mission |
Discovering the joys of urban hikes
After we moved from the suburbs into the city of Pittsburgh, we were happy to ditch the car on a more regular basis due to our new proximity to walking, biking, shopping and kayaking routes. My husband and chow chow spent countless hours exploring new urban hikes to replace their forays through the mountains and woods around Seven Springs, and gradually I started to join them. He became especially fond of seeking out Pittsburgh City Steps, recognizable by their characteristic painted metal railings.
Just off the coast of southern California lies a series of 8 small islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park. On the third day of our Lindblad Nat Geo Venture cruise, we spent the entire day exploring the highlands, beaches, canyons and Torrey pine groves of Santa Rosa Island. An unexpected wealth of small wildflowers, glimpses of the elusive Santa Rosa Island fox and an old one-room school house rounded out our hike. And we even got back in time for me to head back out on one of the last zodiac raft tours.
 |
| Santa Rosa Torrey Pine grove where we stopped for lunch |
 |
| Water Canyon |
 |
| Coastal Road, west of Black Rock |
 |
| Bechers Bay, Skunk Point and Santa Cruz Island across the channel |
 |
| View of Bechers Bay and Nat Geo Venture in distance from Torrey Pines Loop Trail |
 |
| Santa Rosa coast north of Corral Point |
Just off the coast of southern California lies a series of 8 small islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park. Santa Cruz Island is the largest of the northern volcanic chain, a partially submerged tail-like extension of the Santa Monica Mountains. For our afternoon excursion, we selected the long hike up to a scenic viewpoint near Prisoners Harbor. Although the giant coreopsis was in a dormant, moribund state, we were greeted by the vibrant cobalt blue-colored Island Scrub Jay, while a Santa Cruz Island fox bid us adieu. Both species are only found on Santa Cruz Island.
We walked past the National Park sign, and onto some buildings that contained restrooms. I was disappointed to discover that the only National Park Service Passport Cancellation Stamp station on the island was located miles away near the Scorpion Anchorage.
As we set out along the dusty Navy Road, we had high hopes of viewing the Santa Cruz Island Fox, another subspecies that only lives on Santa Cruz Island. While we saw plenty of deposits containing berries and possibly deer mouse fur along the sides of the road, the elusive fox was not to be seen.
Instead, we saw native vegetation such as the Santa Cruz Island Oak with hanging beards of Spanish moss, and berry laden Toyan bushes. The Chumash dry these berries and then grind them up to make pancakes.
I asked about the Giant Coreopsis and our naturalist pointed out some dead-appearing leafless grey silhouettes, some bearing dried blooms. At this time of year, the coreopsis is still in a dormant stage, awaiting the winter rains.
The air was fragrant with the scent of anise, one of the non-native plants that flourished on the hillsides. Indeed, it seemed these taller and denser stalks were choking out the much more widely scattered coreopsis that I remembered as forming fields of yellow and green (See photo from 1982 here).
As the trail wound up, we came across numerous beautiful views of the bay and the Santa Barbara coast in the distance.
I decided to turn back with another couple to wait at the picnic table and enjoy the view out to the mainland, while my husband continued onwards down the hill. They reached a lovely gully leading to the sea lined by tiny yellow blooms before turning around.
There were more flowers out than I would have expected for November, even in California. We saw lots of small white blooms across the ground.
In shady bends of the trail, there were waving fronds of yellow soft-leaved paintbrushes.
We spotted another Island Scrub Jay, perched up high on bush lupines. I lingered to photograph the rich purple blooms against a backdrop of silvery-green leaves and to chat with our naturalist Chelsea.
For dessert, a caramelized apple tart tatin a la mode, which we enjoyed with an extra side of chocolate ice cream.
 |
| The Santa Cruz Island subspecies of Channel Islands Fox |
 |
| View from Del Norte Trail |
 |
| The National Geographic Venture in Prisoners Harbor with Santa Barbara in distance. |
 |
| Wild buckwheat |
Click here to read about short (<3 miles) Southern California Hikes with Santa Catalina Views
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 1. Embarkation, Dolphins & Moonrise
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 2a. Anacapa Cliffs & Wildlife via Zodiac
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 3. Santa Rosa Torrey Pines Hike
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 4. Santa Catalina Two Harbors & Avalon
Santa Cruz Island Excursions
With excitement, we listened to our options for venturing ashore. When I visited the Channel Islands four decades ago, the National Park Service did not yet manage Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands although arrangements had been made for eventual transfer of Santa Rosa and part of Santa Cruz. Both of these islands have sources of fresh water and were inhabited by the Chumash, followed by cattle and sheep ranchers.
The options for activities included zodiac raft trips, two short to medium hikes focused on the beach, continuing on to visit the restored wetlands, or a long hike up the hills to a scenic viewpoint. After all of the delicious food we had been consuming, we opted for the long hike. Another option was more Zodiac rafting, and those that selected the shorter hikes could do both.
As we approached the dock at Prisoners Harbot, we were glad of calm seas, and the staff made sure we all transitioned safely up the ladder.
Scrub Jays and Vegetation
As soon as we approached an old fence, we saw one of the endemic species of birds. The Santa Cruz scrub jay is a more brilliant blue than other related birds, and boasts the most restricted range of all birds. It only lives on this 96 square mile (249 square kilometer) island.
 |
| Santa Cruz Scrub Jay |
 |
| Island Oak |
 |
| Toyan bush |
 |
| Dormant Giant Coreopsis |
 |
| Fragrant, but invasive anise |
 |
| Navy Road |
The Del Norte Trail
After a bit of climbing, we turned left onto the Del Norte Trail, a narrow path lined by grass that took on rainbow hues against the green trees and blue bay beyond.
 |
| Rippling rainbow-hued grasses and bay on Del Norte Trail |
After we reached a viewpoint with a picnic table, part of the group started back and part of the group kept going as the path led more steeply downhill. Vegetation also encroached the trail more closely in this less traveled section and I wished I had not zipped off the legs of my hiking pants.
 |
| Narrowing downhill track on Del Norte Trail |
The late afternoon sun reflected off the undulating hills beyond as they returned to the viewpoint, while ravens called and something potentially the size of a small fox or large rodent scampered through the bushes near the picnic table.
 |
| Undulating sunlit hills beyond the Del Norte Trail |
 |
| Soft-leaved paintbrushes |
The Santa Cruz Island Fox
Then she got a message on her walkie talkie that our lead hikers had spotted an Island Fox!
The two of us hurried along and were rewarded with a nice view of a little fox sitting under arching shrub branches. Of course, like our kids, the fox has its eyes shut in most of the telephoto pictures taken by my husband.
The fox cooperated by sitting there lazily watching us with its ears in a very relaxed position for at least 4-5 minutes judging by the time stamps on the photos, before running off beyond the eucalyptus trees in the landing picnic area.
What a delight! The Channel Island foxes represent yet another example of the lasting impact made by Rachel Carson when she alerted the nation to the hazards of DTT. It turns out that the loss of the bald eagle, which is endemic to these islands and pescatarian, allowed the larger carnivorous golden eagle to move in.
And the golden eagles delighted in their ability to carry off full grown Channel Island foxes. Like the Galapagos, each island has its own subspecies of fox. Descended from the grey fox, these foxes have evolved to a smaller size due to limited resouces. And the Santa Cruz Island fox is the smallest of them.
The Channel Island foxes were nearly extinct at the beginning of this millenium. But due to efforts enabled by the Endangered Species Act, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, they have recovered and are now considered as "near threatened". Their recovery was facilitated by relocation of golden eagles to the mainland (Utah according to the naturalist), elimination of feral pigs, and restoration of bald eagle numbers after DTT was banned.
Dinner
Again, we enjoyed a cocktail hour with a featured mixed drink and nonalcoholic beverage, a meat, cheese and fruit platter, and grilled vegetables. Waiters brought trays of this tasty quinoa-black bean ball with a zesty sauce.
And we enjoyed dinner with another set of red and white wines, including a salad, braised short rib or roasted halibut over truffle whipped potatoes and roasted asparagus.
After dinner, we learned about other conservation efforts on Anacapa Island. How do you trap and remove invasive rats without harming the population of an endemic type of deer mouse that is only seen on Anacapa Island? The solution was to trap the deer mice and house them in a special building near the lighthouse, releasing them only after the rats had been eliminated.
Photo Sharing
The cruise ship had a computer to which people could upload 4-5 of their favorite photos to share with the group. Mike, our photo instructor collected these submissions from both guests and naturalists at lunch time on our last full day, and produced the official Slide Show for our cruise.
Looking through these photos, it was evident that every group was rewarded with cool experiences, from mother-of-pearl mollusk shells on a round rock beach, more scrub jays and a western side-blotched lizard for the hikers to closeup views of brown pelicans, spotted harbor seals, caves and cormorants silhouetted on points of land, along the Nature Conservancy side of the island to the west.
Click here to read about short (<3 miles) Southern California Hikes with Santa Catalina Views
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 1. Embarkation, Dolphins & Moonrise
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 2a. Anacapa Cliffs & Wildlife via Zodiac
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 3. Santa Rosa Torrey Pines Hike
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 4. Santa Catalina Two Harbors & Avalon
🐾 If you email CHIS_Information@nps.gov with the dates and the names of the islands visited, they will send you the NPS passport cancellation stamps by mail.
HAVE YOU VISITED THE CHANNEL ISLANDS OR GALAPAGOS?
Please post comments below or photos to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter
Tag @love2chowblog and hashtag it #love2chow
All photos and content © 2023.
All Rights Reserved. Contact admin@love2chow.com for permissions.
All Rights Reserved. Contact admin@love2chow.com for permissions.
Just off the coast of southern California lies a series of 8 small islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park. Anacapa Island is closest to Ventura, CA, about 12 miles off the coast. And the multiple flights of California brown pelicans coming out to sea at dawn are a dramatic testament to the success of Pittsburgher Rachel Carson's impact in rescuing wild birds. We enjoyed a beautiful Zodiac raft trip past colonies of playful sea lions, Arch Rock, the only brown pelican nesting site in North America, waving amber-brown strands of giant kelp. While we enjoyed mobile bar service by raft up above, a diving team was down below producing a video of life below the surface. We returned to learn more about the first humans to dwell in these islands, followed by a fantastic lunch on board the Lindblad/National Geographic Venture.
 |
| Dawn over east Anacapa Island. |
 |
| The National Geographic Venture from a Zodiac raft |
 |
| One of many playful sea lions of Anacapa Island |
Just off the coast of southern California lies a series of 8 small islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park. These isolated bits of land host such a variety of unique plants and animals that they have been nicknamed The Galapagos of North America. Access to the parks is not straightforward, so we jumped at the chance to visit four of the six Channel Islands that are open to visitors on a 5-day cruise with Lindblad Expeditions. We arrived early for a few days of southern California hiking and eating. After pulling out of the Port of Los Angeles, we enjoyed great food and drinks onboard the National Geographic Venture, accompanied by our first dolphin sightings as the moon rose over Palos Verdes.
 |
| View from back of ship on the yoga lounge level |
 |
| Exiting the LA Harbor breakwater |
 |
| Moonrise over Palos Verdes |
Forty-one years ago, I had the opportunity to hike Anacapa and Santa Barbara Islands. I have vivid memories of the Giant Coreopsis - short, twisted trees straight out of Dr. Seuss with large, daisy-like flowers and fine, thready prehistoric foliage. The Channel Islands National Park had just been formed 2 years earlier; only Anacapa, Santa Barbara and San Miguel were open to visitation at that time.
 |
| Fields of giant coreopsis on Santa Barbara Island, March 1982 |
For over a decade, we have aspired to visit the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. The largest of these, Santa Catalina, has the most glamorous past, but each of the islands host unique wildlife and a beautiful sense of timeless serenity. Before embarking on a Lindblad cruise to the Channel Islands, we arrived early to the Port of Los Angeles area where I grew up. We enjoyed several days of hiking, eating and visiting with family and friends. We rediscovered old favorites and discovered new ones, including a set of short hikes with views of Catalina.
 |
| View of Santa Catalina Island, including the isthmus where we would be kayaking in 4 days |
 |
| Great blue heron and ruddy ducks at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve |
 |
| Smuggler's Cove or Sacred Cove (just east of Abalone Cove) |
 |
| "ga xao xa ot" - spicy lemongrass chicken wings with fried garlic and dried chilies at Little Sister. |
For better or worse, railroads have played a key role in American history. The transcontinental railroad built by immigrant laborers tied this country together, while decommissioned rail-lines today provide quieter access to our riverways via rail trails. But what does it feel and sound like to ride behind a steam locomotive through lush green, river-lined forests? What role did trains play in mail, oil and timber industries? These answers and more can be found in PA and WV state parks set within scenic river valleys with access to hiking, biking and historic train stations.
The color red signals the engineer to stop a train. Indeed, you can flag down the train at a station right by our campsite using the structure in the below photo that looks like a white popsicle stick. It used to have a red dot painted on the end.
We hear the train books up full during Fall Foliage Season. And we simply must find the time to return for the Murder Mystery Dinner trips that run May-October!
 |
| Cass Scenic Railroad locomotive. |
 | ||
Traveling up to Bald Knob from Cass.
|
 |
| The only Railway Post Office car in the US operates from the OC&T line. |
 |
| Photo taken while standing in the open air caboose on the OC&T line. |
Last month, we were fortunate enough to enjoy two great trips along Oil Creek in PA and the Greenbrier River in WV, both of which had been planned by good friends. We camped, hiked, biked, stayed in historic rail company houses and went in search of extraterrestrial intelligence. But the highlight of both trips was a historic train ride through beautiful scenery on two very different trains.
Oil Creek State Park
We camped at the organized group rustic campsite in the Wildcat Hollow area of Oil Creek State Park. The site has three Adirondack shelters, a large expanse of grass, a firepit, covered pavilion with picnic tables, and two outhouses. One nice surprise was an extremely well-stocked wood shed for fantastic evening campfires.
 |
| Campfire at the Oil Creek group camping site |
We enjoyed homemade calzones that we brought from home along with a roasted cauliflower tahini salad, mountain pies on day 2, and lots of 'Smores.
 |
| Modified the Smitten Kitchen recipe for crispy cauliflower and cabbage salad. I added chickpeas for protein, parsley and pickled hot peppers for even more flavor. |
Train ride on the Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad
A short drive into town took us to the OC&T Rail Station, where we bought tickets to travel to the Drake Well Museum station.
This was a delightful 3 h ride with access to an open air car, which was located at the back of the train outbound, and behind the locomotive inbound. The bench seats in the car are reversible.
We heard stories from Jim "Beezer" Bees, who had worked the railroad for over 4 decades, and learned why no one that works around trains wears a red baseball cap.
 |
| Chatting with Beezer |
 |
| A stop to drop off people participating on a tour |
There is a little shop at the end of the line, with frozen treats in a chest freezer. We opted for some old fashioned Drumstick® ice cream cones.
 |
| View from inside the OC&T train |
On the way back, we stopped in the Post Office car and mailed some postcards. This is the only post office left in the US that operates on a moving train.
 |
| Mailing postcards on the ride back |
Hiking Oil Creek
After we returned from the train trip, we took a 4 mile hike up to a scenic viewpoint overlooking Oil Creek. Part of our group continued on to find Miller Falls, getting lost and having to bushwhack our way down to the logging road.
 |
| Hiking from the scenic viewpoint towards Miller Falls |
We cooked dinner at the campsite and saw a porcupine eating leaves in a tree.
 |
| Porcupine in the dusk, photographed through binoculars. |
The next morning, I spent some time exploring interesting trails that started at the end of the group camping area, past the picnic pavilion. The trails go through forest and wetlands, and include an Oil History Trail that is also accessible from the road. It's hard to believe that this area was once so rich in petrolium, it spontaneously appeared on the surface of Oil Creek, where it could be harvested by floating a flannel cloth on the river and then wringing it out.
 |
| View up Oil Creek from the Miller Farm bridge |
Cass Scenic Railroad State Park
While on a fantastic, unplugged getaway involving two couples and 4 dogs in one of the Pioneer Cabins in Seneca State Forest last year, we drove past the Cass area and decided we needed to come back.
First there was this huge satellite dish-shaped object in the distance... We discovered it was the telescope at the Green Bank Observatory. They offer tours in the summer, some of them requiring registering for security clearance at least 48 hours in advance. We also drove by cute rows of white houses that comprise the historic district of the company town that grew up to support the lumber industry in nearby Cass, WV.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Tour
On Fridays at 1 pm through the summer, Green Bank hosts a 3 hour tour focused on radio telescopes and the history of the SETI missions. As we found out, they sell out more than a week in advance as half of our group got the last tickets. Through some additional phone calls, they offered a nice solution as discussed below.
 |
| Chicken salad sandwich at the Green Bank cafeteria |
Project Ozma, the precursor to the SETI missions, was the subject of a conference in Green Bank in 1961, when Frank Drake convened scientists from around the world including Carl Sagan and Melvin Calvin, a Nobel laureate who received his phone call while in Green Bank, to discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations and how best to search for them.
 |
| The Drake Equation, which was developed ad hoc at the 1961 meeting. |
Drake had selected the hydrogen line as the wavelength to monitor. Hydrogen emits at 1,420.4 MHz, which corresponds to a 21 cm wavelength. Although there have been some exciting hits, later explained by other phenomena, there was at least one that has still not been explained. Unfortunately, it has also not recurred. However, other important discoveries, such as the black hole in the middle of our universe, were made as a result of the search.
To minimize interference to ongoing SETI monitoring, you are not allowed to have any battery operated, electronic equipment in operation once you pass a gate into the telescope area. This unfortunately includes most modern cameras. I suppose my Dad's old Olympus film camera with manual focus would fit the bill, but it is sitting in a drawer back in California. They sell little disposable film cameras in the gift shop. Phones and smart watches have to be powered off, and they have a box in which Fitbits and other items can be placed on the bus.
We were able to enter a room with original monitoring equipment at the first radio telescope, to climb up onto the "deck" level for great views at a second telescope that had been designed by a Navy guy, and to stand near the large telescope that we had seen from the road. A highlight was that it quietly and rapidly started to move to a new position just as we were about to leave.
 |
| The Green Bank telescope |
While four of us went on the 3 h SETI tour, the other four took a 1 h bus tour departing at the same time. These tours drive by each of the same telescopes. They then spent some time visiting the interesting free museum, and paid a bit more to meet up with the longer SETI tour for a lecture by an astronomer in "the room where it happened" back in 1961.
 |
| The room where it happened... |
Cass Company Houses
Our friends had booked two historic houses in the nearby Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, which are in the perfect location to enjoy both the historic railroad and the Greenbrier River. Each house had three bedrooms, two with double beds and one with twins.
 |
| Church, a Company house and a Shay locomotive pulling in front of the Company Store. |
Each house prepared a dinner for all 8 of us, and we enjoyed walking around the town after dinner. The first night, we had a choice of two chili's, one with meat and one vegan. And on the second night, we prepared a carnitas bar!
 |
| Clockwise from top left: Salad and fresh guacamole; black bean soup with toppings; roasted sweet potatoes; pork carnitas with pickled red onion, pickled peppers, salsa; mushroom carnitas with roasted root vegetables. |
For the omnivores and carnivores in our group, I prepared Diana Kennedy's sublime and easy carnitas as featured as a Food52 Genius Recipe. I cooked it to the tender stage where the chunks were just about to start browning, before putting it in the refrigerator.
 |
| Pork carnitas, tender inside and crispy outside |
At Cass, I reheated it and allowed it to brown. Next time, I would cut larger chunks because the extra cooking time caused the meat to fall apart a bit too much. I separated the remaining chunks from a plateful of crispy bits.
We also had vegan mushroom carnitas prepared using a fabulous recipe from Veganricha, cilantro-lime brown rice cooked in my Instant Pot, roasted radishes -- both red and white/Daikon, roasted sweet potatoes, and a delicious black bean soup.
 |
| Carnitas bar filling options |
These were topped by salsa that my husband made using the Pioneer Woman's recipe, fresh and pickled vegetables (cowboy candy & dilly beans) from my friend's garden, plenty of sangria, guacamole, corn tortillas and flour tortillas.
 |
| Toppings for carnitas and black bean soup |
For dessert, my husband made lime bars, served with vanilla ice cream and garden fresh blueberries picked the day before.
 |
| Lime bars on a hand-cut shortbread crust, with blueberries |
In the morning, we biked along the Greenbrier River for beautiful views of grasslands, woods and water. Members of our group saw a deer with its fawn in the tall grass in a ditch, red salamanders, large birds and even a bobcat pursuing a fawn.
 |
| A nice morning for a bike ride along the Greenbrier River Trail before the train ride |
We had plenty of time for showers and a nice break before walking down to the Cass Depot for our train ride.
The Cass Scenic Railroad
I recall reading a book in high school that detailed for pages the excitement felt in a small town for days prior to the arrival of a train, powered by a steam locomotive belching black plumes into the sky. These "iron horses" transformed commerce and travel in the 19th century, while having devastating impact on the environment.
The town of Cass was founded in 1901 as a company town for loggers, and the railroad was used to haul lumber from the surrounding mountains. After staying overnight in one of the company houses, we were eager to experience a train ride up to the the third highest point in West Virginia -- Bald Knob (4842 ft).
The Durbin Greenbrier Valley Railroad has the largest collection of operable historic Shay locomotives. We took a 4.5 h, 22-mild round trip ride pushed and pulled by a Shay locomotive up steep grades along the banks of the river valley. I never knew that trains used switchbacks, and it was impressive to hear, feel and smell the locomotive working hard as we ascended the mountain.
 |
| The Shay steam locomotive that pushed us up the mountain. |
As it departs the station, the locomotive is situated at the back of the train pushing Car A, Car B, Car G (has restrooms), Car H and Car I in the front. We went past some impressive metal ruins, which represents the burnt out remnants of where they used to fix up and maintain these historic locomotives.
 |
| Ruins of the burnt out train restoration center from the train. |
The next morning, I walked back along a mowed path in the nearby riverfront park for a closer look at the ruins.
 |
| A close up view of the ruins from the river side. |
Upon boarding the covered, but open-air railcars, we were handed a bag lunch and bottle of water. The train has two long benches facing either side of the cars for great views. We elected to sit on the side facing the parking lot, which gave mostly downhill views to the Leatherbark Creek, while the other side had views up the mountain.
 |
| Our group of 8 |
This first section of the ride was quite impressive. Whereas Shay #5 is the oldest and longest operating locomotive (since 1905), we were powered by Shay #2. This is a C class locomotive weighing 93 tons and the only Shay to have burned three different fuels -- wood, coal and oil.
From Car B, we had clear views of the massive plumes of white steam, with intermittent eruptions of billowing grey and black smoke trailing away from us each time the engineer shoveled in a new batch of coal as the train headed uphill.
 |
| Steam, smoke and soot |
The website indicates that the ascent of 2,390 feet is the equivalent to traveling 800 miles north to Canada in terms of climate and the types of plants and animals encountered. It was certainly clear that the vegetation was changing as we ascended Back Allegheny Mountain. After we passed Whittaker Station, the track looped around so that we could see Bald Knob on the other side of the horseshoe shaped ridge.
At one of the switchbacks, we paused so that they could grease the pistons that give rise to the chugga-chugga-chugga sound of a moving train. At each road crossing and junction, there were lots of enthusiastic chooo-chooo whistles. A bit later, they stopped to refill the water tank. So lots of maintenance even during the journey. They said that our round trip would consume 4 tons of coal!
There were several overlooks beginning with Gobbler's Knob that afforded nice views into the valley below. At the top, we ascended a platform that gave amazing views. We saw the Green Bank telescope in the distance.
 |
| View from the top of Bald Knob. The telescope is the white dot just to the right of the middle of the three cloud shadows on the left. |
There were long lines for the restroom, so I returned to Car G to use the restroom on board. I then spoke to the engineer and asked him how he came to learn how to operate these antique locomotives. Turns out, he learned from his father and grandfather.
On the way back down, we noticed the worker leaning over the side to see if the wheels were turning or sliding, and then adjusting the brakes to keep them turning. He warned us that soot and small particles would rain down on us as the locomotive got started, and to be careful not to get it in our eyes, nose or mouth. We were now being pulled by the locomotive as it backed down the mountain.
We stopped at Whittaker Station for about 20-30 min, where we could buy snacks. They had kettle corn and a rather disappointing pepperoni roll made by a local bakery. The Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association maintains a re-created logging camp, and you can peek into the sleeping rooms and view several different types of loading equipment.
 |
| Recreated camp shanties from one of the several models of loaders at Whittaker. |
The trip down was less enjoyable than the trip up due to the short periods of raining soot, but at least they did not have to feed coal into the firebox as often going downhill.
We pulled back into Cass Depot with a full complement of railroad bells and whistles, chugga, chugga, chooo, chooo! Overall, it was a vivid and unforgettable experience -- bringing to life the sights, sounds, feel and smell of travel in era of iron horses.
 |
| View of the Route 66 bridge from the riverfront park |
Other train-centered adventures
Central PA in the Altoona area is a mecca for train enthusiasts. We took a spring break driving trip a few years back, and found to our disappointment that many of the local sites that were closed for the winter did not open until late Spring. However, we had a fantastic ad hoc vacation visiting a series of National Park Service sites that are open year round.
I highly recommend visiting the Allegheny Portage Railroad before venturing to the other sites, as you can then experience the race to bring goods between the East Coast and Pittsburgh, the "Gateway to the West," using first canals and then railroads. It was also interesting to learn how the PA turnpike fits in to the story.
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
The docents here made this visit into one of the most exciting glimpses into the heavy competition among the Erie, Pennsylvania and C&O canals.
Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark
This amazing section of rail has been in continuous operation since it was graded and laid by hand in the 1850s. It now makes sense that control of the PA railroad is so important in games such as Rail Baron. You can also view the trains as they pass through the nearby Gallitzen Tunnels.
Love2Chow Tips
🐾 On the OC&T Rail, head all the way to the right to be seated in the car adjacent to the open air car.
🐾 The bridge to the Rail Trail side of Oil Creek is out, so there is currently no way to take the train one way and bike the other way.
🐾 The Cass railcars are open air and the temperature drops as you ascend in elevation (although it can also feel hot at the top if it is a sunny day). So bring warmer layers. For better views of the river valley, sit facing away from the station.
🐾 Although the locomotive pushes from behind for most of the ascent to Bald Knob, there are sections where the locomotive is in front. Cars A & B get the brunt of the ashes when the locomotive is working hard and pulling from the front. It might be nice to have a P95 or N95 mask if you are sensitive.
🍃 The town of Cass has two electric car chargers. One is in the parking lot for Cass Depot. The other is near Lefty's Barber Shop. The people at Snowshoe did not know if theirs was functional.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE HISTORIC RAILROAD?
Please post comments below or photos to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter
Tag @love2chowblog and hashtag it #love2chow
All photos and content © 2023.
All Rights Reserved. Contact admin@love2chow.com for permissions.
All Rights Reserved. Contact admin@love2chow.com for permissions.
