Cass Trading Company is a restaurant, convenience store, gift shop and lodging option located in Cass along the Greenbrier River. The convenience store carries snacks, drinks, groceries, fishing supplies and other items for visitors and locals.The shop also has West Virginia-made products, including jams and jellies, honey, maple syrup, fudge and baked goods. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a menu that includes burgers, pizza, sandwiches, wraps, salads and other casual meals. I stopped in for lunch and ordered the fish and fries, which made for a simple, filling meal after spending time exploring the area. The fish was a nice, flaky white cod with a mild flavor, although the meal was a little on the greasy side. The slaw helped cut that. Grade: B

Cass Scenic Railroad has a number of routes. The Whittaker trip is the most popular one. Whittaker Station is the halfway point on the roughly two-hour Cass-to-Whittaker Station excursion, where the steam train pauses for about 30 minutes before making the trip back down the mountain. The stop gives passengers a chance to stretch their legs, explore the recreated Whittaker logging camp and grab something to eat at the picnic area. The Train Station is little concession operation at Whittaker has historically offered simple snacks and drinks for passengers, making it less of a destination restaurant and more of a convenient stop during the excursion. And what's the perfect West Virginia snack? A pepperoni roll. It was an average pepperoni roll. The bread was soft enough, and there was a decent amount of pepperoni inside, but the overall flavor felt a little underwhelming. Nothing was wrong with it — it just lacked the gooey, savory, craveable quality that makes a really good West Virginia pepperoni roll stand out. Grade: B

Cass is home to Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. This park features an 11-mile long heritage railroad and authentic company town. It also features an artisans co-op and the Cass Historical Theater and Historical Museum, one of America’s only authentic lumber railroading museums, according to its website.



My favorite part, though, is the Company Store, which houses a gift shop full of local products and also Shays Restaurant and Soda Fountain. My friend Beth and I stayed at a company house then headed to Shays the next morning before boarding our excursion train ride.



Named after the shiny black “Shay” steam locomotives that continue to go into deep forests, the restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. We arrived during the transition from breakfast to lunch, so I opted for the lunch menu. I also noticed some train-themed decor here and there, but the space was mostly filled with highly lacquered tables and chairs.



Corn dog bites & a pork BBQ with slaw sandwich. What a combo, eh? The mini corn dog bites were crisp enough but would've been perfect with some sort of tangy sauce.



The sandwich was tender and had a nice tomato-based flavored sauce. I think I would get the slaw on the side, because it kinda overtook the flavor a bit. But, still really enjoyable.



Grade: B

Cass Scenic Railroad has been on my to-try list ever since the Charleston Daily Mail's 55 unique things to do in the Mountain State article came out.

According to Wikipedia, Cass was a company town for folks who worked for West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, logging nearby Cheat Mountain. The cut logs were brought by rail to the town, where they were processed for use by paper and hardwood-flooring companies throughout the United States. Cass's skilled laborers, who worked in the mill or the locomotive repair shop, lived with their families in 52 white-fenced houses, built in orderly rows on a hill south of the general store.



The Cass Scenic Railroad is the same line built in 1901 to haul lumber to the mill in Cass. The locomotives are the same Shay locomotives used in Cass, and in the rainforests of British Columbia for more than a half-century. Many of the passenger cars are old logging flat-cars that have been refurbished. The Western Maryland No. 6 is the last Shay locomotive ever built. This piece of living history still hauls thousands of passengers up and down the mountain at Cass Scenic Railroad.

Cass Scenic Railroad State Park offers train rides that take visitors to various stations: Whittaker Station, Bald Knob and Spruce. We took the trip to Whittaker Station, because it's the shortest option. It's about four miles up the track, and there's a nice little are with some display trains and a shelter. We hung out there for about 20 minutes before heading back down - and on the way back, I may or may not have had coal showered all down the left side of my face. Haha. I enjoyed the trip - and it's the first time I've ever been on a train in the United States. The only other time is when I was in Italy, and we had to take a train to Venice.



But before our trip, we had some time to kill so we ate at the restaurant located in the company store: The Last Run Restaurant. This restaurant is featured in WV's 101 unique places to dine list.

The space is actually quite large with a lot of wooden circular tables and some booth seating. It's basic, fairly worn and could use a good scrubbing. The menu consists of items like popcorn chicken, hotdogs, sandwiches and the like. Nothing fancy, but simple enough for a lunch counter.

I went with the popcorn chicken because it was simple and safe before heading on our trip. Overall thoughts - not bad. Nothing really exciting - the chicken breading was plain, and the fries could've been a good deal crisper. It's really the only option around, and it'll fill your belly. Good enough.

Grade: C