The Durban Rocket

The fifth day of the WV forestry and rail project began with a trip to Gaudineer Forest near Snowshoe Resort http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2092 . This was a small patch of virgin forest that was not logged earlier due to a surveyor’s mistake. This was a deciduous forest with some red spruce, unlike Cathedral State Park which is a hemlock forest with some birch trees.

There is a very significant difference in the undergrowth in the two forests. Cathedral State Park http://www.cathedralstatepark.com/ has only a few plant species present, primarily ferns and rhododendrons. As the photo above shows, Gaudineer Forest has a much more diverse undergrowth with ferns, grasses, vines, and shrubs. As with any old growth forest, there are numerous species of fungi present recycling nutrients. The pH of the soil in each was around 4.5, but Gaudineer Forest was far wetter. This is why it is the home of the Cheat Mountain salamander, found only in this small forest and nowhere else. It also allows slime molds to inhabit the area, unlike Cathedral. 
http://www.wvdnr.gov/wildlife/magazine/Archive/05Summer/wildlife_diversity_salamander.shtm

The afternoon began with water quality testing at site number one on the Greenbrier River. The water was tested again for dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, temperature, pH, and turbidity using the water quality index developed by the National Sanitation Foundation. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m4x5mwyriag1ibf/KHS_eBFvOb/WaterQuality.pdf. The results listed below show the water to be in the fair range.  

                Water Quality (Q-Value) Calculations

Test	Q-Value	Weight	Weighted Q Value
DO               7.0	6.67	.32	22.08
Temp           25.6		.19	4.90
TDS             28.9	85	.13	11.05
Turbidity      44.2	46	.15	6.90
pH                7.5	95	.21	19.95
	Overall	Quality	44.8

                Water Quality Scale

91-100	Excellent
71-90	Good
51-70	Medium
26-50	Fair
0-25	Poor

The afternoon was spent on the Durban Greenbrier Valley Railroad http://mountainrailwv.com/choose-a-train/durbin-rocket riding the Durban Rocket. The Durban Rocket is pulled by a Climax locomotive shown above left http://gearedsteam.com/climax/climax.htm  that makes a daily run of 5.5 miles along the Greenbrier River and back again. The Climax locomotive is similar to the Shay locomotive in that it is geared and was also used to transport logs. This Climax locomotive is one of only three still in operation anywhere in the world.