Trip- Day 4 Wednesday July 18, 2012

Day 4- Wednesday July, 18, 2012

1-Greenbank National Radio Astronomy Observatory Greenbank National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Made a quick trip to the observatory to see the radio telescope. This is a telescope that takes astronomical observations in the radio wave range of the electromagnetic spectrum.

2- Water testing in Greenbrier River Greenbrier River

We went to the Greenbrier River to test for water quality. We tested for dissolved oxygen, temperature, total dissolved solids, turbidity, and pH. The results showed that 53.07 was the stream water quality, this leaves it at a moderate condition.

As a class, we will be testing water from different streams, rivers, and ponds.  I will have the charts and directions for you to follow.

2- Cass Scenic Railroad Cass Scenic Railroad

After testing the water in the Greenbrier River, we went to the train depot. We hopped on the Shay 11 at Cass Scenic Railroad. This is a coal powered locomotive that is ran on steam. This was a 2 hour trip up the Cass Mountain. We stopped at the top for about an hour. The outlook was amazing. You could see the Greenbank Observatory, Virginia state line, Greenbrier River, and Eastern Continental Divide. We then started back down the mountain towards the depot.

Just some facts about steam locomotive:

·         It takes 3 scoops of coal every 30 seconds.

·         The locomotive only travels at a top speed of 12 mph

·         6,000 gallons of water for a trip up and down the mountain – however, the locomotive will only 4,500 gallons, so we have to stop half was up to refill

Some of the other steam locomotives at Cass Scenic:

Shay No. 2: date- started- July 26, 1928, weight – 93 tons

Shay No. 4: date- December 9, 1922, weight- 80 tons

Shay No. 5: date- November 1, 1905, weight- 90 tons

Shay No. 6: date- 1945, weight- 162 tons

Shay No. 11: date-July 14, 1923, weight- 103 tons

Heisler No 6: date- 1929, weight- 100 tons

Climax No. 9: date- 1919

1- Greenbank

Greenbank National Radio Astronomny Observatory

Observatory for afar

3- Cass Scenic Railway

Shay Locomotive No. 11

The railroad tracks at Cass

The coal that is scooped out for the train engines