Fall Follow-up - Sutton, WV

Because there were so many places in the state that are important to the forest products industry, it was impossible for us to visit every place on the week-long summer trip.  Therefore, we took a follow-up trip to the Sutton area to tour the Weyerhauser Sutton OSB plant and Appalachian Timber Services.

We drove to from the Cabell County Board of Education office at 4:30 and arrived at the Sutton Day’s Hotel by 6:30.  After checking in, we went to Café Cimino for an excellent dinner.  Everyone was pleased with the meal and enjoyed getting back together.

Our first visit was to the Weyerhauser Sutton OSB plant where we saw oriented strand board being manufactured.  We were impressed that wood going into the Sutton OSB facility is otherwise not usable for many other forest products uses.  Many of the logs are the tops of trees that had been felled for dimensional lumber or veneer.  On entering the plant, the logs are debarked, shredded then dried.  Energy for the drier comes from burning the bark and other wood waste.  The shreds are blown into mats with the fibers at alternating right angles.  Once compressed, a mat of fibers that is about seven inches thick will yield a half inch thick OSB board.  The OSB is formed into sections that are 12 X 24 feet then cut into 4 X 8 sheets. We were impressed at the environmental friendliness of the Weyerhauser Sutton OSB plant.  Most of the energy for drying and heating the wood fibers comes from burning the waste.  Water used to wash the logs is filtered and recycled.  Most of all, the plant’s raw material is wood that would otherwise go to waste following logging in a forest.

A nice lunch at the Flatwoods Shoneys prepared us for the afternoon visit to Appalachian Timber Services where treated wood products are manufactured.  This plant produces all of the treated lumber of the New York City Transit.  Rail ties and landscape timbers are common products.  They also produce a great deal of wood support structure for mines and rail bridges.  Like many other facilities that we have toured, much of their energy is provided by burning wood waste.  Wood waste not used to provide heat is sold to nearby wood pellet manufacturers. Appalachian Timber Services pressure treats hard and softwoods with creosote which makes it rot and insect resistant.

While it was great to see everyone again and to follow up on the spring and summer work, we are already thinking about the 2013 project on glass and ceramics.  While plans are very incomplete at this time, the model will follow the prior years’ president with a spring course on the history and science of glass and a culminating summer trip to the glass producing regions of the state.  More information will be announced as plans develop.  First announcement of the project will be made on this blog.

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Update to Fall Follow-up Trip Plans

Plans are continuing for the fall follow-up to the Forestry and Rail Transport project.  On Wednesday, September 5, we will leave the Cabell County Board of Education Central Office at 4:30pm.  We will be taking two vans to the Days Inn at Flatwoods, WV.  We will have a very special dinner at Café Cimino taking time to reflect on the summer trip and how we can implement the lesson plans in Cabell County classrooms.

On September 6, we will tour the Weyerhaeuser-Sutton OSB plant where oriented strand board is manufactured and Appalachian Timber Services to observe the manufacture of railroad ties and mine timbers.

For these tours, you will need long pants, closed toe shoes, safety glasses, hard hat and ear protection.

We will return to Huntington on the evening of September 6.

Fall Follow-up Plans

The fall follow-up for the Forestry and Rail Transport project  has been scheduled for Thursday, September 6.  We will leave the Cabell County Board of Education Central Office after work on Wednesday, September 5 and drive to Flatwoods, WV.  On arrival, we will have dinner and reflect on the summer trip.  We will spend the night at the Day’s Inn at Flatwoods.  On the morning of September 6, we will tour the Weyerhaeuser-Sutton OSB plant where oriented strand board is manufactured. 

Following a fast food lunch, we will tour the nearby Appalachian Timber Services to observe the manufacture of railroad ties and mine timbers.  We will return to Huntington on the evening of September 6. 

 For these tours, you will need long pants, closed toe shoes, safety glasses, hard hat and ear protection.

 You will only miss one day of work from your school, Thursday, September 6.  The county has approved a substitute for that day.

Please let Karen (kmcclana@access.k12.wv.us) know whether you can go.  Her telephone number is 304-528-5011.  She will need to know your availability no later than noon on August 22.  Karen needs to make arrangements for van rentals, lodging and food as well as informing our hosts at Weyerhaeuser and Appalachian Timber Services of an expected number of visitors.

The Last Day of an Outstanding Experience

Our stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Lewisburg, WV was pleasant as always.  After an excellent breakfast at the hotel, we left for the Greenbrier River at 8 am.

The first stop was across the Greenbrier River from the Greenbrier Military Academy’s summer camp, also known as Camp Shaw-Mi-Del-Eca.  Assessment of the water quality shows it to be consistent with measures taken at other locations along the river throughout the week. 

From there, we drove to the C & O Historical Society Museum in Clifton Forge, Virginia.  The helpful staff gave us an informative tour of the museum and the historic railroad artifacts there.  Of particular interest to many in the group was the antique steam locomotive (C & O Engine 614) that has been restored for the Greenbrier Resort.  When in use, this locomotive was documented to exceed 100 miles per hour in ideal track conditions. We enjoyed lunch in the restored historic club car when diners once enjoyed elegant meals in the golden age of rail travel.

We left Clifton Forge a little before 2 pm and traveled toward Cabell County.  With everyone pitching in, the vans were quickly cleaned out and prepared for return to the Enterprise rental agency.  We were all very tired and happy to be home but anxious to put the newly acquired knowledge into place in classrooms. 

Many in our group have already submitted lesson plans that incorporate the timber and rail industries in the state.  As these lesson plans come in, they will be made available from links on the right side of this blog.

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Kellie digs through thick underbrush to find acid soil at Gaudineer Knob.

 

Another virgin forest, some water testing, and a train ride!

We started out bright and early Thursday morning with a trip to Gaudineer Knob, the second of the two "virgin forests" in West Virginia. Unlike the virgin hemlock forest we saw at Cathedral on Sunday, Gaudineer is recognized as a virgin spruce forest. The underbrush of this forest was somewhat different as well, with much greater biodiversity including the ever-loving mosses, an array of fungal species, and the home of our very own "Cheat Mountain Salamander", found only at this location in the whole world. This salamander was discovered and named by Marshall University's very own Dr. N. Bayard Green in 1938.

After a great picnic lunch, courtesy of Annette & Karen, we were off to Durbin, WV to ride the famous Durbin Rocket Train, but not before making another stop along the Greenbrier River for some more water testing (we will have thee samples of the river miles apart to compare when we are done). Take a look at our teacher blogs on the right side of this blog to see their results. At 2:30 we boarded the Durbin Rocket for a leisurely train ride along the beautiful Greenbrier River. The "ROCKET" is a Climax type train engine that was different from the Shay engine that we road yesterday at Cass. The Climax engine was built for power rather than speed and was gear-driven with a drive shaft similar to what you see on an automobile. Even now, at my age, I still get goose-bumps hearing that haunting train whistle echoing through the valley.
After another long, but productive day, we stoped for dinner at Bob Evans and then off to our rooms at the Holiday Inn Express in Lewisburg. Tomorrow we complete the last leg of our project.



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Cass Scenic Railroad

Wednesday started off well, checking out of our home for the past few days, the Elkins Hampton Inn.  We headed south on US 219 for Cass, stopping at the Greenbank Observatory for a break and visit to the displays.  We were at the Cass Scenic Railroad a little after 10 am, testing the water in the Greenbrier River.  We were surprised by the low dissolved oxygen content of the water which impacted the overall water quality assessment.  Although specific water quality measures varied from each group’s samples, the low dissolved oxygen was consistent across all groups’ data. 

By 11:30 we had our lunches on the train to Bald Knob, propelled by the Number 11 Shay engine.  The three hour ride over the 11 miles was beautiful and interesting.  We passed from the hemlock/hardwood forests around the town of Cass at 2450 feet above sea level, through the basswood, cherry and oak forests to the elevation of 4842 at Bald Knob where red spruce and mountain ash dominate the landscape.  Although the spruce forests at Bald Knob are likely tertiary growth, the dense forests crowd out underbrush and small herbaceous plants making a dark, open forest floor.  The stop at Bald Knob allowed our group to make comparisons to observations of Cathedral State Park and set up our visit on Thursday to the virgin spruce forest on Gaudineer Knob.

The ride back down the mountain was much faster, especially since there was no stop at Whitaker Station as in the trip up.  Our train was back in the station by 5 pm when we drove to our restaurant Foxfire Grill at the Snowshoe Resort.  After getting our fill of great food, we went down the mountain to our motel, the Snowshoe Resort.

The resort got mixed reviews from our group.  While the location is accessible and convenient, there was no Internet in the room, no cell service due to Greenbank’s blackout, no television because of a small localized storm, the storm also resulted in closing the small indoor pool.

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