Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
When Howes Leather Company, Inc., closed its operation in Frank in 1994, it marked the end of 90 years of tanning leather in that town.
Just a few days prior to closing, employees were told if there was anything they wanted, they could take it. Maintenance man Mike Douglas saw that as an opportunity, so he took home the company whistle.
Douglas used a torch to remove the whistle, and it has been in his possession ever since.
A few weeks ago, that whistle was brought back out to be used once again – this time on one of the train engines at Cass Scenic Railroad State Park.
Ray Landis, a volunteer with Mountain Rail West Virginia, which operates the Cass trains, is friends with Douglas and asked if the whistle could be used on one of the trains.
“I took it down to Cass and they put it on the one steam engine that was sitting there as a spare and tested it, and it worked,” Landis said.
It was the first time since 1994 the whistle had steam to make it sing, but it won’t be the last.
Landis said once they knew it was possible for the whistle to be used on the train; it was decided it would be used on the Greenbrier Express this week for Durbin Days Heritage Festival.
The whistle will be used July 17 through 20 on the excursion from Cass into Durbin.
“I have spent hours polishing it, cleaning it,” Landis said. “It was completely grungy from probably thirty, forty years up on the pole. I talked to Noah [Barkley] – he has a collection of whistles. I asked him what the best way was to clean it and he said WD-40 and 400 grit wet sanding emery cloth, so that’s what we did.”
When the whistle was tested, it was obvious it was much louder than what they use on the train. Landis said he was told that when the tannery was in operation, the whistle could be heard in Green Bank.
Landis plans to take the whistle to Cass Thursday morning and ride the train back to Durbin so he can hear it blow from inside the engine.
“It’s definitely loud and it sounds good,” he said. “I’m going to hear it from the engine.”
After Durbin Days concludes, the whistle will return to Douglas. Landis said he would like to see the whistle used on the Bald Knob run at some point but hasn’t made plans with Mountain Rail yet.
He’s just happy to see it back in operation after all these years.
“It will be fun,” he said.
