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General Tso's Tofu Perfected! Just in time for the Love2Chow 5th Anniversary

July 04, 2024

One of the most popular Chinese-American dishes, General Tso's chicken with its spicy, sweet-tart umami-laden bites is in many ways emblematic of the American experience. Five years ago I started an empty-nester blog, so my adult kids could easily find beloved recipes when inspired into the future, working in chow-friendly hikes and travel tips along the way. After I had crossed the globe perfecting my son's favorite dish, my daughter initiated an annual Veguary challenge. While General Tso's tofu seemed a natural variation, it took a few years to develop a technique to create perfectly textured bites that maximize flavor and satisfaction. A multicultural fusion come back around, just in time for America's birthday. Happy 4th of July!

Love2Chow General Tso's Tofu

The initial version of General Tso's chicken, 左宗棠雞 (Zuǒ zōng táng jī) in Chinese was invented in Taiwan by a 20th century refugee chef, who had fled the totalitarian government born out of his province before the "bamboo curtain" fell. The bold, spicy and sour flavors characteristic of Hunan food was fused to an American love for boneless, sugar-glazed fried chicken nuggets by Chinese-American immigrant chefs in New York City, and General Tso's chicken was born.

Love2Chow General Tso's Chicken

Adapting new ingredients and local tastes, while preserving elements of remembered traditions form an important part of the American immigration story.

From Meso-American tamales that might have substituted corn husks for bamboo leaves after the first humans crossed the land bridge, to the infinite variation of flatbreads and dumplings enveloping regional fillings, some similarities might be due to convergent evolution of independently developed food ideas, but more often than not reflect peaceful cultural exchanges over the millenia. No one can deny the impact of American plants -- chocolate, vanilla, chilies, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, beans, squash -- on global cuisines. While food origins become murky as introduced foods and ideas become part of national and cultural identities, we are all enriched by these culinary linkages.

This is the quintessential American experience: the opportunity and freedom to not just tolerate, but actively share cultural traditions and create something better in the tapestry of life.

Happy Fourth of July!

Click here for Love2Chow General Tso's Chicken recipe.

Click here for Love2Chow General Tso's cauliflower recipe.

Flavors and Textures

While it was straightforward to create the desired tangy-sweet sauce with a bit of heat, for each phase of my General Tso's exploration, the difficult part was getting the texture just right. This was true for General Tso's Chicken, General Tso's Cauliflower, and General Tso's Tofu.

Fuchsia Dunlop's recipe in Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook offered the perfectly textured chicken, but I found that both versions of her sauce lacked brightness. After my daughter's first Veguary challenge (which we failed pretty quickly by forgetting that oyster sauce was not vegetarian -- we got better the second year), I thought it would be straightforward to substitute fried cauliflower or tofu for the fried chicken chunks. But this was not the case.

Inspired by Gobi (cauliflower) Manchurian, a beloved Indo-Chinese fusion dish, I was able to develop a highly satisfying vegan General Tso's cauliflower with a texture and flavor that rivaled the original.

Love2Chow General Tso's Cauliflower

But the tofu version eluded me.

As an American-born Chinese, I never cared for the texture or flavor of tofu growing up. While my parents enjoyed soft, jiggly, pale tofu or soft, jiggly steamed egg custard topped with tiny dried fish, I did not. As an adult, I have grown to love ginger and enjoy green peppers, but I still do not see the charms of bitter melon. My husband, with his midwestern background, disliked tofu even more than I, despite descending from a soybean and corn farmer.

The only forms of curdled soybean I liked as a kid were the "tofu skins" 豆腐皮 (also known as yuba) and firm well-seasoned "dry tofu" 豆腐乾. After joining the Facebook group, Wok Wednesdays, cooking through the wok-guru and Chinatown activist Grace Young's remarkable cookbooks, I reconnected with my Chinese culinary roots and learned I could make dishes that surpassed those enjoyed in many restaurants. As chronicled in a prior post, this helped me achieve a new appreciation for softer forms of tofu.

I learned from a cookbook that I had won from Wok Wednesdays, Cameron Stauch's Vegetarian Viet Nam, that one reason I had not enjoyed eating/cooking tofu is that most forms of tofu need to be pressed to remove excess water and then fried or panfried before being used in a dish.

Click here for great entry level tofu dishes for the tofu-hesitant.

Search "Wok with Me" for Wok Wednesday dishes of the month:

From crisp noodles to savory tofu

Mu Shu Pork with homemade Mandarin pancakes (restaurants never give you enough pancakes)

Perfect Spring Rolls for Chinese New Year: deep-fried, air-fried or not fried

Saucy braised tofu with mushrooms, scallion or black sesame pancakes

Mei Chau's Malaysian-style salmon with crispy skin

Rediscovering Tofu: It's all about texture (including a fantastic Vietnamese tofu in fresh tomato sauce, mapo tofu, and silken tofu spinach soup)

The General Tso's texture breakthrough

My early attempts to make General Tso's tofu was to pan-fry tofu chunks as I did in other dishes that we enjoyed, and then toss them in the same bubbling sauce I had developed to glaze them. This resulted in attractive chunks in a reasonably flavorful dish, but the sauce and tofu did not integrate into the perfect glazed bite that I sought.

This problem persisted when I tried a few other recipes for General Tso's tofu, even after I had discovered the absolute best brand of extra firm tofu. While most firm and extra-firm tofus required a fussy step of pressing out the excess water, Nature's Soy brand of extra-firm tofu does the work for you.

While the package is just 10 oz instead of 16 oz, it yields the same amount of tofu that you would get from a heavier, wetter brand. It's like they did the pressing for you in advance. And I found I could use this tofu in recipes straight out of the package, wicking off the surface water with a brief wrapping in a clean dish towel.

A few years elapsed, and I gave up on the idea, enjoying the chicken and cauliflower versions instead. But one day, I decided to give Maggie Zhu's recipe a try.

Wow! Her procedure, which I modified to be a bit more environmentally friendly by using reusable tupperware instead of plastic bags, resulted in meaty chunks of tofu fully glazed with sauce. Instead of just coating tofu with seasonings and cornstarch, which I had tried before she has a two step process that results in a slightly thicker, but more sticky, coating. (Click for Instagram video).

Her recipe also includes broccoli, which is often added to General Tso's chicken. We very much enjoyed this dish, and I resolved to try her marinating technique with my own General Tso's sauce.

Omnivore's Cookbook version of General Tso's Tofu - great texture!

Mala Chilies for even Brighter Flavors

While I have long been a fan of Penzey's spices, relying on their Tien Tsin Chili Peppers for a variety of dishes, a further refinement to my General Tso's sauce involved mixing different Chinese dried chilies purchased from the Mala Market.

Contrary to popular belief, most Szechuan dishes that are carpeted with a scary looking amount of hot chilis are not really that hot/spicy. The Tien Tsin chili and similar peppers are mild to moderate, albeit with great flavors.

The Mala Market offers a chili pepper sampler with four different types of very freshly picked and dried chilis. And boy does that make a different in both texture and flavor. I used 2/3 of the milder Chao Tian Jiao/facing heaven or bullet head chilies and 1/3 of the hot little Xiao Mi La chilies, combined with the other sauce ingredients for a spectacular flavor with high notes from occasional bursts of heart.

I look forward to mixing and matching the other two Chinese dried chilies in this sampler to see how that affects the flavor. Interestingly, although these chilies have a fresh harvest date, none of the seeds sprouted under the care of my excellent gardener friend Alice. In contrast, Penzey's Tien Tsin chili seeds all sprouted for a fantastic yield. I look forward to tasting fresh Tien Tsin chilies!

Tien Tsin chili plant grown from dried Penzey's pepper seed

Refining the General Tso's Tofu Technique

Incorporating this tofu coating technique into my repertoire allowed me to perfect my General Tso's tofu, making the recipe ready to share with my kids.

Ingredients for General Tso's tofu, including ginger that I grew.

The first step is to prepare, marinate, and fry the tofu cubes. After cutting the tofu and drying the surface by wrapping in a dish towel as illustrated above, the cubes and two simple marinade ingredients are added to a reusable leftover container.

A reusable container works just as well as a plastic bag in coating the tofu in marinade

In the meantime, the aromatics are prepped. I often save the roots cut from the scallions and plant them, for a whole season's worth of increasing large scallion leaves. Plus the flowers add a fantastic piquant flavor and edible color to dishes, as seen in my riff on Gordon Ramsay's cauliflower steak.

Prepping aromatics, and ensuring a continuous supply of fresh scallion leaves

After mixing the sauce ingredients, the tofu cubes are drained, and then cornstarch is added to just coat the majority of the surfaces.

The tofu cubes are then either pan fried or fried in 1/2 cup of oil in a wok. The shape of the wok allows for easy frying using much less oil.

Pan-frying can be done in either a skillet or a wok

Or the wok allows for deep-frying in just 1/2 cup of oil

If deep frying, use chop sticks to add each piece of tofu individually, swirling it through the oil to prevent it from sticking to another piece. This is a technique I learned from making shrimp tempura.

Marinating the tofu, followed by coating in corn starch and then shallow-frying results in a crisp, slight shaggy coating that is perfect for capturing the sauce. And yields a tender tofu inside that resembles chicken in appearance and mouthfeel!

Perfectly coated tofu, ready for glazing with sauce

The tofu cubes are drained on a wire rack, and then set aside until it is time to finish the dish. This can be done several hours in advance.

A Quick & Easy Finish to Impress

As this dish is best served hot from the pan, wait for your guests to arrive, and then finish the dish once everyone is seated at the table enjoying some appetizers.

For this meal, I used the same wok to fry the tofu, prepare the spinach side dish, and to glaze the General Tso's tofu. Just be sure to remove the excess oil and wipe out the small bits of cornstarch so they cannot burn.

Stirfry garlic in hot oil for a few seconds to release the aromas, and then add spinach stems to the bottom followed by leaves on top. Stirfry to start the wilting process. Then add a dash of rice wine, and continue to stirfry as the liquid evaporates and the spinach is bright green and soft.

After cooking the vegetable, dry the wok. Then heat until a newly flicked drop of water evaporates in about 1 sec. This means the pan is hot enough to take the cold oil and form a barrier to prevent sticking.

Add the aromatics and stir-fry, releasing their fragrance.

When aromatics show the slightest browning, quickly add the sauce to prevent them from burning.

It will start to bubble and thicken quickly.

Add the fried tofu back to the pan and toss quickly to glaze.

I reduced the sugar and soy sauce in my General Tso's sauce to compensate for the inclusion of soy sauce and syrup in the tofu marinade. Nevertheless, with the extra high heat achieved by my Wolf wok burner, I noticed the sugar in the sauce was spinning out into strands of caramel as I tossed in the pan-fried tofu cubes

Strands of caramelized sugar stretching between tofu cubes

(See posts on our kitchen renovations to achieve the perfect power and geometry for wok cooking in an American kitchen).

This resulted in a General Tso's tofu dish that had my husband raving about how good it was. And I had finally transformed tofu into perfect glazed bites that are truly addictive.

Love2Chow General Tso's Tofu served over plain basmati-green lentil rice with stir-fried spinach in garlic-rice wine sauce.

As I write this, I find myself going back to the refrigerator to pop a few more leftover pieces into my mouth -- and they are delicious cold, too!

Love2Chow General Tso's Tofu

Click here for print formatted recipe.

Tofu nuggets

10 oz package of Nature's Soy extra-firm tofu, or 14-16 oz package of another brand

1 Tbs soy sauce (plus more for sauce below)

1 Tbs maple syrup or shagbark hickory syrup

3-6 Tbs cornstarch (plus more for sauce below)

Neutral flavored oil for pan-frying

Aromatics

6-10 dried red Chinese chili peppers (available at Mala Market or Penzey's)

3/4 inch knob of fresh ginger

2-3 cloves garlic

2 stalks of scallions

Sauce

2 Tbs sugar

1 Tbs red wine vinegar

1 Tbs Shaoshing rice wine or dry sherry

1 1/2 Tbs soy sauce

2 tsp cornstarch

Optional: 1-2 stalks of broccoli, florets cut into bite size pieces. Peel stalks and remove dried, tough portion at the base. Cut into pieces on a bias, rotating 1/4 turn between each cut. Or serve with any vegetable, which can be cooked in the same wok, but not combined into the dish.

1. Cut tofu block into 3/4-1 inch cubes. If using Nature's Soy, wrap cubes briefly in a clean dishcloth to wick off surface water. If using another brand, place cubes between two layers of dishclothes, sandwiched between two cutting boards. Weight the top board with 2-3 cans of tomatoes (28-oz) for 20 min.

2. In a tupperware or take-out container with well-fitting lid, add the tofu, 1 Tbs soy sauce and 1 Tbs syrup. Close container and gently rotate to coat tofu with the liquid. Marinate while preparing the remaining ingredients, 10-15 min.

3. Cut chili's into 203 segments. Keep seeds and just use fewer chilis (or a milder variety) if you don't want it too hot. Scrape off ginger skin with a teaspoon, cut off any dried tough parts, and mince. You should have about 2 tsp. Peel and mince garlic and add to ginger. Wash and slice scallions and set aside separately.

4. Mix sauce ingredients -- sugar, vinegars, rice wine, soy sauce, 2 tsp cornstarch -- in a small bowl.

5. Open tofu container and decant the excess fluid into the sauce bowl. Add 1-2 Tbs cornstarch to the tofu, closing lid and gently shaking to distribute in between additions, until tofu is lightly coated.

6. Pan-fry tofu and drain on a rack set over a half-sheet pan.

a. If using a wok: heat 1/2 cup of oil at medium-high heat. Add 1/3 of the tofu, swirling into oil one at a time to keep them from gluing together. Pan-fry, flipping occasionally for 2-4 min until golden brown.

b. If using skillet: heat 2 Tbs oil in a skillet at medium heat. Lay 1/3 to 1/2 of the tofu on the pan, leaving room in between. Fry undisturbed for 3-4 min/side until golden brown.

Drain tofu cubes on a rack, and repeat with remaining tofu.

7. Remove excess oil from pan, retaining for future use, wiping out small crumbs from frying the tofu as necessary. Add back ~ 1 Tbs of the oil, and heat on medium heat. Toss broccoli, if using, into pan for 30-60 s. Add 2-4 Tbs of water and immediately cover with lid. Allow to steam for 2-3 min, or until a piece removed for tasting is as soft as you like it. OR stirfry/cook another other vegetable you wish to serve with the dish, such as spinach or green beans.

Set aside, discarding excess liquid from the wok/pan.

8. Re-heat the pan on medium heat until a drop of water evaporates in ~1 sec. Add 1 Tbs oil. Add chilis, garlic and ginger and stirfry ~10 sec.

9. Increase heat to medium-high. Stir the sauce and pour around the edges of the wok. It should start bubbling and thickening rapidly. Return tofu (and broccoli if desired) to wok and toss to coat until everything is hot. Take off heat and stir in green onions.

🐾 Note: the tofu can be marinated and shallow-fried a few hours in advance, and the spices, sauce and vegetables prepped in advance. Start with step 7 or 8 as appropriate to finish dish and serve hot with rice.

🍃 Dish towels work much better than paper towels at removing water. They are more sustainable and absorb a lot more volume. Using reusable containers for marinating also reduces plastic bag landfill waste.

🍃 Save the very ends of the scallions including the roots. You can either stick toothpicks in and grow them in water, or plant them directly in the garden.

DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE?

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State Parks & Rails: Exploring American History

July 04, 2023

For better or worse, railroads have played a key role in American history. The transcontinental railroad built by immigrant laborers tied this country together, while decommissioned rail-lines today provide quieter access to our riverways via rail trails. But what does it feel and sound like to ride behind a steam locomotive through lush green, river-lined forests? What role did trains play in mail, oil and timber industries? These answers and more can be found in PA and WV state parks set within scenic river valleys with access to hiking, biking and historic train stations.

Cass Scenic Railroad locomotive.

Traveling up to Bald Knob from Cass.

The 78-mile long Greenbrier River Trail starts across the train tracks from Cass Depot.

The only Railway Post Office car in the US operates from the OC&T line.

Photo taken while standing in the open air caboose on the OC&T line.

Last month, we were fortunate enough to enjoy two great trips along Oil Creek in PA and the Greenbrier River in WV, both of which had been planned by good friends. We camped, hiked, biked, stayed in historic rail company houses and went in search of extraterrestrial intelligence. But the highlight of both trips was a historic train ride through beautiful scenery on two very different trains.

Oil Creek State Park

We camped at the organized group rustic campsite in the Wildcat Hollow area of Oil Creek State Park. The site has three Adirondack shelters, a large expanse of grass, a firepit, covered pavilion with picnic tables, and two outhouses. One nice surprise was an extremely well-stocked wood shed for fantastic evening campfires.

Campfire at the Oil Creek group camping site

We enjoyed homemade calzones that we brought from home along with a roasted cauliflower tahini salad, mountain pies on day 2, and lots of 'Smores.

Modified the Smitten Kitchen recipe for crispy cauliflower and cabbage salad. I added chickpeas for protein, parsley and pickled hot peppers for even more flavor.

Train ride on the Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad

A short drive into town took us to the OC&T Rail Station, where we bought tickets to travel to the Drake Well Museum station.

This was a delightful 3 h ride with access to an open air car, which was located at the back of the train outbound, and behind the locomotive inbound. The bench seats in the car are reversible.

We heard stories from Jim "Beezer" Bees, who had worked the railroad for over 4 decades, and learned why no one that works around trains wears a red baseball cap.

Chatting with Beezer

The color red signals the engineer to stop a train. Indeed, you can flag down the train at a station right by our campsite using the structure in the below photo that looks like a white popsicle stick. It used to have a red dot painted on the end.

A stop to drop off people participating on a tour

There is a little shop at the end of the line, with frozen treats in a chest freezer. We opted for some old fashioned Drumstick® ice cream cones.

View from inside the OC&T train

On the way back, we stopped in the Post Office car and mailed some postcards. This is the only post office left in the US that operates on a moving train.

Mailing postcards on the ride back

Hiking Oil Creek

After we returned from the train trip, we took a 4 mile hike up to a scenic viewpoint overlooking Oil Creek. Part of our group continued on to find Miller Falls, getting lost and having to bushwhack our way down to the logging road.

Hiking from the scenic viewpoint towards Miller Falls

We cooked dinner at the campsite and saw a porcupine eating leaves in a tree.

Porcupine in the dusk, photographed through binoculars.

The next morning, I spent some time exploring interesting trails that started at the end of the group camping area, past the picnic pavilion. The trails go through forest and wetlands, and include an Oil History Trail that is also accessible from the road. It's hard to believe that this area was once so rich in petrolium, it spontaneously appeared on the surface of Oil Creek, where it could be harvested by floating a flannel cloth on the river and then wringing it out.

View up Oil Creek from the Miller Farm bridge

We hear the train books up full during Fall Foliage Season. And we simply must find the time to return for the Murder Mystery Dinner trips that run May-October!

Cass Scenic Railroad State Park

While on a fantastic, unplugged getaway involving two couples and 4 dogs in one of the Pioneer Cabins in Seneca State Forest last year, we drove past the Cass area and decided we needed to come back.

First there was this huge satellite dish-shaped object in the distance... We discovered it was the telescope at the Green Bank Observatory. They offer tours in the summer, some of them requiring registering for security clearance at least 48 hours in advance. We also drove by cute rows of white houses that comprise the historic district of the company town that grew up to support the lumber industry in nearby Cass, WV.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Tour

On Fridays at 1 pm through the summer, Green Bank hosts a 3 hour tour focused on radio telescopes and the history of the SETI missions. As we found out, they sell out more than a week in advance as half of our group got the last tickets. Through some additional phone calls, they offered a nice solution as discussed below.

Chicken salad sandwich at the Green Bank cafeteria

Project Ozma, the precursor to the SETI missions, was the subject of a conference in Green Bank in 1961, when Frank Drake convened scientists from around the world including Carl Sagan and Melvin Calvin, a Nobel laureate who received his phone call while in Green Bank, to discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations and how best to search for them.

The Drake Equation, which was developed ad hoc at the 1961 meeting.

Drake had selected the hydrogen line as the wavelength to monitor. Hydrogen emits at 1,420.4 MHz, which corresponds to a 21 cm wavelength. Although there have been some exciting hits, later explained by other phenomena, there was at least one that has still not been explained. Unfortunately, it has also not recurred. However, other important discoveries, such as the black hole in the middle of our universe, were made as a result of the search.

To minimize interference to ongoing SETI monitoring, you are not allowed to have any battery operated, electronic equipment in operation once you pass a gate into the telescope area. This unfortunately includes most modern cameras. I suppose my Dad's old Olympus film camera with manual focus would fit the bill, but it is sitting in a drawer back in California. They sell little disposable film cameras in the gift shop. Phones and smart watches have to be powered off, and they have a box in which Fitbits and other items can be placed on the bus.

We were able to enter a room with original monitoring equipment at the first radio telescope, to climb up onto the "deck" level for great views at a second telescope that had been designed by a Navy guy, and to stand near the large telescope that we had seen from the road. A highlight was that it quietly and rapidly started to move to a new position just as we were about to leave.

The Green Bank telescope

While four of us went on the 3 h SETI tour, the other four took a 1 h bus tour departing at the same time. These tours drive by each of the same telescopes. They then spent some time visiting the interesting free museum, and paid a bit more to meet up with the longer SETI tour for a lecture by an astronomer in "the room where it happened" back in 1961.

The room where it happened...

Cass Company Houses

Our friends had booked two historic houses in the nearby Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, which are in the perfect location to enjoy both the historic railroad and the Greenbrier River. Each house had three bedrooms, two with double beds and one with twins.

Church, a Company house and a Shay locomotive pulling in front of the Company Store.

Each house prepared a dinner for all 8 of us, and we enjoyed walking around the town after dinner. The first night, we had a choice of two chili's, one with meat and one vegan. And on the second night, we prepared a carnitas bar!

Clockwise from top left: Salad and fresh guacamole; black bean soup with toppings; roasted sweet potatoes; pork carnitas with pickled red onion, pickled peppers, salsa; mushroom carnitas with roasted root vegetables.

For the omnivores and carnivores in our group, I prepared Diana Kennedy's sublime and easy carnitas as featured as a Food52 Genius Recipe. I cooked it to the tender stage where the chunks were just about to start browning, before putting it in the refrigerator.

Pork carnitas, tender inside and crispy outside

At Cass, I reheated it and allowed it to brown. Next time, I would cut larger chunks because the extra cooking time caused the meat to fall apart a bit too much. I separated the remaining chunks from a plateful of crispy bits.

We also had vegan mushroom carnitas prepared using a fabulous recipe from Veganricha, cilantro-lime brown rice cooked in my Instant Pot, roasted radishes -- both red and white/Daikon, roasted sweet potatoes, and a delicious black bean soup.

Carnitas bar filling options

These were topped by salsa that my husband made using the Pioneer Woman's recipe, fresh and pickled vegetables (cowboy candy & dilly beans) from my friend's garden, plenty of sangria, guacamole, corn tortillas and flour tortillas.

Toppings for carnitas and black bean soup

For dessert, my husband made lime bars, served with vanilla ice cream and garden fresh blueberries picked the day before.

Lime bars on a hand-cut shortbread crust, with blueberries

In the morning, we biked along the Greenbrier River for beautiful views of grasslands, woods and water. Members of our group saw a deer with its fawn in the tall grass in a ditch, red salamanders, large birds and even a bobcat pursuing a fawn.

A nice morning for a bike ride along the Greenbrier River Trail before the train ride

We had plenty of time for showers and a nice break before walking down to the Cass Depot for our train ride.

The Cass Scenic Railroad

I recall reading a book in high school that detailed for pages the excitement felt in a small town for days prior to the arrival of a train, powered by a steam locomotive belching black plumes into the sky. These "iron horses" transformed commerce and travel in the 19th century, while having devastating impact on the environment.

The town of Cass was founded in 1901 as a company town for loggers, and the railroad was used to haul lumber from the surrounding mountains. After staying overnight in one of the company houses, we were eager to experience a train ride up to the the third highest point in West Virginia -- Bald Knob (4842 ft).

The Durbin Greenbrier Valley Railroad has the largest collection of operable historic Shay locomotives. We took a 4.5 h, 22-mild round trip ride pushed and pulled by a Shay locomotive up steep grades along the banks of the river valley. I never knew that trains used switchbacks, and it was impressive to hear, feel and smell the locomotive working hard as we ascended the mountain.

The Shay steam locomotive that pushed us up the mountain.

As it departs the station, the locomotive is situated at the back of the train pushing Car A, Car B, Car G (has restrooms), Car H and Car I in the front. We went past some impressive metal ruins, which represents the burnt out remnants of where they used to fix up and maintain these historic locomotives.

Ruins of the burnt out train restoration center from the train.

The next morning, I walked back along a mowed path in the nearby riverfront park for a closer look at the ruins.

A close up view of the ruins from the river side.

Upon boarding the covered, but open-air railcars, we were handed a bag lunch and bottle of water. The train has two long benches facing either side of the cars for great views. We elected to sit on the side facing the parking lot, which gave mostly downhill views to the Leatherbark Creek, while the other side had views up the mountain.

Our group of 8

This first section of the ride was quite impressive. Whereas Shay #5 is the oldest and longest operating locomotive (since 1905), we were powered by Shay #2. This is a C class locomotive weighing 93 tons and the only Shay to have burned three different fuels -- wood, coal and oil.

From Car B, we had clear views of the massive plumes of white steam, with intermittent eruptions of billowing grey and black smoke trailing away from us each time the engineer shoveled in a new batch of coal as the train headed uphill.

Steam, smoke and soot

The website indicates that the ascent of 2,390 feet is the equivalent to traveling 800 miles north to Canada in terms of climate and the types of plants and animals encountered. It was certainly clear that the vegetation was changing as we ascended Back Allegheny Mountain. After we passed Whittaker Station, the track looped around so that we could see Bald Knob on the other side of the horseshoe shaped ridge.

At one of the switchbacks, we paused so that they could grease the pistons that give rise to the chugga-chugga-chugga sound of a moving train. At each road crossing and junction, there were lots of enthusiastic chooo-chooo whistles. A bit later, they stopped to refill the water tank. So lots of maintenance even during the journey. They said that our round trip would consume 4 tons of coal!

There were several overlooks beginning with Gobbler's Knob that afforded nice views into the valley below. At the top, we ascended a platform that gave amazing views. We saw the Green Bank telescope in the distance.

View from the top of Bald Knob. The telescope is the white dot just to the right of the middle of the three cloud shadows on the left.

There were long lines for the restroom, so I returned to Car G to use the restroom on board. I then spoke to the engineer and asked him how he came to learn how to operate these antique locomotives. Turns out, he learned from his father and grandfather.

On the way back down, we noticed the worker leaning over the side to see if the wheels were turning or sliding, and then adjusting the brakes to keep them turning. He warned us that soot and small particles would rain down on us as the locomotive got started, and to be careful not to get it in our eyes, nose or mouth. We were now being pulled by the locomotive as it backed down the mountain.

We stopped at Whittaker Station for about 20-30 min, where we could buy snacks. They had kettle corn and a rather disappointing pepperoni roll made by a local bakery. The Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association maintains a re-created logging camp, and you can peek into the sleeping rooms and view several different types of loading equipment.

Recreated camp shanties from one of the several models of loaders at Whittaker.

The trip down was less enjoyable than the trip up due to the short periods of raining soot, but at least they did not have to feed coal into the firebox as often going downhill.

We pulled back into Cass Depot with a full complement of railroad bells and whistles, chugga, chugga, chooo, chooo! Overall, it was a vivid and unforgettable experience -- bringing to life the sights, sounds, feel and smell of travel in era of iron horses.

View of the Route 66 bridge from the riverfront park

Other train-centered adventures

Central PA in the Altoona area is a mecca for train enthusiasts. We took a spring break driving trip a few years back, and found to our disappointment that many of the local sites that were closed for the winter did not open until late Spring. However, we had a fantastic ad hoc vacation visiting a series of National Park Service sites that are open year round.

I highly recommend visiting the Allegheny Portage Railroad before venturing to the other sites, as you can then experience the race to bring goods between the East Coast and Pittsburgh, the "Gateway to the West," using first canals and then railroads. It was also interesting to learn how the PA turnpike fits in to the story.

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

The docents here made this visit into one of the most exciting glimpses into the heavy competition among the Erie, Pennsylvania and C&O canals.

Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark

This amazing section of rail has been in continuous operation since it was graded and laid by hand in the 1850s. It now makes sense that control of the PA railroad is so important in games such as Rail Baron. You can also view the trains as they pass through the nearby Gallitzen Tunnels.

Love2Chow Tips

🐾 On the OC&T Rail, head all the way to the right to be seated in the car adjacent to the open air car.

🐾 The bridge to the Rail Trail side of Oil Creek is out, so there is currently no way to take the train one way and bike the other way.

🐾 The Cass railcars are open air and the temperature drops as you ascend in elevation (although it can also feel hot at the top if it is a sunny day). So bring warmer layers. For better views of the river valley, sit facing away from the station.

🐾 Although the locomotive pushes from behind for most of the ascent to Bald Knob, there are sections where the locomotive is in front. Cars A & B get the brunt of the ashes when the locomotive is working hard and pulling from the front. It might be nice to have a P95 or N95 mask if you are sensitive.

🍃 The town of Cass has two electric car chargers. One is in the parking lot for Cass Depot. The other is near Lefty's Barber Shop. The people at Snowshoe did not know if theirs was functional.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE HISTORIC RAILROAD?

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