Remarks:Narrow gauge equipment was designed for tight fits and the north entrance to the Chama Yard is definitely in that category. In this illustration, the daily train from Antonito, Colorado emerges from the narrow corridor created by dense woods and a line-up of ancient wooden DRGW reefers. On point today is K-36 #488, sporting a plow pilot. The K-36s are the workhorses of the remaining Colorado Narrow Gauge operations, with 8 of them still in operation between the CTS and DSNG.
Remarks: With her whistle pouring out a shrill warning, the former Aberdeen & Rockfish Mikado #40 steps briskly through the crossing at Old Deep River Road on the northbound run to Chester, Connecticut. The holiday trains from late November through the end of December are the best photographic opportunities on the Valley Railroad. The leafless trees allow the low-angle sun to penetrate more sections of the line and the cold temperatures practically guarantee that there will always be a nice, white plume. Unfortunately, this day will be the last day of operation for the line. When the fires are dropped in the coming evening, the steamers will hibernate until late April.
Remarks:It's always a melancholy moment when a steam operation drops the fires for the last time in an operating season. Alas, that time has come for Connecticut's Valley Railroad. The last of the North Pole Express trains has just returned and the shutdown process has begun. The stack has already been capped on Consolidation #97 and the crew on her stablemate, Mikado #40 is in the process of dumping her fire as this photo is being taken. Shortly, she'll move into the engine house to cool down. In a few days, the boilers and tenders will be drained, the lines blown out with compressed air and the tenders separated. Both engines will then undergo annual inspections, in preparation for the start of next season. Yes, it is a sad moment when the steamers shut down in Essex, but that sadness is tempered with the knowledge that this place is one place where steam will rise again...in just a few short months.
Remarks: The Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington's 12-ton Vulcan heads to the car shop to begin making up her passenger train. If the cab on this locomotive looks a bit wide for a 2-foot gauge engine, that's because she was originally built to run on 30 inch gauge track at a sugar plantation in Louisiana. When her sugar cane days were over in the late 1950s, she was acquired by a tourist operation in Massachusetts called Edaville Railroad. There, she was converted to 2-foot gauge, to run alongside 4 surviving engines from the 2-foot railroads in Maine. Although she proved unsuitable for the heavy trains at Edaville, she later found a home at the newly established WW&F Museum. For the WW&F, she's been a great fit. She steams up quickly, is economical to operate and does a good job pulling the 2, 3 and 4-car trains that the museum operates. She also puts on a great show for the cameras!
