Portland, Maine's Polar Express is operated by the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. on the city's Eastern Promenade. In this scene, Monson Railroad #4, an 18-ton Vulcan, built in 1918, provides the power as the train arrives at the Portland International Marine Terminal. The folks at the MNGRR spent a great deal of time preparing for this year's event, working with the FRA to get #4 back up and running again, as well as doing some restoration work on the rolling stock, to ensure that six coaches and a caboose would be available to handle the sizeable crowds that patronize these trains. In addition to the return of steam power, one of the highlights on this year's train was the presence of one of the MNGRR Museum's prized pieces of rolling stock. The 1882-vintage coach called "Pondicherry" from the Bridgton & Saco River RR was in the consist as a first-class car. I suspect that most of the adults on tonight's trip, whose grandparents hadn't even been born when Pondicherry was built, had no idea of the historic value of the piece in which they were riding!
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
