A touch of color on the Valley Line. Although the leaf-drop has begun in earnest, there are still some flashes of color along the Valley Railroad's well-traveled right-of-way as Mikado #40 makes an early afternoon charge through Hadlyme Station on the last weekend for steam in 2020.
The pandemic year of 2020 has been tough on steam tourist operations all over the US and Connecticut's Valley Railroad has been no exception. Barred from it's normal springtime opening by state restrictions, the line was finally able to resume steam service in late June, albeit on a very reduced schedule and with significantly reduced capacity on every train. Over the course of the summer, demand for the train/riverboat service increased to the point where the railroad was back running 3-4 trains per day, but only on Saturdays and Sundays. They were still closed during the week. Alas, with the increase in COVID cases as the fall came on, a tough decision had to be made to cancel the 2020 season for the line's very popular North Pole Express, which is also their biggest revenue generator. With all of the risks and restrictions, it just would not be possible to safely provide the sort of quality experience that riders had come to expect. So sadly, at the conclusion of the last fall colors weekend in October, steam operations shut down until next year. The railroad will continue to provide its popular diesel-powered dinner trains during the upcoming holiday season, but as one might imagine, capacity will be very limited to keep everyone safe.
