VALE 3025 Reporting for duty. With the majority of their passengers safely on board, Valley Railroad crew members look for stragglers and count down the last couple of minutes until their departure with the North Pole Express. For the first time in over 5 decades, a steam engine lettered for the New Haven Railroad will be the power tonight. After just over a week's worth of shakedown runs and adjustments, VALE 3025 joins the Valley Railroad's stable of steam power this evening, with CMO J.David Conrad at the throttle and Veteran Engineer Ken Blandina doing the honors with the coal scoop. She will perform well tonight, entertaining both her passengers and the residents of Essex, Deep River and Chester with the distinctive tones of her powerful New Haven 5-chime.
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!)