Grassroots Railroad Sports?

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington was offering a two-day photo charter on the first weekend of February, twenty tickets total for $400, and I was waffling on going. The main issue being that my Yaris is getting pretty tired and getting stranded in Maine in winter seemed less than ideal. Then I realized that my SCCA awards dinner is that weekend, which saved me from a poor financial decision. Especially because I still need to get a transmission and a top for my MR2 Spyder in the spring. Thanks to whoever scheduled that dinner for saving me from my own bad decisions. I do want to get back there again sometime though.

As the years winds down, here's a rough list of railroads, in addition to a return to WW&F, that I want to visit next year (obviously subject to change):

Arcade & Attica. This one is highly dependent on the #18 returning to service. The sole steam locomotive that operates in New York state, it's been apart for a couple years receiving a major frame rebuild and serious boiler and firebox repairs. The boiler was finally reunited with the running gear this summer and Arcade & Attica management says they want to have it running for next spring but nothing with steam locomotives ever happens on schedule, so I'm not holding them to that. Still, it'd be nice to see it run sometime next year. I also wouldn't mind seeing their 251-swapped RS-3 in action either.

Valley Railroad/Essex Steam Train & Riverboat. I'm honestly kind of embarrassed at not having been to this one, since it's not that far away. It's actually closer than Reading, PA and operates three separate steam locomotives with a fourth on the way to be restored to operation. I kind of missed the best season to see them in operation, since apparently at Christmas time they'll have all three engines operating at the same time (regularly they cycle through a different engine each month), but I suppose I could wait until next Christmas time.

Railroad Museum of New England/Naugatuck Railroad. Another one that I'm kind of embarrassed at not having been to this one, since, again, it's pretty close to home, even closer than Essex in fact.. The only issue I have is that, as far as I can tell, they don't run any regular trips, they only run for special events (like Easter or Christmas or the "Chocolate Express", etc.) which I'm not really about. Either that or there website is super unintuitive.

Conway Scenic Railroad. I firmly believe Conway Scenic has the best scenery this side of the Mississippi, and I'd like to get back there again, specifically for the 470 Railroad Club fall trip when they run their beautiful pair of F7As. I rode this trip once before, but it was kind of disorganized and I also lacked a real camera at the time, so it'd be nice to go back and get some good shots, and maybe spend another day there photographing their regular operations. 

Reading & Northern. Two things specifically here; charter trips and #425. If they run any neat trips, like the RDC trip to Tremont or the F-unit powered excursion to Oneida Junction, I'd definitely be down to ride. And if #425 gets finished up and put back in service, I'm down to go chase her again. But I don't really feel like I need to see #2102 in action again next year. I also wouldn't be opposed to riding the Pittston-Jim Thorpe line, especially if they run the F-Units, or chasing CNJ #113 again.

Adirondack Railroad. Specifically, the newly-opened Thendara-Tupper Lake stretch. I had hoped to ride that this year in the fall, only for a washout to take it out of service right during peak ridership, much to the railroad's dismay and mine. Of course, some of that will also depend on if the railroad responds to my application to become a volunteer as well.

Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley. One of the old Delaware-Otsego Corp. operations and where Walter Rich got his start of running railroads, before eventually taking on the New York, Susquehanna & Western. They run on the old D&H Cooperstown Branch and run end cab Alco/MLW switchers, including CN #8223, believed to be the only operational MLW S-7.

Delaware & Ulster Railroad. This one, based out of Arkville, NY on the old Ulster & Delaware Railroad, which became a component of the New York Central, is highly dependent on them reopening this year. They shut down in 2020, for obvious reasons, and have launched a pretty aggressive roadbed rehabilitation, as well as overhauling their equipment, and haven't run since. They had hoped to reopen for the fall season, but inflation has forced them to work at a slower pace than hoped, so they're leaning towards 2024. They have an ex-D&H RS-32 and an ex-NYO&W NW2 (possibly the only one left), and a full stainless-steel trainset, as well as more regular coaches.

The big thing is that, as mentioned, I need to expend some money to get my MR2 Spyder ready for this race season, and I need to replace my Toyota Yaris, so I'll probably not venture as far afield as other years, or perhaps as frequently. But there are more local operations I've passed over previously.

While I would eventually like to see C&O #1309 in operation at Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, that'll probably be another year or two. As of right now, the #1309 is proving to be a bit tempestuous and it's operation is rather sporadic. It sat out this spring and summer for more in-depth mechanical work. Then I noticed that it also was sitting out a lot of the Christmas season, with WMSR saying it would return to service January 6th and 7th. While at Strasburg three weeks ago, I happened to mention it to another photographer and he said "I live in the area and have tried three times to see the #1309, and every time it's supposedly operating, I get there and they're running one of the diesels." Then today, WMSR announced that their Steam & Snow event on January 6th and 7th, which was to be powered by #1309, will now be powered by diesels and used as a fundraiser to fund new pistons and "additional winter maintenance" to the #1309. So I think I'll wait a year or two to see if they get it fully sorted, rather than drive the 10 hours down just to find out that it's once again out of service for some other ailment.

It's been a long time since I've ridden on the Valley/Essex railroad but when we lived closer (3 hours away) and the children were young we used to visit regularly. Except for a couple of disorganized trips when they were new, I have only good memories of the place. 

If you've never been there, you owe it to yourself to take the train up the Connecticut River Valley. IIRC, the connecting riverboat will take you up at least as far as Gillette Castle. During Fall foliage season the tours were usually sold-out. 

Best Wishes,

Lou Manglass

In reply to TheMagicRatchet :

Valley Railroad has always seemed an odd one to me in that it's been around quite a while, but you never really hear much about it, certainly not on the level of like Strasburg or Durango & Silverton or Grand Canyon Railway. But I recall reading something about how Valley Railroad has one of the highest ridership for a North American tourist railroad, and keeping three steam locomotives active and running regularly is no mean feat either. I also read that, in a bizarre reversal, Connecticut has wanted to fund an extension of their line and have them run even further, but that Valley Railroad has been reticent to agree to that, saying they need to make sure there's a good business case before extending the line.

In reply to NickD :

In my memory Valley Railroad has always had conservative management dedicated to keeping the doors open. Extension has been discussed as long as I remember. I asked at one time, I think their trackage may run all the way to Hartford. It's single track so they may be worried about how a longer run would limit the number of trips per day.  

In reply to TheMagicRatchet :

As recently as 2015 the RiverCOG was talking about reactivating the line nine miles north to Middletown. They were looking at either extending Valley Railroad's run, adding freight service, or making it a multi-use rail/trail. Sounded like freight service was out, because there was really only one business along that stretch that could use freight service, and that business lacked a direct connection and would have to construct a spur at their own cost, plus landowners along the way were complaining that freight moves would affect property values. There is also the issue that, to remain consistent with requirements of the federal Land and Water Conservation funds used to purchase the park, the corridor must be used as a scenic railway. Under the grant, it is also authorized for occasional freight service, but not exclusive freight use. Of course, the trail folks were on board for more trails (pretty soon the region will be overrun with trails and absolutely nothing else to do) but wanted it a pure trail without trains running alongsid0e, as always, plus making it the joint rail and trail was the more expensive option. Valley Railroad said they had done their own study of the trackage and said that while it needed ballast and pretty much every tie replaced, the rail itself was actually in pretty good shape, and RiverCOG said that just restoring it for passenger use would have the least effect on residents and cost the least.

You really have to strike a balance with length when operating a tourist line. Too short and you either have people griping that they don't feel they got their money's worth, or you're having to operate at 5mph. Too long and you're risking alienating the average person either due to the length of time or the cost and you're not able to get enough frequency of trips to pay the bills. That being said, if the scenery is just that good (Durango & Silverton/Cumbres & Toltec) or you have a good destination to offer a layover at (Jim Thorpe on the Reading & Northern), people are more willing to go on a longer ride. Increasing speed isn't always an option because sometimes the infrastructure can't support it, or you're beating your roadbed and running gear up, and when it is, you end up with riders pitching a fit that the scenery was all a blur because you were doing 60mph. I don't know enough about Middletown (say, anything) to say if it's a good spot to offer a long layover at, but I imagine having to reduce frequency of runs because of an additional 18 miles per run is their main concern. 

As the year winds down, and having said my plans for next year, time to take a quick moment and reflect on my adventures this year. The big thing this year was going out and actually buying a real camera.

Starting off; Easter on the Adirondack Railroad. I got to finally catch new kid on the block, C424 #2400, leading their Easter trains southbound.

Then a week later it was down to Pennsylvania for an RDC charter trip along the Reading & Northern but, first, a visit to Strasburg Rail Road, where 4-8-0 #475 was holding things down.

And then, the next day, it was a rare mileage adventure over the R&N with a 3-unit set of RDCs, seen here passing under a remnant of the abandoned PRR Schuylkill Valley Branch.

And I also got to operate my first diesel that same weekend, Colebrookdale Railroad GP38-2 #5128, still set up "the Southern way"; long hood forward and high nose.

Then, Memorial Day weekend, it was back down to Pennsylvania. I caught big Alco power at the yard in Scranton.

That was just a detour though, on my way to Orbisonia to finally see the famed East Broad Top, in action and with steam.

Then I swung north to Strasburg, this time to see N&W #611 running her last weekend at Strasburg before returning to her home state of Virginia.

And, on the way home, I saw the famed Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct in Nicholson, PA.

While in New Jersey for a Formula Drift, I dragged my friend down to Swedesboro to see a rare active Baldwin Diesel, SMS Lines #304 on the Woodstown Central.

In July, it was west to Arcade, NY for a photo charter on the Arcade & Attica to commemorate the end of doubleheaded center cab GEs on the line.

And the same weekend I caught the New York & Lake Erie's set of MLW FPAs hauling passengers.

In September, I chased Adirondack Railroad's Utica-Thendara run, with RS-18u #1835 and M420W #3573

A couple weeks later I caught Finger Lakes Railways running a rare mileage trip over the old New York Central "Auburn Road" with their NYC-painted B23-7s and coaches.

Then it was back down to Pennsylvania in October, with a visit to Altoona and then a day spent with Everett Railroad's picturesque little Mogul, #11.

Followed by 2 days along the Road Of Anthracite, chasing both #2102 and the F-Units (which I'd never seen operate before)

Then, it was out to Livonia to catch the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville's big Alcos in action before they are replaced by "green" power.

And then a couple weeks ago, I made another "circle trip" to Pennsylvania, first stopping at Strasburg to catch my old friend, #90, in action

Then I swung east to New Hope & Ivyland to see steam and diesel-powered Christmas trains running to Lahaska.

And then it was up to Minersville, to see CNJ #113, the big anthracite-burning 0-6-0, thrash it's way from Schuylkill Haven to Minersville in the rain.

Sixty five years ago to the day, Illinois Central 4-8-2 #2613, one of the clean sheet 4-8-2s built in '42 and amongst the heaviest Mountains ever constructed, passes beneath the coaling tower at Carbondale, Illinois. Once a bustling hub of activity, the towers stand a mute witness to a dying age, with #2613 one of the last holdouts of steam on "The Main Line of Mid-America" at this late date. Even as the last bastions of steam dwindled, the Illinois Central remained nearly completely ignored, having long been dismissed by railfans for having what was considered the least photogenic steam power in the US, on account of the squared-off sand domes, unshielded air pumps on the front deck, and unusual corrugated pressed-steel pilots.

Those 70" Boxpok drivers proving that the #2613 can still turn a mean mile, despite being in the twilight of her career, as she winds through an S-curve at Cobden, Illinois with the Cairo Turn local freight, the same day as the above and proceeding photos.

Racing out of Carbondale. While the earlier 1937-built 2500-series Mountains were mechanically identical in specification, those engines reused boilers from the 1921-built 2900-series "Central-types", the Illinois Central term for a 2-10-2. The 2600-series Mountains were constructed with all-new boilers, and were slighty heavier while towing a larger and heavier tender.

An energetic pan shot of #2613 cracking off the miles. The #2613 was a short-lived excursion star, as she was leased by the L&N, who no longer had any steam locomotives of their own at the time, to power a special centennial train on October 24, 1959 between Louisville and Nashville. Following that, she pulled two excursions along the IC's Kentucky Division on May 14, 1960 and October 2, 1960, and, by doing so, she was the last steam locomotive to pull a train on the Illinois Central. Illinois Central did offer the locomotive to Kentucky Railway Museum, but Illinois Central required anyone that wanted a steam locomotive to buy it off them (the IC's logic was that if a township or museum had skin in the game, they would be more inclined to take care of the engine) and the recently-formed KRM couldn't get together the funds to buy it. While there are a couple of the earlier 2500-series Mountains preserved, none of the 2600-series engines were saved, with #2613 being the last to get the torch. Part of the issue is that, someone claimed, if you requested a certain wheel arrangement, IC just grabbed whatever one was at the front of the dead line and easiest to retrieve, and so when people requested 4-8-2s, the 2500s were easily available and handed out first.

The #2613, along with 0-8-0 #3511 and a pair of GP9s at Centralia, Illinois in October of 1958. The #3511 was pulled from service at the beginning of 1959 and never ran again. The GP9, #9109, wasn't that much longer lived. It was rebuilt in June, 1967, as the first GP10, and renumbered #8109 and was destroyed, and sadly several crewmen were killed, during a head-on collision at McManus, LA, in July, 1969

IC #2613 hauling that excursion over the Louisville & Nashville in 1959. That '30s Ford sedan in the middle photo is interesting, because even in 1959, that thing was a dinosaur.

lllinois Central #2604 rolls pass the depot at DuQuoin, IL on October 18th, 1958. She has only a few more months to run, for IC pulled all remaining steam locomotives from service in early 1959. A handful of steamers were reactivated at Paducah during the winter of 1959-60 but #2604 was not part of that group.

The #2613 was spewing a large black plume of smoke when photographed at Tamaroa, IL on October 3, 1958, before she briefly became royalty and was just another number on the roster. At the time, for photographers, the excessive smoke was considered desirable, and that trend continued into the '80s or '90s, and they would often pay off a fireman to start firing like crazy near the location they planned to be shooting at. Management really frowned on such displays of waste and would and anyone who got caught producing smoke plumes such as this one stood a good chance of getting their ass chewed. When O. Winston Link requested permission to photograph the Norfolk & Western in it's final steam days, part of the N&W's mandate was that he couldn't publish any images with excessive black smoke, or the safety valves lifted, because that was indicative of improper firing and waste. He said there were many otherwise great photos that were ruined by black smoke and prevented him from taking or publishing them.

llinois Central "Central-type" 2-10-2 #2807 prepares to cross Mayfield-Metropolis Road, west of Paducah, KY on November 27th, 1959. The big steamer had brought out a loaded coal train to TVA's Shawnee power plant. Construction of TVA's Shawnee plant began in 1951; the first unit went online in 1953, and the 10th and last unit was activated in 1956. Most of the electricity produced at Shawnee went to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant next door, which enriched uranium. Shawnee quickly became a major customer for the IC, receiving a coal train, or more, each day. The coal traffic is one reason the IC reactivated several steamers at Paducah in late October of 1959, several months after all IC steamers were sidelined. The weather was turning cold, traffic to Shawnee was increasing and IC didn't have enough GP7's and GP9's to handle the increased business, so they pulled some steamers from the Paducah dead line. Alas, the steam revival was done and dusted by March of 1960, when the IC started taking delivery of 15 new GP18's. The new diesels, plus warming temperatures, reduced the demand for electricity, allowing IC to once again sideline all of its steamers - this time for good.

The #2802 is readied at Paducah in February of 1960, another one of the fortunate few reactivated for hauling coal to Shawnee. The #2800 Central-types were the most powerful steam on the Main Line of Mid-America.

The #2613 pauses under the Dawson Springs coal docks with the first of the "Farewell To Steam" excursions.

One of the earlier 2700-series 2-10-2s being readied at Centralia in September of 1958, with just months left on the active roster.

IC 4-8-2 #2538 with auxiliary tender, at Champaign, IL, during September of 1958. Like many other roads, as steam locomotives were retired, intermediate water towers were eliminated to reduce cost. This left the operating steam engines unable to make it from tank to tank if being worked hard, so tenders were taken from retired steam locomotives and converted to auxiliary canteens to get them over the road.

Illinois Central Mikado #1635 leads the Mation Turn local freight out of Carbondale in late January of 1959

IC 4-8-2 #2527 looms large in the dark, showing off that unusual corrugated steel pilot that IC was so fond of. Taken in December of '59, the invading EMD Geeps are just visible to the right.

IC 2-8-2 #1537, a 1914-built Baldwin product, leads the Thebes Turn local at Murphyboro, IL in January of 1959.