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.
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!)
