The Mount Washington Railway Company's venerable #2, "Ammonoosuc", enjoys a relatively gentle grade just moments after leaving Marshfield Station on a cool fall morning. I don't take a lot of roster-type shots, but I've made the exception with the Mount Washington line because the steamers are gradually being retired in favor of diesel-hydraulics. In 2006, there were 7 steam engines on the railway. With the retirement of #8, there were only 6 by 2008. In 2009, #3 was retired.....and then there were 5. How many will operate in 2010 is still an open question. If a small number of these engines are preserved, the #2 seen here is likely to be one of them. She and sister engine #9 are the only 2 of the remaining 5 that are equipped with feedwater heaters, and both apparently consume significantly less coal on the trip to the summit. I chose this picture of #2 for RP because of the paint scheme. The railway has had several of them over the years, but this one is arguably the prettiest of all. Thanks to the engine crew's efforts on this morning, she looked especially clean when she passed before my camera.
