Leaving for the pole in 6 minutes!. A few last-minute arrivals hustle down the platform to their assigned cars, but most of the passengers are already in their seats for the 5:35 PM departure of the Valley Railroad's North Pole Express. This will be the second train of the evening....the first is already out on the line. Later this evening, two more trains will depart...all of them are sold out and have been for many weeks. The show continues, every night except Monday, from the middle of November through a couple of days past Christmas. Four departures every night. On the weekends, there are three mid-day Santa Specials in addition to the night trips....again, all of them sold out.
It used to be that the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day was considered the Valley Railroad's prime season. Not any more! The summer season is nice, but the holiday season is the one that now pays the bills and ensures that there will be steam in the Connecticut River Valley for generations to come.
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!)
