Steam on the Naugy. Lehigh Valley Coal Co. saddle-tanker #126 runs the tight narrows between old Waterbury Road and the Naugatuck River as she makes her northbound charge toward Thomaston, CT, with her first passenger train of the day. Behind her are three heavyweight coaches belonging to the Railroad Museum of New England, running as "The Naugatuck Railroad", or just "The Naugy" for short. This stretch of track is the old New Haven Line from Waterbury to Torrington. LVC #126 is running the first of two scheduled weekends of steam specials out of Thomaston Station.
Lehigh Valley Coal Co. #126 is one of three small saddle-tank engines owned and operated by Indiana's Gramling Locomotive Works. These engines are essentially "for rent", enabling tourist railroads and museums that don't have their own steam programs, to operate some steam excursions for 2-3 weekends. The locomotives are transported by flat-bed trailer to the customer's railroad, and are easily off-loaded and serviced with minimal facilities. The customer just needs to provide the coal, water and a place to service. They are ideal for short excursions, as their water and coal capacity is limited, and they typically require servicing after every trip. They are also pretty economical and easy to operate. Often, the customer's own crew members will be allowed to actually run the engines, under direct supervision from the Gramlings. During this particular visit, I asked Barney Gramling how they arrived at this business model, and his response was that initially, it was meant to be a hobby....that has since gotten a little out of control. LOL!
