PICTURES !
I made it up to Thomaston, CT yesterday for the Open House. Weather forecast was for pleasant and sunny with late day thunderstorms. We arrived just as the first train was boarding for departure. Here is the 1st excursion train at final boarding call…
I forgot to ask Al about the engine on point. It looked like some type of EMD and possibly leased - lettered Taconic and Berkshire Rail Technologies. As the train left I thought maybe it was an Alco or maybe a disguised steam engine…
The Naugy’s GE as on the rear to pull the train home. Between trains I started to get some shots around the Thomaston Station / Museum. Here is ex Metro North, nee New Haven EMD FL-9 2019. MNCR kept the New Haven McGuiness scheme on many of the locos they operate in CT-NYC service…
That’s Breslin Tower directly behind 2019 and the Rutland combine on the rear. Next to the display train is a huge pile of new ties and spikes. My guess is that these are provided by the State of CT, who owns the track, for rehabilitation of the section of the line that is now being used for revenue freight. A truck to rail trash transfer station has just been built on the line and is being served by the Naugatuck RR.
While no-one was looking I climbed up into the Rutland Combine. I just about got my camera focused when a volunteer came up to chase me out (Guided tours only). She did let me take a few shots from the vestibule…
A few minutes later the skies opened up and it poured for hours.
I bought tickets for the 2nd train and began the car tour. Managed only a this pictures inside the 1800’s Rutland combine…
We had just started in the Breslin Tower when a misinformed passenger called that the next train was about to leave. Not wanting to miss my train I abandoned the tour only to find the train had not yet arrived. It was still pouring as we boarded in an uncovered area. We were soaked to the bone once we got on the train. It was nice to ride further South than the normal excursion (into Waterbury), but with all the windows fogged up from soaking wet passengers we didn’t see much along the way.
When we returned to Thomaston I managed to catch up with Al for a few minutes. He was running around like a mad man trying to manage tickets. They had a huge response to the $1 ticket price (unfortunately, according to Al, they lost a few cents on every on-line purchase due to fees).
Because it was still pouring we didn’t hang around and I didn’t get any good pictures of the Breslin Tower inside or out (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)
