Another early 70s rainy day in the northeast, this time east of the Hudson River:
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97 at Essex first day of steam March 1973.jpg [ 48.19 KiB | Viewed 6740 times ]
March 4, 1973 on the "pit track" at Essex, Valley Railroad 2-8-0 97 is under steam for the first time since arriving at the VRR. Last previous steaming had been October 1968 for some trips over the New Haven.
The guys are working on a head from one of the 9" air compressors. Until 1975 or so, the VRR was know at TRAIN Assoc. conventions as "the Railroad that runs out of a boxcar" (the shop at the time, until the first section of the Essex enginehouse was built.
#103 is under the tarp behind 97.
This is the "pit track" because the inspection pit was the old unloading pit for the coal silos in the background. That pit is still used today, slightly expanded in length. The silos were owned by C. P. Burdick, the coal and oil dealer in town. Torn down in the late 70s, much of the lumber was recycled into sheathing for one of RMNE's B&M outside braced boxcars.
97 entered service in early June, and 2-6-2 #103 was rarely used after that; train length had increased beyond 103's capacity.
Howard P.
Essex Jct, CT