Dateline: 3025

Dateline: 3025
By: Dylan Lambert

“New Haven 3025 Built in 1989 at the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works in China as M-1658. During its tenure on the Knox and Kane in Pennsylvania, what is now known as 3025 carried the number 58, and look like any factory-built SY class mikado. Once acquired by the Valley Railroad in 2008, it took 3 years and countless man hours to build a new cab (to New Haven practice), sunbeam headlight. The tender was squared off and modified to meet the New Haven clear vision standards.

I’ve gone 5 years without having some sort of exposure to a steam locomotive. Most railfans would balk at the idea, but because of my current mobility dependence on my mother I can’t really visit the museums within driving distance on a regular basis. However, throughout my steam drought, there was one story that captured my imagination. That story was of the creation of New Haven 3025. Bringing this beauty of a mikado back to steam wasn't like most restorations, as during its final days as Knox and Kane 58, there was a fire which torched the engine house, with both the 58 and stablemate Huntington and Broad Top Mountain Railroad 38 (a 2-8-0 of  Baldwin heritage). That damage justified the aforementioned modifications.


After a morning of unaccounted and unexpected shenanigans (leaving late, an unplanned stop at Dunkin Donuts, Weight Watchers, and giving my younger brother a ride into Worcester) , we got to the depot in Essex around 11:30. Almost immediately I heard a whistle. Jumping to conclusions, I believed it to be the 3025 returning from Deep River. But which direction was Deep River anyway? Luckily for me, I had a second set of eyes, and I set my mother to keep watch on what I would later learn is the north end of the yard. But what was the source of the whistle? Nothing else than the Valley Railroad’s GE center cab 0901, busy switching cars in preparation for the Lerro Productions photo freight that would occur the following day behind the 3025.

Valley Railroad center-cab 0901 switching cars for the Lerro Productions photo charter on May 21, 2012.
 After moving the Pennsy cabin car, Valley Railroad hopper and the open-air coach to the station’s passing loop, 0901 proceeded to move the Valley Railroad’s other operational engine, 2-8-2 #40, formerly of the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad, into the engine house.

Valley Railroad 0901, it was built by General Electric in 1940 for the US Navy. It was used at the Groton Naval Base, and is one of the oldest diesel-electric locomotives in regular service in the United States.

Valley Railroad 2-8-2 #40, formerly of the Aberdeen and Rockfish, being moved to the engine house by center-cab 0901.

Preparing to move Valley Railroad #40 into the engine house.
0901 would soon after go back for the equipment it left in the station loop and move it to the far side of the engine house. After that switching spectacle, I heard another whistle. This wasn’t 0901’s Hancock air whistle, but a deep, throaty sounding affair. At that point, I went into auto pilot expecting to see the 3025. Indeed I did, entering the station from the north side of the yard. Before I even describe the scene, I should note the last operational steam locomotive I’d seen was the Kangamangus on the Mt. Washington Cog Railway.

That was nearly five years prior to this fateful event. Unlike some of the local railfans, which includes familiar names like Lee Carson and Tom Nanos, I’ve suffered five years of steam depravation.

The videos simply don’t do 3025 the justice of seeing it in person. After bringing its train into the station (and nearly bringing me to tears in the process), 3025 ran around the train and coupled to the Pullman car Great Republic. That gave me the chance I was hoping for to get an up-close look at 3025. Already were the cylinder caps showing signs of use, the smokebox dyed by ash and the bell was blackened, no doubt because of its incredibly close proximity to the smokestack. I never got a chance to get right next to Kangamangus, so I never really had an appreciation for the power steam locomotives hold until I got right next to 3025. The air around her was just warm, reminiscent of a wood stove burning through the depths of winter. Anyway, soon after we boarded the rear car of the train, one of the old Lackawanna commuter coaches.

While one would argue being right behind the engine is the best way to soak in the sounds, from my vantage point at the very back of the train, I was able to see 3025, not the back of the tender as in the case of those riding Great Republic. After reaching Chester, the northern-most part of the run, 3025 pushed the train back to Deep River Landing for a connection with the riverboat Becky Thatcher. Once the train reversed direction in Chester, my mind began to drift. For those unfamiliar with operations on the Valley Railroad, once the Chester Express reaches Chester, the train simply backs up to Deep River, where the locomotive runs around the train. The only reason is because time constraints regarding the meet with the riverboat make running further to Haddam to use the passing loop. If that loop was used to move the locomotive to the opposite end of the train, the riverboat, and its passengers, would have to wait for the connection with the Chester Express, something that is rendered unnecessary by the current schedule. Maybe fitting the coaches and locomotives for auto working (like what some British railways, like the Great Western, did for use on lightly used branchlines) might solve the run-around necessity. Then I got an invitation to come back to reality by the announcement that we were arriving at Deep River Landing. With the crossing flagged, we the train rolled into Deep River Landing.

From the Deep River platform, it was a brief walk to the dock where the Becky Thatcher was standing. Through the hour ride, the on-board guide, Joe, gave an excellent narrative to the history of the Connecticut River and the areas alongside the river, with detailed information about sights such as Gillette Castle and the Goodspeed Opera House. But what really blew my mind was that ivory was a major traffic on the Conneticut River for years in the industrial revolution, and that there was once a thriving shipbuilding industry (which was cut short and all buy annihilated by the British in the War of 1812).

 On return to Deep River Landing, we boarded the Putnam, a 1000-series coach of CNJ lineage. Being second from the rear of the train, the noise wasn’t horribly loud, but we were close enough to 3025 to hear her “speak” as we entered the north end of the Essex yard. With that, I took a brief sojourn to the car to get my tripod and set up for some pictures. The piece de resistance turned out to be a panoramic shot of the Essex yard, with 3025 taking the center spotlight. Before we left to go find some, I managed to run into Pete Lerro, who was setting up to do some railfanning before his charter the following day. After a brief conversation (with a suggestion of chasing the 3:30 Chester Express), I had to leave. There is this new thing called food. I hear it prevents starvation and death related symptoms! But that didn’t stop me from letting Pete know I managed to catch some video of 0901 getting ready for his charter, and promised to send him the video link once it made it to the internet. So, off me and my mother went to Pizza Works at the Old Saybrook Amtrak station. There was also the added benefit of catching a Shore Line East commuter train and an Acela set barreling through to New Haven and points south.

But there were a few lessons to be learned from this little adventure. Lessons 1) learn to deploy the tripod faster. Because of that, getting some shots that weren’t blurred by camera shake proved difficult. Lessons 2) take the tripod with you on the train! Luckily for me, my tripod is a lightweight design. So transportability is greatly enhanced. Lesson 3) Try and optimize your video settings before the trip. Because of that, two of the scenes I managed to record suffered from an annoying degree of glare. Lesson 4) the custom setting on the camera enables far better control. And the final lesson (which I will leave open to debate) is that clam and bacon pizza is far tastier than it sounds.

Pictures anyone? These are some that I couldn't fit in the article cleanly.