Couple of quick announcements...

(The Layout Tour resumes below - scroll down - or you can go directly to the latest installment here)

I'll be giving a presentation/slide show on the textile & railroad industries in Willimantic this Sunday (Nov. 3) at the Windham High School sometime around 1:30-2pm (exact time, TBD).  This is in conjunction with the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum's fall show.  I'll be giving a brief history of the growth of the Willimantic textile industry and then going into some detail on the four(!) different railroads that served the town and took its products to market.  Go to http://www.cteastrrmuseum.org/ for more details.

Also, next Saturday (Nov. 9) I'll be giving a talk/show in Stamford at the New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association (NHRHTA) Reunion, from 3-5 pm.  The topic?  "A Day on the Valley Local"

Surprised?  (I'm guessing ... no.)  For more details, go to http://www.nhrhta.org/

If you've been following the "Layout Tour" posts here, this will be your chance to see a prototype version.  I'll be using photos from the era and area to "follow" a typical local freight train as it goes about its business serving the towns along the CT river valley.  Thanks to the recollections of John Wallace and Max Miller (who will be joining me), I hope this "trip" will be much more than just watching the train go by - we'll get to know some of the actual crew members and hear some of the funny stories they have to tell.  Along the way, you'll learn about the industries that used be so common in the area, and so many of which are long forgotten.

So if you're in Willimantic this Sunday or Stamford next Saturday, stop by and say "hi" (but please leave the tomatoes at home :^)
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Please excuse the unrelated pics below - I needed an online space to host them, and this was as good a place as any...
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