Friday Fun - On the Valley Line Today

. . . well, not technically "today" . . .

This past Monday, I was working on the HO scale Valley Line when what to my wondering ears should appear, but the sound of a Hancock whistle blowing for a grade crossing!

Immediately dismissing the possibility that my 1:87 scale rendition of the Valley Local had actually materialized, I looked out my window just in time to catch the 1:1 version heading south to the mainline at Saybrook Junction.

Feeling duty-bound to capture the event and report to you fine folks here . . .

. . . I caught the northbound at the crossing, running light - though I was pretty sure I'd seen cars on the southbound train . . .

So I headed down to the wye at Saybrook Jct where my suspicions were confirmed:

Set out on the main, just north of the wye, were two empty gondolas. This is the usual place such setouts are made - at the farthest point south on the Valley Line, within reach of the mainline local when it comes by later at night to pick them up.

And to provide some further context and orientation, this is the view looking the other way - south toward the wye itself and Saybrook station. You can just make out Milepost 0 there on the left, just this side of Mill Rock Road.

All in all, this move was a nice 30 minute distraction from what I was doing - and a great reminder of how cool it is to live literally right next door to the prototype you're modeling.

For those who have 41 seconds to spare, I caught this video of the 0901 heading northbound, light. Incidentally, this is one of (if not the) oldest operating diesel locomotives in New England - if not the entire country. Enjoy and have a great weekend!