RDC Fantrip on the Valley Line

Southbound at Middlesex Turnpike/Old Main Street - Goff Brook, Rocky Hill, CT

Ever since discovering this photo, I've toyed with the idea of getting a Budd RDC for fantrips on the Valley Line. Passenger service on my line ended by 1933, so having an occasional "extra" passenger train, in the form of a special run/fantrip, would add some operational interest to an otherwise freight-only line. Only "problem" is that the New Haven didn't get its first RDCs until spring of 1952 - and I model 1947-49 (focusing on 1948).

But I've engaged in a little "era creep" before. . . . And thanks to my buddy BillS, an RDC just arrived in Old Saybrook. So follow along as we chase this fantrip up the Valley Line!

We start our journey by the Saybrook Tower where the RDC (# TBD) has just left the famed Shore Line and is paused, waiting for orders to head up the Valley Branch.

At Essex, CT - Max Miller collection

Our first stop is in Essex, where the Witch Hazel factory is still shipping out product via rail - note the barrels on the platform of the warehouse in the background.

As the 'fans got back on board, but before the trip continued north, we see that the local freight finished spotting a reefer at the warehouse - and somebody just pulled their truck in to pick up some goods at the freight house.

As we continue north over Shailerville Bridge and past the famous Shad Shack, we find out from another 'fan that the trip will divert off of the Valley Line and go up the super-rare trackage of the Berlin Branch. There hasn't been a passenger train up there since 1932!

The Berlin Branch goes through some pretty densely wooded areas, so it was hard to get a good shot, but thankfully we were able to get to the station in time to see the RDC arrive.

The trip didn't stay in East Berlin for long - as soon as the engineer could take his controls to the other end of the car, the RDC headed back south. We got this going-away shot as it crossed the Mattabesset River, just south of the station. Note the lit-up red markers.

There wasn't much to see in Middletown, so we got a late lunch at O'Rourke's diner and headed up to Wethersfield afterwards.

Wethersfield was the northern-most point the fantrip would go today - and lunch lasted a bit long - but we were still able to catch the RDC just as it departed the station, heading back south. 

While the Valley Line is picturesque, we were only able to get ahead of the RDC a couple of times on the return trip. Apparently, the crew was eager to get home. But we did get this shot of the trip southbound at Rocky Hill. This is one of the few passenger stations left on the line (most were razed to save on property taxes after passenger service ended during the Depression).

Southbound at Middlesex Turnpike, Main Street, Cromwell, CT

The RDC had to stop & protect before crossing Main Street in Cromwell, so that gave us time to jump out of the car and get two shots of it here. That's the Sunset Diner on the left - where, during a spring day in 1938, Glenn Miller was persuaded to give his band another chance . . . (read that story here).

Since we had already got the shots we really wanted to get - and we knew the train wouldn't be making any more stops southbound - we decided to high-tail it back to Saybrook and wait for for the RDC there.

And here it is, letting the passengers off - weary but happy after a fun day on the Valley Line.

Hope you enjoyed the trip!

Southbound crossing Goff Brook - this is the going-away shot that goes with the photo at the beginning of our story...