Official Valley Railroad Thread (VALE)

[Cosmo]

The coming weekend, 18-20 Sept will be the Haddam Meadows antique machinery show hosted by TVFA.
The Friends will be offering track-car and Hy-rail rides on part of the line North of Goodspeeds.
Come on down and say hello!

[Brendan]

In addition the the show at Haddam meadows this weekend, FVRR will be running the Hirail from the state park entrance every Saturday from 9 to 12, now though end of OCT. Come on down and ride.

[ebtmikado]

Valley Railroad's Saybrook Special and Caboose Weekend, October 4, 2015.
https://youtu.be/3N_cYt_IlJU

Enjoy,
Lee

[ebtmikado]

VIDEO: Valley Railroad trains meet at Deep River 10-10-2015:

Fresh out of the shop from its 1472 day work, Mikado 40 is on the Northbound Essex Steam Train,
while ancient (1940) GE 80-Ton centercab 0901 leads the Essex Clipper Dinner Train.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mWVHdGYH0E

[Brendan]

Next Saturday, Oct 24 is the last day of hirail trips from Haddam Meadows state park for this year, so come on down and ride. 9 to 12 Great foliage along the CT river!

[ebtmikado]

NEW VIDEO: Friday, October 16, 2015 on the Valley Railroad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw7Z27udzzk

Enjoy,
Lee

[YamaOfParadise]

So, at this point, what are the major obstacles left on the line north of Goodspeed? From what I can think of:

• Higganum Creek Bridge... which I believe is both the longest bridge on the line, and also needs the most work
• Mill Creek Bridge (just south of Haddam Meadows)
• 2 bridges up near Pratt & Whitney (I believe these are in somewhat better condition)
• Crossings? (Not many, and I don't think there's many if any that would need flashers, but still some work nonetheless)

Of course, some of the people along the line in Haddam could probably be characterized as "obstacles" for an honest-to-goodness train running north of Goodspeed again... but we'll ignore that for the time being.

[ebtmikado]

It's not always appropriate to discuss private business matters in a public forum. That is how rumors get started and misinformation can be spread.
Lee

[Brendan]

We don't consider the bridges or opposition from NIBYs obstacles. How ever there is a 100' wash out from the flood of 1982 just south of Higganum and an overpass that was filled in, in 1972 covering the track just south of the high bridge. These are the two things that prevent us from running track equipment through to Middletown. The only thing needed to fix these and the bridges is money. So Keep riding the train and Riverboat and and we will make the money to make these things happen. The other thing that makes this all happen is volunteers, so come down and help out on a Saturday or Wednesday. The Friends of the Valley RR is a nonprofit 501c3 so donations help too.

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

The landowner who got the filled-in overpass had to sign on the dotted line to never ever protest a line restoration. It's already there in writing that when the time comes the embankment's coming down and the driveway is going to be re-snaked to meet up with the next adjacent driveway. They covered their butts pretty well in legalese on that one.

NIMBYs' gonna NIMBY, but the entire line has the unusual co-designation of state park AND active railroad which gives CDOT extra tools in its arsenal for dealing with abutters. Compared to other long-term OOS lines in New England (much less compared to abandoned or full-on landbanked lines) the Valley has a pretty firm upper hand vs. an abutter Operation Chaos when it comes to restoring service. So much so I don't think the usual loud noises will play any tangible role in thwarting or slowing it.

It's all about money, who can raise it, and how soon. Nice and clean, all self-contained within the basic value judgement of its place in the transportation investment pecking order. In this case, it truly is a matter of when not if...even if we can't predict with any accuracy when "when" will be.

[eehiv]

How near is the in-service track to Midway Marina now? Must be getting pretty close. EH

[CVRA7]

When the VRR was first established one of the members ran his motor hand car all the way to the north end of the line near the Moromas section of Middletown - think this took place in 1969 and again in 1970. At the time - as I remember - there was no funding available to keep the line open, which would have been a good idea. Storms and that filled in bridge prevented further travel. Back in the mid 1980s attempts were made to secure state funding to reopen the entire line to Middletown but NIMBYs were active back then and thwarted the effort. It was noted that some of them had severely encroached on the right-of-way (state property). Although many were good neighbors, there was trouble from from a few from just south of Hadlyme through Higganum at the time. The clown that lived on the west side of the line south of Hadlyme had dumped so much leaves, branches and some trash on the right of way some of the track was covered. Legend has it that he went up to the State House in Hartford to complain about the railroad and just happened to visit an office staffed by someone who had just inspected the line. When bad ol' Mr W_______ started his complaining the state official asked him where he lived. When Mr W_____ answered the official quickly recalled the location and said something to the effect of it had been noted that Mr W_____ was dumping his yard waste on STATE PROPERTY and the waste would have to be removed. I had suggested that the VRR send their H50 crane up the line to pay a visit and return Mr W____'s former "property" to the correct side of the right of way boundary. The area eventually was cleaned up, the track rebuilt, and even the Hadlyme Station stop was reinstated as the VRR expanded.

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

Not just dumping yard waste on state property...dumping yard waste in a state park. That's a hefty double-fining right there.

[YamaOfParadise]

Well, the definition of "major obstacle" in my head was whatever couldn't be solved with the traditional solution of manpower and smaller contributions like donated ties. And I based the bridge info off of information I remembered from the 2012 State Rail Plan, after re-checking the relevant section. I was mostly interested about infrastructural things, as they are more definite than any potential problems raised by abutters.

[shadyjay]

Crossings shouldn't be a problem. As for "public" crossings, I can think of the one at the north end of the marina, the Haddam Meadows crossing, and Landing Road in Higganum. I could see them all being "just crossbuck/stop signs" initially. Perhaps the Haddam Meadows crossing would be first to get an upgrade as it is the main entrance to a state park.

Let's not forget that it's not 100% solved once you get to Maromas. You've still got 5 miles of track to cover before you reach the diamond in Middletown. Granted, that's P&W property (right?) / controlled. And some of that track was rehabbed some 15-20 years ago (at least), and hasn't seen a train in quite some time. There were some washouts along that stretch last time I knew, and some bridges that probably need work. It's been some time since a train headed down to Pratt & Whitney, and since the end of the sewage trains, they haven't gone south of downtown in awhile, as far as I know. Plus, doesn't the city/state still have the line ripped up along deKoven Drive for the pipeline? Or at least it did a month or two ago. There's probably just no reason for P&W to head any further south on the Valley line than they have to, but given the right circumstances, I'm sure they could put their portion of the Valley back together.