Valley Railroad 2-8-0 No. 97 runs round its train at Essex after arriving tender first

The locomotive is backed up to the passenger cars

Running round again, this time at Deep River landing where passengers change for the riverboat

Another shot as the loco runs round

A rather dramatic contre-jour view as the engine approaches its carriages with the visible side in deep shade

A portrait of the 2-8-0 in bright sunshine after the last run

Note the large cabs typical even of the smaller American locomotives

This locomotive was originally sold to the Birmingham and Southeastern shortline railroad in Alabama. It has worked at Essex since the early 1970s

Here it shunts prior to stabling for the evening

Portrait shot. The graphic on the tender imitates the style of the former New Haven Railroad

Reversing, almost without exhaust. The puff of steam ahead of the chimney is from the generator for the headlamp

Further across the yard

Motionwork gleams in the low sunlight

This little Baldwin 2-6-2 originally worked on the Sumter and Choctaw Railroad. It ran trains at Essex in the early years but became too small

American railways often leave stored engines without boiler cleading, possibly to demonstrate that all asbestos is removed

Note the slide valves, slightly archaic even when the engine was built in 1925

The prairie attached to a Lehigh and New England freight car

A closeup view of the Baldwin worksplate

Essex has several cabooses (cabeese?): this one is stored with the static freight

Later in the day, lower sunlight shows bogie details

This Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 has worked in preservation, but not for many years. It belongs to the Railroad Museum of New England, which is separate from the Valley Railroad, but would make a wonderful sight in passenger traffic

The massive tender of the Canadian locomotive

This open verandah car is slightly more archaic in design than most of the rolling stock and is used as a restaurant

A heavyweight Pullman car used for diner trains