A Reasonable Facsimile
The Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley operates a heritage railroad and museum along the historic line of the same name first opened in 1869. The original road came under D&H ownership in 1903 and was operated as branch of that Class 1 for 67 years. The branch was sold to the Delaware Otsego Corp in 1970 and freight trains continued to operate into the mid 1980s along with excursion trains. The last freight ran in 1987 and the line was completely moribund until being sold to the Leatherstocking Chapter of the NRHS in 1996. Incidentally, despite selling the branch the Delaware Otsego Corp (parent company of the NYS&W) retained ownership of the passenger depot in Cooperstown where they still maintain their corporate headquarters despite having no rail operations in town.
Despite having been in existence as a tourist railroad for more than two decades I'd never visited the operation. But in a twist of good fortune I made a totally unplanned trip to Binghamton chasing an NS train on the old D&H the day prior to this photo. While out that evening with an old railroader/railfan friend he told me that the CACV just happened to be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the opening of their railroad the very next day.
Based out of the small town of Milford south of Cooperstown they had a full weekend of special events and extra trains. The highlight of the event was the first steam locomotive to traverse these rails since the 1970s and included a bit of rare mileage almost into downtown Cooperstown. The special train was pulled north behind one of the CACV's switchers which then cut away allowing the diminutive steamer to work back south with the train solo. The diesel then followed them back at a safe distance presumably checking for fires along the way. Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley S4 #3051 may be an MLW of CN heritage (blt. Oct 1956) but in this paint on these rails she sure puts on a good disguise as a Delaware & Hudson Alco!
Here they are running light not too far behind the steam special passing the field behind Pop's Place, a popular little ice cream stand on Route 28 about 5 rail miles south of downtown Cooperstown. Oh, and the cannon, it's not a prop. It's a real functioning weapon that someone clearly had used for fun recently as indicated by the singed wads laying near by...a fun toy indeed!
To see a photo of the steam special just ahead of them click here: flic.kr/p/2iVFBLv
Otsego County, New York
Saturday July 13, 2019
A Reasonable Facsimile
The Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley operates a heritage railroad and museum along the historic line of the same name first opened in 1869. The original road came under D&H ownership in 1903 and was operated as branch of that Class 1 for 67 years. The branch was sold to the Delaware Otsego Corp in 1970 and freight trains continued to operate into the mid 1980s along with excursion trains. The last freight ran in 1987 and the line was completely moribund until being sold to the Leatherstocking Chapter of the NRHS in 1996. Incidentally, despite selling the branch the Delaware Otsego Corp (parent company of the NYS&W) retained ownership of the passenger depot in Cooperstown where they still maintain their corporate headquarters despite having no rail operations in town.
Despite having been in existence as a tourist railroad for more than two decades I'd never visited the operation. But in a twist of good fortune I made a totally unplanned trip to Binghamton chasing an NS train on the old D&H the day prior to this photo. While out that evening with an old railroader/railfan friend he told me that the CACV just happened to be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the opening of their railroad the very next day.
Based out of the small town of Milford south of Cooperstown they had a full weekend of special events and extra trains. The highlight of the event was the first steam locomotive to traverse these rails since the 1970s and included a bit of rare mileage almost into downtown Cooperstown. The special train was pulled north behind one of the CACV's switchers which then cut away allowing the diminutive steamer to work back south with the train solo. The diesel then followed them back at a safe distance presumably checking for fires along the way. Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley S4 #3051 may be an MLW of CN heritage (blt. Oct 1956) but in this paint on these rails she sure puts on a good disguise as a Delaware & Hudson Alco!
Here they are running light not too far behind the steam special passing the field behind Pop's Place, a popular little ice cream stand on Route 28 about 5 rail miles south of downtown Cooperstown. Oh, and the cannon, it's not a prop. It's a real functioning weapon that someone clearly had used for fun recently as indicated by the singed wads laying near by...a fun toy indeed!
To see a photo of the steam special just ahead of them click here: flic.kr/p/2iVFBLv
Otsego County, New York
Saturday July 13, 2019