There were still a few things to be done before the doors opened at 10:00 Saturday, and then everything seemed to happen at once. The station and rail yard were very busy until closing time, with thousands of people attending. In the midst of it all, an excursion train trip departed for points west.
Don Reventlow and Geoff Knees mount the horn atop Budd car no. 32. Ira Pollack temporarily fastens an 'NH' emblem to the side of the caboose to see how it would look if painted on. On the right the caboose is seen coupled to RS-1 no. 400.
In the yard are some pieces of equipment not normally seen on the DRM tracks. Metro-North placed two complete train sets on display, with Connecticut-service FL-9s painted in New Haven colors and one in MTA gray and blue. The Providence & Worcester loaned a General Electric U23B 'U-boat' locomotive. The close-up on the left shows the builder's plate on one of the NH FL-9s, while the one on the right shows bi-lingual notices stenciled on the Canadian National caboose being worked on in the DRM yard.
Inside the station, dealers are finishing setting out their stock.
Two Stanley Steamers lead the parade from Danbury's City Hall to the new quarters of the Danbury Railway Museum in Union Station.
Danbury Mayor Gene Eriquez is in the lead Steamer, with DRM President Peter Cornwall in the second. Peter discusses all the work by the museum members and the city that has led to today's celebration event. More photos of the Stanley Steamers, along with their owners in period costumes:
Also in the parade was a group riding 'Penny-Farthing' bicycles. The Penny-Farthing is the old fashioned bicycle with one huge and one small wheel, so named because of its resemblance to the large English penny and tiny English farthing (¼ penny) of the time. All the bicycles, as are both Stanley Steamers, are original, not reproductions.
If you pose an antique bicycle club in front of the tracks by the station and wait long enough, eventually you get a shot that combines two historic modes of transportation:
The last page in this series shows some views of the show and the Saturday excursion train trip.
