A most unusual sight! Normally, the tourist trains at Clark's are pushed up the hill by the line's Climax Locomotive, with the power always on the downhill side of the train. Here, we see Baldwin #5 emerging from the Howe Truss Covered Bridge on the front of the train, but what you don't see is that the Heisler and Climax are both at the back of the consist as pushers, making this a 3-engine train.....well, sort of. On this day, the folks at Clark's elected to put the Heisler into the consist, making it appear as if the two were double-heading. Although the Heisler was essentially just dead weight, the folks at Clark's assured me that the Climax had more than enough power to handle the extra weight, and with the addition of the Baldwin tanker on point, this train just cruised up the mountain behind me.
One of the most unique fixtures on any tourist railroad is this Howe-Truss covered bridge at the White Mountain Central. Originally constructed in 1904 in East Montpelier, VT, this bridge was purchased, dismantled and moved by the Clark family to North Woodstock, NH in 1963. Now spanning the Pemigewasset River, this bridge serves as the gateway between the railroad yard and the wilderness portion of excursion behind me. The small red building to the right of the bridge on the far shore houses firefighting equipment....an essential precaution, as all of the line's steam engines are wood-burners.
