175th ANNIVERSARY Photo Special
and Night on the NAUG
Friday, August 23rd 2024
Come celebrate our anniversary with us! This group of events gives you the opportunity to capture beautiful pictures of our vintage railroad equipment and the scenery along the Naugatuck Railroad. Participating in both the morning and afternoon events will allow you to cover the entire length of tour track. All events run rain or shine. Equipment and locations are subject to change as necessary.
NAUG freight train photo shoot
This train departs Thomaston Station at 8:00 am with former Norfolk & Western EMD G9 #859 and makes stops at scenic vistas along the way so that you can detrain and take pictures. This unique experience will give all participants exclusive access to a stationary freight photo session inside Frost Bridge Transfer Facility with Locomotive 859, FBTX Freight Cars, and Shuttle Wagon. The train will then continue to the Watertown Branch siding and into Albert Brothers Scrap metal, where 859 will pose with freight cars. Both of these areas are not accessible to the public and have never before been used for a photo shoot. A light lunch will be provided. A shop tour will also be included, where participants can see the work that keeps the Naugatuck roster running, including the progress on former New Haven Railroad RS-3 529!
$100 per person
Mile Post 0 Beginning of Track at Interchange to 8.5
8:00AM to 12:00 noon
passenger Special
This train departs Thomaston Station at 12:30 pm and makes stops at scenic vistas along the way so you can detrain and take pictures in spots only accessible by rail. This train will be going from Thomaston Station to the end of track in Torrington, an area that will soon be rebuilt. This portion will use New Haven Railroad FL-9 2019 (née-2049) and Connecticut Department of Transportation Budd SPV 1001 as a “90s era” special. The FL-9 has not operated for the public since the SPV arrived on the property, making this a unique event.
$100 per person
Mile post 8.5 to 19.6 End of Track
12:30pm to 5:00pm
the maine event, Night on the naug
Take advantage of the rare opportunity to capture nighttime flash lighted scenes at Thomaston Station with our historic locomotives and rolling stock! Some of the featured equipment will include the first public event with Maine Central Alco RS-3 557, the recently restored BAR "State of Maine" potato car, the freight car red Maine Central snow plow 70, and a frost green Maine Central boxcar. The snow plow was restored in part with the proceeds from last year’s photo shoot, showing the impact that these events have on our museum. The evening begins about half an hour before sunset with an 7:00 pm briefing by Marc Glucksman of River Rail Photo. We expect that the event will conclude around 10:00 pm.
$60 per person
Thomaston Station
7:00pm to 10:00pm
Enjoy all experiences!
Tickets combining all 3 experiences are available for $200, a savings of $60! Ride the freight/passenger photo specials and return to the Thomaston Station in time for dinner on your own before the evening photography event begins. Discounted meals are available with local participating restaurants.
Please arrive 30 minutes before event start times to allow for parking and ticket check-in.
What to bring
We recommend that you bring the following items to this event for the best experience:
Appropriate footwear for uneven surfaces and possibly wet conditions
Extra clothing layers (this event is primarily outdoors, and evening temperatures can cool considerably)
DSLR/Mirrorless camera with manual settings
Extra batteries
Tripod
Trigger release cord or remote trigger
Standard and wide-angle lenses
