In New Hampshire, one would expect to see a Pan Am train in WILTON, but this is TILTON.... By Exit 20, the Gateway to the Lakes Region, by the Tilt'n Diner, Mickey D's, heavy traffic, shopping and more restaurants.

New England Southern 2.0's new owner, Vermont Railway, made an arrangement with Pan Am to 'borrow' a locomotive to deliver two loaded tank cars delivered to 3M in Tilton on 9/16. New England Southern has been without their SW1500 since mid-August. They also had use of 354 for a second trip to swap out one empty tank car for one loaded one, as the clay slurry in the first tank car emptied out rather quickly.

While in the early years of NEGS 1.0, they leased or borrowed power such as GP7's, GP9's, and GP18's from Pan Am predecessor railroads, even a Conrail B23-7 was leased.** The sight of a Pan Am blue painted 3000 hp, GP40, over New England Southern's rails was unprecedented. Most likely the highest horsepower diesel to appear on the White Mountain Branch.

Here was the NEGS 2.0 Crew taking MEC 354 across Tilton Road (Route 140), as they headed north to 3M on 9/18. The Mickey D's is behind the Picture Taker, and the area around Exit 20 serves as a major route to Laconia, Belmont, and the Lakes Region.

The chances of seeing something like this again are extremely slim to none. The blue 354 looked quite good along the this route's very scenic views around Northfield and Downtown Tilton.

** Source of prior NEGS loco information: the great book, New England Southern Volume 1 by author Rick Kfoury.

Photographed by Jay Gadon, September 18, 2020.
Added to the photo archive by Jay Gadon, September 28, 2020.
Railroad: New England Southern.

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