Downeast Scenic Railroad (DSRX) Discussion - 2005-2010

miketrainnut wrote: I'll gladly drive the 3 miles one way to catch a ride.
Mike

I meant 3 hours. I wished I lived that close to something.
Mike

gokeefe wrote:'Track Department'?? Good grief, how many people have they got helping out down there?

Well, like most organizations, probably not enough! But they seem to have a good organization and according to the
volunteer who I talked with and what I have read they have a good core of knowledgeable people when it comes to track work.

CVRA7 wrote:Well, like most organizations, probably not enough! But they seem to have a good organization and according to the
volunteer who I talked with and what I have read they have a good core of knowledgeable people when it comes to track work.

Well that's fantastic that they do in fact have some great help down there. Who knew that so much talent was available in Ellsworth, ME. Of course many of the volunteers probably come from other parts too but still, for a place that's almost an hour's drive from I-95 that's pretty good. You'd almost think that B&ML would have had better luck given that they were closer to the state population center, in this case the opposite has occurred.

Can DESR interchage sucessfully with PAR in Bangor/Brewer if needed? Has this already been done? I know friction bearings can't be interchanged but I was wondering if maybe some other pieces of equipment have already been moved to them by rail.

calaisbranch wrote: Not quite certain of this, but Washington Junction did appear to have a few if not several customers that utilized the yard and sidings at one time or another. Of course, the blueberry processing plant is there along with a one-time propane spur where the dumster outfit for Mark Wright is now. Then you have the old lead to the Mount Desert Ferry connections and Waukeag Station. There's currently a big lumber outfit in the mix as well. Can't think of the name right off. I tried doing a topo view of the remaining tracks before DESR was in there. I'm guessing WJ was one of the last true hold-outs for yard action on the branch other than onetime-busy Machias. Not to mention, it wasn't THAT far from Bangor. In the end, it took two crews to cover a BC-1 job. It took one just to get Franklin. Then, another covered the Franklin to Calais section. So, it seems the LATTER half actually held up better until the end of use. Of course, if switching was involved, points between Bangor and Ellsworth probably had more online customers at the end contributing to crew coverage.

The entire line between Brewer and the jct with the branch to Woodland a few miles above Calais was abandoned all at the same time. This was announced in 1985, not sure what day was the last day of operation. To know why the west end of the branch is in better condition you need to know it's history. The Maine Shore Line Railroad was incorporated in 1881. Its charter granted it the right to build from the St Croix river to Bangor. It built from Bangor to Mt Desert Ferry and that line was opened in 1884. This was built by the Maine Central and was originally leased by the MEC and later merged into the MEC. A survey was made through Washington Cty that was never used by the Maine Central.

The Washington County Railroad was incorporated in 1893 to build a railroad from Calais to a point on the Maine Central RR in Hancock County. The Washington County line was finished and put into operation in 1899. The Junction point in hancock county was of course "Washington Jct."

It has been said that the line from Brewer to Washington jct was much better built than the line through Washington County. The Washington county folks were perennially short of cash for construction so this may well be true. Having lived both in Ellsworth and Cherryfield I can attest that the line in Washington county runs through some very wet terrain, much more so than the west end of the line. I can remember well that in the last years of operation 10mph was the norm much of the time. Beavers have ravaged the County. The fur market is busted and they have built dams all over the place. Water is in many places where it wasn't 50 yrs ago. I can rember many derailments during the final years and most of them were east of Ellsworth so the line was bad even then.

In the early 60's there were two rail yards in Ellsworth. One on High st has been partially removed for motel and other stuff. The other yard was at Wash Jct. Lots of pulpwood was loaded in both yards. I had the pleasure(?) if you can call it that of loading quite a bit of it onto railcars myself. Every time I visit Wash Jct I think of the night I fell off the top of a bulkhead flat car we were topping off in the dark. Fell right into a great big snowbank and never got a scratch. That used to be a real busy spot years ago. Glad to see busy returning to the place again.

There is some potential traffic in Ellsworth for sure. The large lumber co at Washington Jct was Crobb Box co last time I bought from them several years back. Who knows what might happen. As of last Summer I do not believe that the DSR had permission to interchange with Pan Am in Brewer yet but I wouldn't think that would be a major issue. That will be the future way to bring rail equipment in. I give them $100 a year and I keep up with things pretty well there. They have done lots of good work with more to come. I was told that work on the line towards Bangor would eventually be done as that is how they will extend the operating section. They have a lease on the whole thing to Brewer so anything is possible in the future. I wish them the best.

SRM

Drove by Washington Junction today and saw the DSR guys in there working, actually saw someone cleaning a crossing out that way. I didn't have time to stop in, maybe one of them could tell us what they are up to and what they have planned.

Photos of DESR's prgress are appearig regularly on NERails, aleit usually a few months out of date. (The most recent I've seen there are from last fall.) They've accomplished quite a bit over the sumer, including operation of the 70 toner over part of the line and the restoration of thier caboose as well as re-activation/reconstruction of several at-grade crossings.
I cant wait to see what this summer brings!

Hello,
We are beginning the season and started yesterday. Our MOW equipment needs to be serviced, crossings need to be cleaned. Rolling stock needs to be worked on. We got a lot of the servicing done yesterday. Our next priorities include line inspection, picking up remaining ties that were replaced last year and rebuilding the coach car. We also plan to rebuild the bulkhead flat car into an open air passenger car.
Leverett Fernald

Does anyone know if DESR started service this year or still intends to?

If not how are things going otherwise in particular with the coach restoration and the trackwork?

gokeefe wrote:Does anyone know if DESR started service this year or still intends to?

If not how are things going otherwise in particular with the coach restoration and the trackwork?

I couldn't find anything on their web site about starting up trains...

http://www.downeastscenicrail.org/latestnews.html

Otto,

I looked there first too but asked here as well in case their website was a little behind the times. I've noticed it doesn't get updated very frequently. It seemed possible that some type of pilot service may have been started without necessarily making the website.

I'm still interested in how the trackwork & carwork is going. If anyone knows it would be great to hear about.

If you run the URL below, and read the captians below the first five photos, it appears they had some sort of "open house" on June 27th and ran short caboose rides around the yard. Nothing mentioned about regular service.
http://photos.nerail.org/show/?order=by ... t%20Scenic

Dick

Great to see passengers!

So this would be the first time passengers have ridden over these rails in how many years? 50+?

Hello,
Progress to date includes:
Picking up old ties between Ellsworth and Washington Junction
Filling 3 small washouts that happened over the winter
Installation of a new culvert near MP-167
Removal of seats from coach 155 and taking them to be recovered
Stripping old interior wood siding and replacing with new wood(wood frame was very sound)
Framing up window openings in preparation of putting in new windows
Finishing painting of caboose interior
Taking delivery of ex BAR mechanical reefer that was donated( no trucks, will use for storage)
Installation of new batteries in locomotive
Hauling in gravel to Washington Junction yard to help with water drainage issues
Projects scheduled for this year:
Rebuild Lincoln Street crossing
Rebuild Davis Street crossing
Move west passing track switch at the Falls
Operations:
Run work trains beginning late July
Run demonstration excursion trains this fall
We are there every Saturday and Sunday, so feel free to come and see us.
Leverett Fernald

Darn... I'm going to be on Mt. Dessert Island from August 1st – 8th; I was hoping to ride it this year but I guess not. Hopefully I’ll get the chance next year!

bml1149 wrote:Hello,
Progress to date includes:
Picking up old ties between Ellsworth and Washington Junction
Filling 3 small washouts that happened over the winter
Installation of a new culvert near MP-167
Removal of seats from coach 155 and taking them to be recovered
Stripping old interior wood siding and replacing with new wood(wood frame was very sound)
Framing up window openings in preparation of putting in new windows
Finishing painting of caboose interior
Taking delivery of ex BAR mechanical reefer that was donated( no trucks, will use for storage)
Installation of new batteries in locomotive
Hauling in gravel to Washington Junction yard to help with water drainage issues
Projects scheduled for this year:
Rebuild Lincoln Street crossing
Rebuild Davis Street crossing
Move west passing track switch at the Falls
Operations:
Run work trains beginning late July
Run demonstration excursion trains this fall
We are there every Saturday and Sunday, so feel free to come and see us.
Leverett Fernald

Mr. Fernald,

Thanks for the update!

Congratulations on doing what many thought impossible, or implausible!

Given your location I would think you're going to be able to draw a fair amount of ridership, I know you have consultants that have already studied feasbility.

I sent in my membership renewal a few weeks ago. Hope everyone else can do the same.