Conway Scenic Railroad (CSRX) discussion thread

Jonathan wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 2:09 pm Do any of yall know if Swirk had been this bad at G&U or Pioneer Valley? I mean, before now, people have been praising him. Now it seems like hes changing things for the worse. Was that the case with pioneer valley and grafton and upton, or were they praising him at those places? Cause obviously this isn't the first railroad hes been involved with, and as previously stated, things are changing for the worst, presumably.


I can guarantee that IF CSRX DOES go bankrupt, there will be a group that tries to save the railroad from having the tracks ripped up and paved and becoming a rail trail. I can't see that happening, I cannot see a rail trail existing where the tracks are now.

The answer is simple.
When Swirk was at Pioneer Valley and G&U he was just an employee. It wasn't his money that was invested in those properties.

He bought Conway Scenic with loans and credit so he is heavily leveraged financially. So it hurts him directly. He has no choice but to cut corners to stave off ruin.

Good, solid employees don't equate to being savvy investors.

Allow me to quote an engineer that worked for him at G&U:

"He will destroy that place, just like he tried to do this one. It will be so far leveled that it will never come back when he is done."

As for the equipment going anywhere> Good Lord above please stop.

The 470 equipment will not go to Bartlett. The roundhouse is in no condition to harbor the fugitives.

Probably to North Stratford it would go.....and honestly, the further away the better from the Swirky Mittens.

Again, I firmly believe that there will be a organization that saves the railroad at some point.

Wasnt Priscoli supposed to buy the RR from Russ? Does anyone know why that fell through? And isnt swirk named in a lawsuit with Priscoli?

Conway Rail was formed to purchase the Conway Scenic, I believe the owners of Conway Rail were going to be, First Colony Development Co. and Grafton & Upton Railroad, so yes in a roundabout way Priscoli, was going to be the owner. I heard rumors of Al Harper (owner of the Durango & Silverton) was part of the investment team but that was only hear say, I've never seen anything concrete to back that up. David Swirk was the liaison for Conway Rail. Conway Rail backed out of the purchase agreement after hazmat issues were discovered behind the roundhouse. I'm not sure if it was a hazmat cleanup or the improper storage of hazmat materials, either way Conway Rail walked away. When the railroad cleaned up the hazmat issue, (it took a couple of years) Russ reached out to David, but David never notified Conway Rail. Instead, he formed Profile Mountains Holdings Corp, added his wife Rhonda and two other gentlemen, William Sullivan and William Sullivan Jr. and purchased the Conway Scenic. In 2019, Conway Rail, Grafton & Upton Railroad and First Colony Development Co., filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts, against Profile Mountain Holdings, the Conway Scenic Railroad and David Swirk himself. It never went anywhere, the parties either settled out of court or the judge tossed out the case.

Reader#108 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 11:16 am Allow me to quote an engineer that worked for him at G&U:

"He will destroy that place, just like he tried to do this one. It will be so far leveled that it will never come back when he is done."

Now usually I'm a little skeptical with these "quotes from (blank)" but I can totally believe it, as someone said earlier an employee said "everything is changing".
Also the equipment being sold thing I brought up was just a guess based on what I know... I hope someone can help and take over the railroad

What's the value of the railroad? Double that, better yet triple it, that's probably what it would take for him and the other investors to consider selling. It would have to be an offer to great to refuse.

The Conway Scenic Railroad is not going anywhere if you ask me. The people still want to ride on the trains, the fall foliage season will be successful as always, ticket prices will always be strong, the railroad is nowhere near done. Even if the ownership now is bad, this railroad is still one of the top tourist railroads in New England . If the owners walk away, I can guarantee that there will be someone else who will be willing to own it.

Jonathan wrote:Even if the ownership now is bad, this railroad is still one of the top tourist railroads in New England .

That's a fair point. Look at Guilford... they made all sorts of objectively bad decisions/choices, screwed hundreds of employees, had safety problems, and yet they lasted for 40 years and raked in massive returns on their original investment.

I realize it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, but Conway Scenic has enormous brand recognition and I can easily envision a future in which all the good/happy things about the railroad are gone but they continue to draw customers because they're so well known and because the scenery is so spectacular and will always be spectacular regardless of what Conway Scenic does or does not do.

I think it's wishful thinking to assume that unpopular, unpleasant, and even objectively bad decisions by a business owner will quickly lead to the demise of the business. That can sometimes happen but it's not guaranteed, especially when the business has a near monopoly, as Conway Scenic does. Their only real competition is the Cog, which is a totally different experience and also a lot more expensive.

ConwayScenic252 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:32 pm #23 would go to a railroad somewhere…

It went to FGLK..... over a decade ago...

If it got really bad, NH could cancel their lease.

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 07, 2022 3:03 pm It went to FGLK..... over a decade ago...

I’m taking about the RDC “Millie”.

Jonathan wrote: ↑Thu Jul 07, 2022 9:36 am The Conway Scenic Railroad is not going anywhere if you ask me. The people still want to ride on the trains, the fall foliage season will be successful as always, ticket prices will always be strong, the railroad is nowhere near done. Even if the ownership now is bad, this railroad is still one of the top tourist railroads in New England . If the owners walk away, I can guarantee that there will be someone else who will be willing to own it.

Bingo! The railroad is not going anywhere, much to the dismay of others. It's arguably one of the largest tourist attractions in the White Mountains and that's not changing anytime soon.

much to the dismay of others?

SERIOUSLY.............and I am sure that I can speak for all of us that put the time, effort, blood, sweat and tears in there when I say I wish there was a middle finger emoji on this forum.

You arm chair railfans that have never been boots on the ground other than a tripod and mommy's reflective vest have got some dam nerve. There are a bunch of folks who put in time and heart, not for money either, that worked pretty dam hard to ensure that you have something to complain about on these threads. (That's not painted right, the steam didnt run on my birthday, why did they sell 1055, etc...)

NOBODY that I worked with wants it to close. A whole bunch of people worked way too hard to see that happen. When you put the real work in, and nurture it, you get great results, which we did.

The LAST thing we want is it to fail and close. What we want is some semblance of maintaining and sustaining the work that we put in. The time away from our families, the extra hours, etc that we poured in. There is never going to not be changes......but to just continue to fail is not what any of us want. And honestly, the way many people were treated and what caused most to leave is a HUGE reason why there is a lack of help. Board it up and be done? Nope.....not what we want.