Conway Scenic steamless another year- 2004, 2005... 2006?

I've got some bad news...
After spending the last four days up in North Conway, I spoke with some of the employees that work for the Conway Scenic Railroad and one of the conversations I had with them was about the steam engine 7470. I was told that they found a crack in the 7470 engine a few days ago. The chances of it operating for October are slim to none depending on how much it’s going to cost and how fast they can fix it. It gets worse... the amount of money they have already put into it is well over One Million dollars and its now getting to the point where they need to make a decision on weather or not to continue fixing it or call it quits. That's right, the employee told me they may call it off and retire the engine if the cost is too much. I was told the decision won't be made till next summer and in the mean time they will look at what can be done.
As for the Steam engine 501, well according to a few people at the CSRR that 470 RR Club that owns the engine is in shambles right now and haven't even mentioned the 501 in a while now.
Don't expect the UB23's to be up and running anytime soon. I was told that the track can not handle the weight of the two engines and that extensive track work needs to be done in some areas. I guess they broke a few rails when the engines were delivered, not to mention that the engines themselves need some work done on them as well.
Engine 15 is in the engine stall 1 and it looked like it got a new coat of paint. As far as the engine goes, I don't know if a new one has been put in yet.
Engine 1055 was out and about… actually it was gone, it was there the first three days I was there but the last day it was gone. Not sure if it was in one of the stalls or not. My best guess is that there getting it read for Rail Fan Weekend, the only time the 1055 operates.
I saw the 6th and final car set for the Crawford Notch train set in stall 2. I'm not sure what’s up with that but I know it’s been out of service ever since the open observation car for the Notch Train came into service back in 1998.
I do have pictures of this past weekend that I will be posting on nerail hopefully soon; as well as the pictures I said I was going to post back in June when the new engines arrived in N. Conway.

I saw the official release from CSRR elsewhere, stating the many problems. Actually, if the money had been put into the MEC 501 they would have a bigger, more capable locomotive, and one much better suited to the longer run up the Notch. A set of pilot wheels makes a big difference on how a steam loco tracks. The 7470 is better suited to yard and local work, for which she was designed.

That is a very good point. It's still too early to say but I feel that the 7470 has made its last puff of steam for a long time. The money it would take to repair the engine is so high that they're now questioning whether or not it’s worth putting the money into it. (In other words, is it going to help them or hurt them?) If the 7470 doesn't pull through, I would think there would be a little more momentum building up for the restoration of the 501. In my personal opinion, I would rather see the 501 running before the 7470. Don't get me wrong I like the 7470 and it sure as made its mark in N. Conway's rich history with railroading (much more than the oil burner 108 they use to have, which I also wish they still had), but I just prefer the bigger engine. I just never hope they neglect the 7470 like they did with the 108.

RBP

Was reading an old MBRRE brochure from 1998 when they offered the CSRR's Crawford Notch ride. In the book it states that the "steam engine 501 passed the FRA boiler inspection in June of 1998 and all that was really left to do was the cosmetic work". The book also states that the 470 RR Club does want to operate it. If everything had gone to plan the 501 may have been under her own steam by now or coming close to it; so what happened from June of 98 to now?
On a separate note; why was the oil burner 108 taken out of service in 1988 and then sold in 1996? Was it not worth operating it? That engine fit in with the Conway Scenic I thought.

The page http://www.conwayscenic.com/index.cfm?f ... .steam7470 has some updated information right from the Horse's Mouth. As of 4/4/2006 they say it should be up and running for the 2006 season.... of course this was said last year...

I think you will see steam on the Conway Scenic this season. I know of the people who are working on her and I know that they would not be working there if steam was not part of the equation, with that said they are going to do everything realistically possilbe to get the 7470 back running.

As for the 501, I don't know the story on that one, except to say it is a bit disappointing as that locomotive did climb the Notch back in the day. I hope something is down with it before the next century.

Hey guys. I was up in North Conway. I went to the station to go on the North Conwat to Conway run. When I got to the station i realised that all of the valley train passenger cars were gone. I looked down towards the freight house and I actually saw 573 idleing. I went around back to the roundhouse and the roundhouse door to the main sttall was open with no loco inside. I went over to the ash pit and saw that a lot of fresh ash had been dumped. I knew that 7470 was out so i asked one of the employees if it were true. He said that 7470 was out running the North Conway to Conway run and would be back in 25 minutes. He also mentioned that this test day would decide if the 7470 will run or back in the roundhouse. I had the privalage of going on that test run. For the first time in 5-6 years, steam whistle sounded in the valley once again! The engine is now in full operational service! The best thing was when I went on a hike up on Hurricane Mountain Road. When I got to the top of the mountain, I heard the whistle of 7470 sound and echo its way through the surrounding mountains. Steam is now back in the valley and 7470 is running it.[/img]

Yes, no doubt about it, steam was back and was one of the stars of last weekend's Railfan Weekend event. I rode behind her for the first time ever, and throughout the wknd, the big news was the return to steam after 4 or 5 years. I took a bunch of photos, which you can see at my NERAIL link below.

-Jay