Downeast Scenic Railroad (DSRX) Discussion - 2005-2010

I do remember hearing that both the station and the boxcar had been painted.

The Station belongs to the Town of Machias and the boxcar belongs now to the trail group, which they have painted and logoed in original MEC lievery.

I have heard that they want to use both as a visitor center and trailhead. If you go to the link below there are plenty of photos to depress you.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunrisetrail/

You know, instead of attacking the problem of the Trail project which is ripping up the track to your East with criticism and objections, try this, abandon it. Connect your DSRR project with lines that are already in place which I assume is West of your line.

Then get traffic onto it and that alone with the visibility ranging from the passerby's, It will generate interest to the business owners, then to the decision makers, then to your governing officials, then onto government which will promote change and generate business models that should get spun as opportunity. You never know, maybe heads will move up and down instead of side to side.

All you need is to connect to the West, get trains moving to generate interest, and maybe change the way business moves. A picture is worth a thousand ideas. Ideas turn into ventures, ventures turn into investments, investments turn into ideas. If it works from the West, it can go to the East.

I see such a project on your Sears Island that maybe, just maybe, Maine finally sees the light that yes, maybe rail will that has built us in the past, may deliver you again with great business opportunities that have kept you blind during those days of economic prosperity. You got to step out of the box and take a chance. Higher the risk, the greater the rewards.

You are assuming that everyone who has posted here has something to do with the Downeast Railroad. I think that reading the posts reveals that is clearly not the case. Your points are very good ones, but who is to say that they are not doing it aleady? Maybe you should contact them with your ideas so that they can have the benfit of your insight.

This thread has very little to do with the Downeast Scenic Railroad and more to do with the rails versus trails debate. It would be more appropriate to rename it "Rail Removal in Maine" or "Another One Bits the Dust"

It would be far more enjoyable to read about the railroads progress. It seems thay have accomplished much in a very short time.

I hear yeah, but, I beg to differ. To me that's thinking small. DSRR is a dream in the making. We all know that. Why not keep that dream going further East. The point is, use the thread to expand the vision. DSRR can be the bridge to making the rail line go East. Why stick to just the facts pertaining to just DSRR?
That is to safe. Push it, expand the thread and make it a system wide dream, not a section wide accomplishment.

It is purely written in a forward looking fashion so enjoy the possibilities. Posting progress is like taking step by step. Go for the leaps and bounds!

rrobserver1 wrote:This thread has very little to do with the Downeast Scenic Railroad and more to do with the rails versus trails debate. It would be more appropriate to rename it "Rail Removal in Maine" or "Another One Bits the Dust" It would be far more enjoyable to read about the railroads progress. It seems thay have accomplished much in a very short time.

Please keep posts on the topic of Downeast Scenic Railroad only.

-otto-

What is the latest from Ellsworth? Anything going on at all? What are the plans for next summer? Seems like a lot is happenning but not much is being said about it judging from some photos on NE Rail.

Downeast Scenic is supposed to be running to Ellsworth Falls by Summer '09. They already have the former B&ML 70 tonner #54 at Washington Junction. They even have a couple of passenger cars in WJ, but not sure about their progress. Can't wait to see those railheads polished!

What is the oulook for the MOW program on the ROW? Are they planning further tie replacement etc.? Are there any old ties from the portion of the branch that is being demolished that can be salvaged for the Trust's part of the line?

gokeefe wrote:What is the oulook for the MOW program on the ROW? Are they planning further tie replacement etc.? Are there any old ties from the portion of the branch that is being demolished that can be salvaged for the Trust's part of the line?

If you scroll up to the thread on the "Destruction of ex-MEC Calais Branch......", you
can see some pics of the trail progress. Like I said there, maybe 1 in 20 ties are actually useable in most spots. A lot are rotten or just too old. A majority of plates and spikes are also beyond their years of use. I'm assuming work on the Downeast Scenic ROW will resume once weather permits. If your area of Maine is anything like mine, you know this Winter looks to be a damn cold and long one I think the DESR looks to run to Ellsowrth Falls sometime this Summer if everything goes right.

Just noticed we're bouncing back and forth between the threads. OOPs

So what's the deal anyways? Thinking about what we've been discussing over the last few days re: the ROW it almost seems to be the case that Ellsworth - Bangor is in better shape than Ellsworth - Calais. I can understand that for strategic reasons Ellsworth - Bangor would be the most likely part of the Branch to be in decent shape since it is also the part of the branch that is closest to Bangor and probably saw service later than any other part. Still the question remains, was there some type of special maintenance conducted on this portion that never occurred on the other portion? Was it always 'just that way' that Ellsworth - Bangor was maintained better than Ellsworth - Calais? Or are both sections just as bad but DSRR has but a ton of work in on tie replacement that they didn't fully publicize?

gokeefe wrote:So what's the deal anyways? Thinking about what we've been discussing over the last few days re: the ROW it almost seems to be the case that Ellsworth - Bangor is in better shape than Ellsworth - Calais. I can understand that for strategic reasons Ellsworth - Bangor would be the most likely part of the Branch to be in decent shape since it is also the part of the branch that is closest to Bangor and probably saw service later than any other part. Still the question remains, was there some type of special maintenance conducted on this portion that never occurred on the other portion? Was it always 'just that way' that Ellsworth - Bangor was maintained better than Ellsworth - Calais? Or are both sections just as bad but DSRR has but a ton of work in on tie replacement that they didn't fully publicize?

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.

I think WJ was an excellent choice for the base of operations. Plenty of room to work on things, and to eventually build a station of some kind if they desire. I can't wait for them to start running. I'll gladly drive the 3 miles one way to catch a ride.
Mike

I was talking with one of their track department volunteers at the W Springfield show who told me that they had also marked out a location for a shop at WJ somewhere down the road in the future. Think he said it would be a 2-track building.

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