ski train to Wachusett

Article in today's Worcester Telegram talks about a weekend ski train from Boston to Fitchburg, with a connection to Wachusett Mtn.

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... SLETTERS02

It leaves an hour too late in the morning; it should get to Fitchburg around 9:00 A.M. However, it would still work if Wachusett allows train skiers to ski until, say, 4:45, past their usual 4:00 P.M. changeover from day to evening skiing; otherwise, the train skiers won't get enough ski time in. We'l see how well it does.

It's great that they are using these types of tye-ins to try and drum up business, but...

I don't see that this will be a huge success, considering that getting from Fitchburg to the mountain is still going to be a bit of a hassle, and that you aren't really covering a distance that is far enough that driving there is overly inconvenient. In fact on that route, between all the stops and how out of the way it goes, it would be a lot faster and easier to drive directly to the mountain. Now, if the tracks actually went near the mountain...

cloudship wrote: I don't see that this will be a huge success, considering that getting from Fitchburg to the mountain is still going to be a bit of a hassle,

If you read the article carefully, it states that the ski operator will meet the train with a van.

As I wrote in the MBTA forum when this was first announced a month or two ago, this is actually a revival of something that was tried by Wachusett Mountain and the MBTA one season back in the 1980s that expired when the ski operator pulled the plug on the bus connection. Maybe this time it will be better patronized. I assume the market is (a) city people who don't have cars, (b) people who don't want to drive out there in bad weather, and (c) people who don't want to drive home following the consumption of after-ski adult beverages. I'm not a skier myself but I know a couple, and I have reason to believe that the last category is not inconsequential.

I understand they will have a shuttle, but it seems a little out of the way, no? It's not like Westminster is a huge distance from the city - people drive that every day, there's not a ton of traffic and if you are driving it's faster to go down to 190 to 140.

Wachussett does have a bar, but it's a lot more familly oriented than other ski areas. Still, I wish them luck.