Railroad Forums 

  • Official Conway Scenic Railroad Thread (CSRR) -2009

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #621126  by shadyjay
 
The scenery past Fabyans isn't the greatest - unless you're a railfan looking to get the mileage. Its a backwoods kind of line and when I rode it in 2006 (IIRC) we moved right along. Not bad for a section of track that sees limited service - goes to show how well the MEC maintained the track back when.

The Valley trains are geared more towards family excursions and therefore they offer the 55-min to Conway and the 1 hr 3/4 min (or so) Bartlett trip. I can't imagine a family with screaming "future railfans" :wink: on a 4 hr+ trip through the Notch.

We used to get this a lot at the VRR/Essex Steam Train. Railfans wanted a longer ride - families thought an hour was too long. Can't please everyone - that's why the Conway Scenic does offer the Notch run and the Bartlett run.
 #621210  by eman577
 
Strategically, QJ would be an ideal place, as power could be run around the wye, resulting
in being turned and run around the train at the same time. The drawback is that this would
add an extra 2 or 2 1/2 hours to the trip. And for the average tourist, that is longer than
they want to spend on a train. Unfortunately, the railfan passenger base would not support
this run on a regular basis.
 #621313  by b&m 1566
 
B&Mguy wrote:I'm guessing as soon as the Mountain Division was abandoned, the CSRR began to look into reactivating it. I can't imagine being isolated is good for any railroad, tourist line or regular.

Did the CSRR put up any fuss with Guilford at all when they announced the official abandonment?
This is how I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong)... The CSRR showed a lot of interest in the Notch shortly after Guilford closed the Mt. Division in 1984. The CSRR attempted to talk with Guilford in 1985, 86, 87 and 88 with no luck; the state got involved the following year. The state finally purchased the line when Guilford abandoned the line in 1992. After the state purchased the line the line went up for bidding. The CSRR won the bid the week of Thanksgiving in 1993. The day after thanksgiving with a wood chipper and chainsaws on hand they started clearing at Intervale, working west.
shadyjay wrote:
jscola30 wrote:Didn't I read somewhere that the MEC steam loco came through the mountain division?
It did - early 80s I think.... got a pic of it in a Trains or R&R magazine.
That would be the 501 coming from Bellows Falls, VT in 1984. It was the last or one of the last moves ever made through the notch for MEC/Guilford. (The last scheduled freight was in September 1983.)
 #621558  by Mikejf
 
jscola30 wrote:Didn't I read somewhere that the MEC steam loco came through the mountain division?
501 was considered a duplicate locomotive in Steamtown so it was sold off. Other locos met the same fate, although some of those have ben restored to operating condition already.
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