Well a little off the subjected but I personally think that Guilford is very cheep and maybe walking on thin ice with the FRA standards. Example the old Manchester Lawrence Branch..... it as been abandoned since 1984 because of the tracks deteriorating but the line was kept in use from Lawrence, MA to Salem, NH. The rest of the line was filed for abandonment in 1999 after the FRA said that Guilford needed to repair the tracks if they were to continue using them. Guilford did not want to repair the tracks and got the approval to stop all operations on the line instead of rebuilding it and rain the last train in the summer of 2001. Although there was only one customer in Salem, NH that used about 5 or 6 Hopper Cars once every 2 to 3 weeks or so, they left the company stranded. Why did Guilford not try to look for more customers on the line to off set the cost? Yes the MBTA owns the tracks from Lawrence to the NH, MA state line but I don't think the MBTA would put money into something they don't even use; it would have to be Guilford. Guilford owns the entire line in Salem, NH and the state of NH and other private owners, own the rite of way from the Salem, NH and Windham, NH town line via Manchester.
Another example is the line form Portsmouth, NH to Hampton, NH I have heard and seen from my own eyes that the line is so bad that in some areas the spikes are missing because the ties are so rotten that they can't hold the spikes anymore. I for myself have seen it because I was at the old Hampton RR station (in that area only not the entire line) and I saw the missing spikes, there were 3 ties with in 25 feet or so that did not have any spikes at all the ties were just sitting there under the still in use part of the rail line (although close to the end). They do, do a good job keeping the brush clear on the line unlike they did for the line in Salem. It’s been about 2 years since I have been at the Hampton Depot so they may have fixed the line a little bit since then. That line sees about 6 Hopper Cars I believe once every week or 2.
Another example although not as important is the spur that runs into downtown Lowell, MA off of the Lowell Branch. Although Guilford does not operate on the spur any more and the line as since been disconnected from the Lowell branch Guilford still owns the tracks and they lease it out to the National Historical Park so the Park can operate there trolleys on the line. I just found this out today on 4-3-04 from one of the trolley drivers that the ties are so Rotten near the Lowell High school that the trolleys are going to start derailing in that area very soon. Under the contract Guilford is suppose to maintain the tracks for them and they have not been doing that since Guilford stopped using the spur in I believe 1986 or 1988. The Park is trying to buy the tracks from Guilford but I don’t know if it already happened or not. (Just want to point out for anyone interested that’s in the area: the Lowell trolleys have been halted on there season opener for the 2004 operating season, because the transformer that powers the trolleys has FRIED and it's going to take 6 to 8 weeks to fix it. The transformer is currently in West Virginia and its going to cost $50,000 to fix it *includes shipping*. As some may know the trolleys operate from March - November but this year they may not start running again till sometime in May.)
