Boston to Conway route still intact?

is it possible?

Not unless tracks between Pit spur in Ossipee(end of NHN operations) and Conway are rehabed,and in some cases relaid;some grade xings paved over. No trains over that section for about 35 years.

Has been "talk" of doing this section off and on for a good 5 years or more.

Despite what seems to be a traffic saver along Rt. 16,it will probably take at least two industrial users for the State of N.H. to commit bucks.

Does Guilford still own "a teeny little section" around Ossipee,just to "screw things up",or did N.H. pay the ransome to buy it!??

Bud

I think Guilford does still own a small segment of track north of the pit at Ossipee, although it has been out of service since the early 1970s. I think that state of New Hampshire owns the trackage between Ossipee and Conway. I too have heard rumors that there's another gravel pit in Madison that might want rail service someday, and I think there's also a cement company up around there that could generate some business. It would be nice to see a rail link restored between Boston and N Conway.

Most of the customers that used the branch are still there and in many cases (from what I gather) a lot of business on the line would go back to rail shipment. I would say the two biggest hurtles for the 11 miles of track that is abandoned is:

1) Most of the track in the 11 mile abandonment hasn't seen a train since 1972; Mount Whitter (West Ossipee) and Ossipee were abandoned at different years fallowing the first abandonment from Intervale to Mount Whitter in 1972. So as you can image a lot has taken place scene 1972. Washouts, rotted ties, rotting wood on wooden trestles, encroachment and illegal crossings are just some of the problems that need fixing.

2) The state I believe will support the funding but they need to be reinsured that businesses will invest in rail shipment.

The shipper will be run by NHN with (possible) interchanging at Conway with the CSRR as necessary.
Click on the link below to see the full report on the branch http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/ ... y%20branch'

I just finished reading this report in it's entirety. It's very nicely done feature that is eay to read. All aspects of the study are done so as to essentially eliminate questions that normally come from such undertakings that are not done as well. If anyone wants to see how to do this type of project right ,well, here's a great reference. I was also pleased to hear that Guilford DOES NOT own any part of the right of way so they can't play their usual game of preventing anyone from providing rail service while at the same time having no inclination to do so themselves. It is good to hear about projects like this as bikepaths not only don't attract the type industry that provides jobs that pay more than minimum wage for just a few residents,but, in addition they don't take trucks off the road either. To clarify, I am not against bikepaths. It's just that too many of them have been created with little ,or, no effort to check if rail revival was possible. This is kind of ironic as the very same folks who are working tirelessly to create them (bikepaths ) , are at the same time complaining about the higher cost of living which is being driven in a very large part through more fuel usage by all those extra trucks on the road who are there because the tracks have been torn up for their bikeways. A bit off subject,but, sometimes we need to think through repercussions of our actions for ourselves and, future generations.

It would be nice to establish a rail link between N Conway And Boston. But what the heck is encroachment?i still cant figure it out in football either

CSRR573 wrote:It would be nice to establish a rail link between N Conway And Boston. But what the heck is encroachment?i still cant figure it out in football either

Encroachment is used in the report defining it has a section of track that has been taken over by a junk yard or something along those lines. I see it all the time on rail lines that are abandoned and/or out of service. One example is the M&L branch in Salem, NH on route 28 right a cross from T-Bones there's some kind of car lot that now parks most of the cars on the tracks to make more room for themselves. It's no different than having an illegal grade crossing but in this case Enroachment can take hundreds and hundreds of feet of track illegally. It also sounds like the same case that is taking place on the Water Town Branch.

Oh and like up in agusta ME

Basically, encroachment is when a particular property owner "extends" his/her property onto someone else's without permission. This can be a kiddie pool or other such item on someone else's property or stores junk cars in back of their property on the rail line property. Of course, these are just examples.

Down in CT on the railroad I used to work at, we had encroachment issues when restoring a section of rail line. In one case, a marina decided to place their boat storage yard on the tracks, which they subsequently filled in with gravel. Further north, a property owner decided it was easier to fill in the tracks with fill rather than build a bridge. Boy the shock will come when he/she has to remove the fill and build a bridge.

And its not just railroads - as a land surveyor, I deal with encroachment issues all the time.


Also...

if there is so much industry along the Ossipee-Conway line that is ready to use rail again, how come it hasn't happened yet?

-Jay H.

if there is so much industry along the Ossipee-Conway line that is ready to use rail again, how come it hasn't happened yet?

What are some of the industries/companies?

I wouldn't say there are many industries on the line but there are industries on the line that could switch to rail freight, some of which were once a customer on the line when the B&M abandoned it in 1972. Why it hasn't happened yet is anyone’s guess but from my view it’s like in many cases... money is the big issue right now. I have read the report (which I posted on here a few days ago) but it’s been a while so my memory is a little distorted. I believe there would need to be 11 Million dollars to get the track back in operation condition with the most minimum rehab of the line. There's 10.6 miles of abandon track so that is about 1 Million dollars per mile of track. The state would most likely fund all of it but until there is a guaranty that freight will move on the line nothing is going to happen.

RAILROADS: AMERICA'S MOST IMPORTANT TOOL FOR ENERGY CONSERVATION. REMIND YOUR POLITICIANS HOW YOU WANT YOUR TAX DOLLARS SPENT.
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That's an excellent tagline.

I understand that if freight were to be moved over any CSRR track that would force them to become a common carrier and would be a disadvantage for them.

Not that any freight would need to but I'm just saying IF.

It would be nice if a cutoff could be built at the end of the CSRR track over to the former MEC track that heads to Portland.

If there is business to be had on any of the state owned trackage then it would be up to a smaller railroad to do it. The bigger ones like G don't have any interest in branch lines.

It would be great if the line could be put back down between Ossipee and Conway. If for nothing else, I'm sure that CSRR could make some money running a trip further south. NHN most likely would cooperate.

Would be nice to be able to have fan trips up to Conway again.

I have not read the report but eagerly look forward to it after work today.

NHN most likely would cooperate.

I think NHN is one of the "powers" behind trying to get the line restored.

FatNoah wrote:

NHN most likely would cooperate.

I think NHN is one of the "powers" behind trying to get the line restored.

You couldn't be more correct. NHN for the most part only has one real customer which is the sand pit in Ossipee so that right there is there main source of income. The have a few other customers they deal with so more customers would only benefit there business and lets face it... there going to run out of sand in Ossipee someday (not sure when) so to have other customers around is a good thing. NHN1757 mentioned that it would be a disadvantage to the CSRR... I don't see how because they wouldn't be handling the freight, NHN would be the carrier. Besides there's no freight customers north of Madison so in all aspects, NHN would terminate in Conway only to run the engine(s) around the train set and maybe to store an engine for their back up. Also I would like to mention that the CSRR has no intentions of ever expanding there rides passed Conway for a number of reasons.
1. There track age rights ends at the town line of Conway and Madison, for them to go into Madison they would have to go through a lengthy application process with the NHDOT to operate further south.
2. There is no scenery to look at south of Conway with the exception of the quarter of a mile track or so that runs along Silver Lake just south of Madison Station (aka Silver Lake Station).
3. Track as been removed about a mile or two south from where the CSRR stops because the ROW has been converted to a road for a former railroad customer to get trucks in and out from its facility.

It is possible to store an engine in conway because there are 3 tracks there,one for the main,1 for the runaround and a track that isnt used but is in good condition so it is possible to store and NHN engine ther. It would be cool to see an NHN engine next to a CSRR train...