Conway Scenic Railroad (CSRX) discussion thread

[NHV 669]

The question is whether they're able to fund it, as noted above. Of course they'd be crazy not to repair something they helped cause, lol...

[CSRR573]

I think the majority of us at this point who fell in love with railroading because of our early experiences at Conway Scenic have come to terms that that place no longer exists. It's gone. Swirk bought the place and took away something very special to the majority of us in this community and has made it clear that he doesn't care and doesn't want us back. My fondest memories of Conway Scenic are walking the yard late summer nights with my grandpa who would teach me all about the various equipment and buildings. We even had employees notice us walking around and would answer questions or show us what they're working on in the roundhouse. It pains me that I can't do the same with my kid anymore but there's nothing I can do. It sucks but it just is what it is now. I wouldn't keep speculating on when we'll see 7470 or 501 out there on the rails again because I just don't see that happening from the direction I'm seeing the railroad going. I hope things change but I'm not holding my breath.

Couldn't say it better myself. Growing up going to the railroad was like Christmas, I just couldn't wait to get there and sad after the trip was over. Granted I'm older now but even up to 2019 i still felt that way. Now I really don't have a desire to get up there and that's pretty unfortunate. All the time and money myself and my family spent there, I should have a stake in the company lol.

I do however want to make a trip up for the 50th but I'm still on the fence about that. Youd think theyd be promoting the hell out of that but they aren't. Don't want to make a trip up there for a normal day.

[Jonathan]

Heck, going up to the railroad for me is STILL something I look forward to and it'll always be something I look forward to, I love chasing the Conway Scenic. As it pertains to the 50th, August is still a few months away so, maybe around late June-mid July, they'll start promoting it. I don't think you'll be heading up for a normal day, though, as I have said before, the Mountaineer, Sawyer River and Conway runs show departures for every other day in August EXCEPT August 3rd and 4th which tells me, something different is going to happen those days.

[CPF66]

I strongly disagree, I think we will see 7470 under steam again, the swirks would be crazy not to fix what's wrong with it!

Thats if they will actually pay the contractors.

[Jonathan]

I hope they will, that engine is a New Hampshire icon, it's way too valuable to that railroad.

[NHV 669]

As it pertains to the 50th, August is still a few months away so, maybe around late June-mid July, they'll start promoting it. I don't think you'll be heading up for a normal day, though, as I have said before, the Mountaineer, Sawyer River and Conway runs show departures for every other day in August EXCEPT August 3rd and 4th which tells me, something different is going to happen those days.

Nobody with any business sense would wait until a matter of weeks before such an anticipated event to announce it. One of their guys posted something on one of the FB groups a bit ago about those days, I can no longer find the post.

[Jonathan]

There will be an event on the weekend of august 3-4 which includes some special freights and probably 7470

I mean, this post is the first i've heard about it. I don't know if the guy in that FB group had more details.

[Jonathan]

Nobody with any business sense would wait until a matter of weeks before such an anticipated event to announce it. One of their guys posted something on one of the FB groups a bit ago about those days, I can no longer find the post.

They did advertise it in an edition of trains magazine I have.

[b&m 1566]

Do you remember when we got to Hazens and Swirk had to just get the right picture of him with 7470? The train handling when they were trying to pose the engine was extremely rough. Back and forth, back and forth, cars slamming together, no explanation from the crews then just turned around back to N. Conway. The AC on the Rhonda Lee died around second iron I believe also. The best part of that trip was the rare mileage from Redstone to the bridge before the Saco.

The Railroad, from my memory, has never looked as poor as it has now, mismatched consists, filthy rolling stock and locomotives, and from pictures ive seen, a yard that looks like it could fit right in in PC world of the 70's

I had forgotten about that, but yes now that you mentioned it, I do remember the backup was a bit sudden, I also remember 7470 getting stuck mid turn on the turnable when they were trying to put the engine away, the turntable stopped working.
Anyway, I was also on the Notch Train back in October 2011ish, when 216 decided it wasn't going to load anymore, we had just crossed Frankenstein Trestle when the engineer reported the 252 was working solo. It was Columbus Day weekend the train was sold out, 252 handled the train just fine, nobody knew there was an issue unless you heard the chatter on the radio. Later that night they went back and forth up and down the hill till about 10, 11 at night trying to fix the issue, the next day 216 was out of service and 4266 stood in it's place. The morale of the story is, breakdowns happen, especially dealing with old machines, let's not forget the disaster 2820 was and they never did get to the bottom of 1943's electrical bugs.

[Jonathan]

7470 did get stuck on the turntable the day I went up during the week between Christmas and New years in 2020. However I think the air hose that powered the turntable was too short so they had to swap hoses, it wasn't out of incompetence. Dave was the engineer and didn't run the engine too hard that day.

[CPF66]

The turntable has been notorious for that issue for years. Thats one of the reasons why air powered tables fell to the wayside. Years ago, I thought they had one of those portable compressors connected to it rather than using the compressor on the locomotive, which seemed to work better.

[Jonathan]

You would think someone would have fixed it by now.

[CPF66]

Prior to the Swirk era, I want to say they rebuilt the system/modified it so it would become a bit more reliable. But the problem still persists.

[MEC407]

Perhaps converting it into an Armstrong turntable would be a better solution. They're primitive but effective!

[CPF66]

Granted, I haven't brushed up on my Conway Scenic history in some time, but I want to say thats what the original turntable was. I believe this one was brought in from elsewhere due to it being one of the last air powered tables left. I also remember something about this one being slightly longer which better fit the needs of the railroad. Or I could be pitching the ball in the entirely wrong direction.