Maine Ski Train

BM6569 wrote:The guy who runs my local post office always mentions the ski train when we talk trains and tells of how it was often packed when he rode it (which was quite frequently). He said ridership wasn't a reason for them closing it

If he has an idea why it would be interesting to read his perspective.

Yes it was packed when I rode it with my sister and her family from Yarmouth. Economically it must have been a loser at $15 adult round trip, including transfer from Bethel and free ski transportation. It was well staffed with Sunday River folks and I believe they even showed a movie on the way back. There was a bar car and you could order a pizza on the way up for the way back. The only problem with the bar car was that they could not sell while stopped in Bethel. Money changed hands as the wheels stared to roll.
I think it was a promotion to get family's from the Portland area to ski at Sunday River. The season pass was pretty cheap in those days and if the family didn't want to go they could drop the kids off to ride the train. I believe it left Bethel at 4:30 PM and some people missed the bus and were taxied over from Sunday River.
Unfortunately I rode it that one time as I usually stayed in North Conway and often drove to Sunday River in those days.

Bob Meckley
Glen NH

Some friends and I rode the "Silver Bullet" ski train once, and it was very enjoyable. I noticed that a lot of the passengers were teenagers. I suspect that either they didn't have their driver licenses or that mom and dad wouldn't let them have the car. One of the train cars was equipped with several video game machines (back when video games required a machine), so the young folks were well entertained. They were plainly having a ball and would be a good target audience for this type of train.

-John

Adjusting for inflation, substantially lower fuel costs and depending on the prevailing wage scale at the time $15/roundtrip sounds pretty close to a breakeven proposition to me, especially if they had 200-300+ people riding. This might also depend on whether or not they were paying for car leases and anything else.

Just to note: Les Otten applied for federal subsidy during the service's first season.

One thing I don't get: There seems to be a general consensus that a "one-seat" ride is required in order to make this work out of Boston. If that's a requirement, how's the train going to attract any skier in Boston? Use, for an example, four BC college students living in Chestnut Hill. Chances are, someone knows someone with a car and they split the gas and tolls. Four-hour drive, $20 each. Load the skis at the dorm and go... vs getting a cab to North Station (make that two cabs with all their gear)... that's $20/pp round trip. Then they gotta lug their crap through the station to the train. (Women is particular will enjoy that... conjurs up images of a Seinfeld episode in which Elaine was forced to carry her skis down a NYC street.) Then they have to pay for the train ticket? And get to the slopes no sooner than five hours after they started?

Really?

Valid points.

Would be much easier and much more convenient for UNH students, who can walk a short distance from their residence halls to the train station.

I could also see this service being popular with folks in Exeter, Dover, and Wells. Sure, they would still have to drive to their respective train stations... but then they can get on the train, and start eating/drinking/WiFi-ing for the trip to Bethel. I've driven from Wells to Bethel and it's a long, boring drive that feels like an eternity.

Unfortunately none of this answers the time-honored question of how do we get Bostonians and their money onto the train.

Cowford wrote:Just to note: Les Otten applied for federal subsidy during the service's first season.

One thing I don't get: There seems to be a general consensus that a "one-seat" ride is required in order to make this work out of Boston. If that's a requirement, how's the train going to attract any skier in Boston? Use, for an example, four BC college students living in Chestnut Hill. Chances are, someone knows someone with a car and they split the gas and tolls. Four-hour drive, $20 each. Load the skis at the dorm and go... vs getting a cab to North Station (make that two cabs with all their gear)... that's $20/pp round trip. Then they gotta lug their crap through the station to the train. (Women is particular will enjoy that... conjurs up images of a Seinfeld episode in which Elaine was forced to carry her skis down a NYC street.) Then they have to pay for the train ticket? And get to the slopes no sooner than five hours after they started?

Really?

**CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP...**
Check the water here for lithium,.. I'm agreeing with Cowford!

Cosmo wrote:

Cowford wrote:Just to note: Les Otten applied for federal subsidy during the service's first season.

One thing I don't get: There seems to be a general consensus that a "one-seat" ride is required in order to make this work out of Boston. If that's a requirement, how's the train going to attract any skier in Boston? Use, for an example, four BC college students living in Chestnut Hill. Chances are, someone knows someone with a car and they split the gas and tolls. Four-hour drive, $20 each. Load the skis at the dorm and go... vs getting a cab to North Station (make that two cabs with all their gear)... that's $20/pp round trip. Then they gotta lug their crap through the station to the train. (Women is particular will enjoy that... conjurs up images of a Seinfeld episode in which Elaine was forced to carry her skis down a NYC street.) Then they have to pay for the train ticket? And get to the slopes no sooner than five hours after they started?

Really?

**CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP...**
Check the water here for lithium,.. I'm agreeing with Cowford!

They don't need a cab. Walk down the hill from campus [oh dear: walk?] and grab the Green Line to North Station. A little cheaper than two cabs.

Rockingham Racer wrote:

Cosmo wrote:

Cowford wrote:Just to note: Les Otten applied for federal subsidy during the service's first season.

One thing I don't get: There seems to be a general consensus that a "one-seat" ride is required in order to make this work out of Boston. If that's a requirement, how's the train going to attract any skier in Boston? Use, for an example, four BC college students living in Chestnut Hill. Chances are, someone knows someone with a car and they split the gas and tolls. Four-hour drive, $20 each. Load the skis at the dorm and go... vs getting a cab to North Station (make that two cabs with all their gear)... that's $20/pp round trip. Then they gotta lug their crap through the station to the train. (Women is particular will enjoy that... conjurs up images of a Seinfeld episode in which Elaine was forced to carry her skis down a NYC street.) Then they have to pay for the train ticket? And get to the slopes no sooner than five hours after they started?

Really?

**CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP...**
Check the water here for lithium,.. I'm agreeing with Cowford!

They don't need a cab. Walk down the hill from campus [oh dear: walk?] and grab the Green Line to North Station. A little cheaper than two cabs.

Oh yeah, sure! Just get right on a crowded type-7 on Friday afternoon with a weekend's worth of luggage and ski-gear. Sounds like a fun time to me.

My postmaster wasn't sure why they stopped the trains. Thought maybe the tickets were too cheap. Mentioned there not being an easy way to to transfer from Boston.

The train was subsidized by Sunday River/Les Otten and they weren't getting the amount of traffic they wanted. They were also expecting the Boston connection to be made a lot sooner than it did.

I could easily see a Boston to Sunday River train leaving from North Station. You have to remember, most people don't go up for the weekend like you would think, a lot of people out of state take weeks off to go up. So you have Saturday and Sundays as travel days. You could run Sunday up to the Bethel and Saturday down to Boston which would keep the train stationed in Bethel and out of the commuter zone.

So, you'd keep $15-20 million of equipment hanging around Bethel for six days at a time? Where temperatures average 15F Jan-Feb?

Cosmo wrote:Oh yeah, sure! Just get right on a crowded type-7 on Friday afternoon with a weekend's worth of luggage and ski-gear. Sounds like a fun time to me.

Don't know about you Bostonians, but here in NY I've seen everything short of a horse taken onto a crowded R142 (and have myself shoved onto a subway car carrying a 5' step ladder and a bucket of paint.) Skis and an overnight bag? No problem.

Cowford wrote:So, you'd keep $15-20 million of equipment hanging around Bethel for six days at a time? Where temperatures average 15F Jan-Feb?

Sure, why not?

I mean you could dead head it to Lewiston Junction but it would crowd up freight capacity down there.

Cowford wrote:So, you'd keep $15-20 million of equipment hanging around Bethel for six days at a time? Where temperatures average 15F Jan-Feb?

Certainly not something I would think to be useful or worthwhile.