Downeast Scenic Railroad (DSRX) Discussion

Ok, now I'm really curious about the DOT road construction up there. (I used to live off 179 up by the lake.)
Any way you can elaborate?

Cosmo, the highway work is to connect Route 180 directly to Route 1A west of the Union River. As you probably remember, the present Route 180 (Mariaville Road) branches off Route 179 along the way out to Township 8 and crosses the Union River on the dam at the south end of Graham Lake. That road over the dam is deteriorated and has been a single lane "Erector Set" bridge with traffic lights on either side for a number of years. It will be closed completely eventually. Route 180 will be rerouted on a new alignment along the west bank of the Union River directly to 1A, probably somewhere roughly across from New Land Nursery, and that would necessitate a new grade crossing over the Calais Branch which would need to be coordinated with DSRX expansion through there.

Did you by chance live there in the 1980s? I am an ex-resident of Eastbrook who used to travel 179 daily enroute to and from Ellsworth High School. 17 miles each way on a school bus! Now that's Downeast living!

It was in the 90's, and about a mile past the dam on 180.
There was a dirt road that crossed the tracks near the town well building and came out right across the street from where I stayed.

Thank you Leverett. That clears it up. It will be nice to have the opportunity to turn the equipment.

Mike

The volunteers of the DSRX began work on the railroad for the season last Saturday. We started laying out new ties for the rebuilding of the wye on the eastern end of the railroad. The wye has not been used in many years. The newest date nails that I am aware of were found in ties installed in 1931.

This Saturday we will be putting out more ties, stacking tie plates, and marking ties for replacement on the mainline. If you live in the Ellsworth area come down and join us in our restoration work.

We had a first time volunteer last Saturday, his dad was an engineer that worked the railroad's Alco 1055 years ago on the Portland Terminal. Seeing the 1055 brought back fond memories for him. It was a pleasure to work with you Ron!

Leverett, it was great to meet you and chat at the Amherst train show.

Best of luck to you and your crews this year!

Chris

Good evening,
Just a reminder that we will be beginning our 2012 season this coming weekend, May 26th, 27th and 28th. We will be running one train per day at 1:30PM.
Leverett Fernald

Just to update, DSRX is now running two trips per day, 10:30 and 1:30 Sat. and Sunday.
Work on the Wye is almost complete and should be ready for use soon.

I believe the Also Loco #1055 has some mechanical issues and is out of service..
Are there any plans to get it back in service? Thanks..

Hi,
We took 1055 out of service early this spring to repair a bad traction motor. We just replaced it this weekend and now all we have to do is re-connect all the leads, hoses and other related parts. This should be done by the end of this coming weekend.
Leverett Fernald

bml1149 wrote:Hi,
We took 1055 out of service early this spring to repair a bad traction motor. We just replaced it this weekend and now all we have to do is re-connect all the leads, hoses and other related parts. This should be done by the end of this coming weekend.
Leverett Fernald

Leverett,

Very good to hear! How is the ridership looking so far this season?

Good afternoon,
The wye at Washington Junction is now in service. We hauled our first revenue train through it Sunday.
Leverett Fernald

Thanks for the update...

bml1149 wrote:Good afternoon,
The wye at Washington Junction is now in service. We hauled our first revenue train through it Sunday.
Leverett Fernald

Congratulations Leverett! Lots of hard work finally paying off!

bml1149 wrote:Good afternoon,
The wye at Washington Junction is now in service. We hauled our first revenue train through it Sunday.
Leverett Fernald

AWESOME!
Pictures?