Question about the Wilton Scenic

Hi all

Do people HAVE to make a reservation to ride the Wilton Scenic RDCs? In other words, can my boyfriend and I ride up there tomorrow and catch a train?

HELP!

Jonelle

Jonelle, here's a link to the Wilton Scenic Railroad. There is a link for reservations, it does say that they won't accept reservations after 3:00PM on Friday but unless I missed it, does not specifically state that reservations are needed. My suggestion-drive up, if you can get tickets great, if not, photograph the train, have a nice lunch somewhere and enjoy the town. You'll know to call when you have another free weekend. Good Luck!

http://www.wiltonscenicrr.com/

That was sort of the plan, just show up and see what happens. We tend to do things on the spare of the moment, so reservations are rather alien to us! HA!

JD

Well, we arrived 5 minutes after the last train left! NUTS!! If we hadn't stopped for a quick snack, we would have made it! I think we will try again, though.

Sorry you missed the train Jonelle, the ticket agent informed me later that day that quite a few people came just as we had pulled out. I usually like to run the train about 5 minutes late so we can get some of the stragglers, of course the staff on the train likes to get after me for doing that, but the boss doesn't mind!

For clarification, reservations are not needed, but are strongly suggested the closer to October it gets. One advantage is that you do save $$$ when making a reservation. There's no problem just showing up.

Next weekend, the times for Saturday are pushed later in the day because of the Old Home Week activities. So if you come this next weekend, Wilton definately has something to offer!

Enjoy your ride on the railroad! I'm headed to Springfield next weekend, so Thursday is my last train of the season.

Matt
Wilton Scenic Railroad Conductor

By the way, we sell snacks on the train

For anyone interested, the Walker Transportation Collection of Beverly Historical Society is running an excursion to the Wilton Scenic RR on Sunday Oct. 3rd.

A motorcoach will leave Beverly at 10AM and return about 6. Trip will include motorcoach, train ride, and a choice of box lunch.

Call 978-922-1186 ASAP for more info or to reserve limited remaining spaces.

Does anyone know if the Wilton Scenic will ever buy real engines and coaches and offer more train rides? In another words does the WSRR plain on ever expanding there services?

Also when did the track north of Bennington be abandoned and when was the track pulled up? I know a lot of people would be happy just to see the train come back to Bennington but is there ever a chance of a train continuing on further? I would image the scenery must be worth it (at least during the fall season anyhow).

I think the RDCs are pretty cool! I'm used to seeing them all beat up and abandoned.

Just how long is the ride anyhoo?

We tried again to take a trip, but the whole train was full with charterees. Oh well... maybe next year...

OH, by the way, does anything else run on those tracks?

Hi everyone!

The Wilton Scenic ride is about 2 hours and 15 minutes. And it should be great to go these next few days with the fall foliage!!!

The rails in Wilton from Howard Street towards Lyndeborough are used by the Wilton Scenic Railroad and the Milford-Bennington Railroad (State owned track). From Howard Street towards Milford, those tracks are operated by Guilford Rail System. Guilford comes from Nashua, and usually only comes as far as Milford. The Milford-Bennington actually has trackage rights on Guilford. The Milford-Bennington runs from a quarry on the northern edge of Wilton to a cement plant in Milford. Beyond the quarry in Wilton, the Wilton Scenic is the sole user of the tracks up to Greenfield State Park.

When I left the railroad in August, work had started for expanding the line to Powder Mill Pond, which is on the Hancock-Greenfield town line. I would have to say that's halfway between the State Park and Bennington.

As for the question about more equipment... I believe it's just to early to tell. There have been some days when we could have used a third car, but those days are few in relation to the season. A real engine and coaches??? What's wrong with RDCs? They have their nostalgia. Anyways, the schedule you'll see will be changing next year to get the most out of the trips we do. We've actually have done well on the weekdays that we ran, passenger counts into the 80s most days. Weekends left a little more to be desired, barely getting into the 50s or 60s.

If there are any other questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

Matt
Former Wilton Scenic Railroad Conductor

There's nothing wrong with RDS's but in my opinion when those kinds of trains came out it marked the beginning of the end for the Heyday Passenger trains. I'm not a big fan of the Bud cars nor was I ever for that fact, but it was the last chance all the railroads had to try and keep there services going. I think it would just look better over all seeing a real conventional train operating rather than Bud cars. So I would hope (I would like to see) the Wilton Scenic expand on there equipment someday. I know its a new RR and it takes time to grow but look at the Conway Scenic; that RR started of small too and look where its at now (though under the current management I can see that RR falling under disarray). So it is nice to see that the Wilton Scenic will be expanding there services both mile wise and the amount of trips they run, but for equipment wise, I hope it's on there future agenda as well.


Now on another note (I believe I already asked this earlier in the post) but when did the line North of Bennington close? And the tracks get removed? Now I know there having a hard enough time trying to get service back to Bennington alone as is, but is it ever possible to see a train go beyond Bennington whether its freight or Scenic Service?

I agree with b&m 1566 that RDC's cause mixed emotions due to their association with declining levels of service, but they certainly have their merits. As a volunteer at a museum with an "up and back" operation, I can tell you that being able to just unplug a controller handle, take it to the other end of the train, and operate southbound in the exact same way you operated northbound would be a tremendous advantage.

While reasonable bi-directional operation can be accomplished with run-arounds, the installation of runarounds requires that you know where your end-of-track is going to be. In the case of Wilton Scenic, we all hope that the northerly end keeps moving!

Also, I expect that the British Columbia RDCs were received in far better condition than most equipment available. Hopefully, we will see the Wilton Scenic RDCs traversing the NH countryside for many years to come.

So, there you have it: easy bi-directional operation, flexibility in choosing the end-of-track, and good condition.

When I see an "off peak" MBTA (6 or more) car commuter train only using one car it makes me yearn for a modern day 'Bud' unit which would seem to save on petrolium and maintenance in the big picture, yet there are no modern RDC type units, or are they?

Interesting idea. You'd think in today's "green" world, an RDC on the T would be a good idea. They used to run them, after all...