Stourbridge Railroad (Honesdale-Lackawaxen) and Proposals

Thanks.

Here a few quick ones without any processing.







more can be seen here:

http://cadguru.smugmug.com/gallery/6239 ... 3400_yMo7c

So i have been told that this weekend has not been the best for the Stourbridge line or the BL-2 , Of what i have been told on the retrun trip saterday night from lackawaxen the bl-2 Cought fire agin ( itsnt this the 4th or 5 time) , the train limped back to HAwley were people got on buses and headed back to honesdale, then on sunday (today) the train was super late geting out then broke down outside of honesdale , and the afternoon trip didnt go , so i wonder is this it for the bl-2??? hate to see her go but she seems to be a problem of lately

You mean I may have had the last successful ride on the line on the 12th?

Since the bridge has reopened, they could lease a locomotive to pull the trains. These fall foliage trains are big moneymakers.

When I went on the 12th, the train was only 2/3rds full.

Which is not too surprising given that this is the first they've run to Lackawaxen in 5 years.

I mean, if I didn't know they were running to Lackawaxen til about a week before it happened- how would the general non-railfan public? It may take a season or two, or some good PR, to get the word out and get ridership #'s back up to where they were.

The economy and gas prices right now probably are no help either.

I was at Hawley today, and ran into a M&E employee (a trainmaster) who confirmed the purchase, and that the area businesses are beating a path to the railroad for new contracts. Apparently they haven't really advertised even, and with the new bridge open, people are looking to ship via rail instead of truck.

Long live the SBRR! Or is it the Morristown, Erie and Honesdale RR now :o)

What will be the M&E's new name for it? Kind of like their "Maine Eastern" I would think they will keep the "M-E" letters. So what could it be?

From Railpace:

M&E WILL ASSUME OPERATIONS OF THE STOURBRIDGE LINE EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY: The Morristown & Erie Railway will assume operations of the Stourbridge Line, linking Honesdale and Lackawaxen, Pa, effective November 1. Wayne County will continue to operate season passenger trains, but under the control of the M&E. More details on the M&E operated Stourbridge Line will appear in the December issue of Railpace. ( posted 10/28)

I thought it was Jan 1 but i guess not ....

Hopefuly these means a lot more action and useage of the line

About the only thing I can think of geographically that would work with the M&E letters is "Maple City & Erie".

Which, actually, is about as appropriate a name as it gets...

Anyone know if the crossing gates on Rt 191 coming into Honesdale are going to be restored, or is that going to be crossbuck signs only from now on?

FANTRIP OVER ENTIRE LENGTH OF RECENTLY REOPENED STOURBRIDGE R.R.: On Saturday, November 29 the Stourbridge Railroad will host a fantrip over the entire length of the recently reopened railroad, from Honesdale to Lackawaxen, Pa. The BL2 powered train will depart Honesdale, Pa. at 10:00 a.m., with an expected return at 8:00 p.m. Train will stop in Hawley for dinner. Night photo opportunties with Lumydine flash lighting on-line. Bring a tripod and cable release. Fare: $50 for train ride and night photo session. Send check to Steve Barry, 117 High St, Newton, NJ 07860 or order on line using the paypal link at WWW.daylightimages.com/bl2

Will they have a second locomotive on standby? Will they have the fire department on standby?

Dick H wrote:FANTRIP OVER ENTIRE LENGTH OF RECENTLY REOPENED STOURBRIDGE R.R.: On Saturday, November 29 the Stourbridge Railroad will host a fantrip over the entire length of the recently reopened railroad, from Honesdale to Lackawaxen, Pa. The BL2 powered train will depart Honesdale, Pa. at 10:00 a.m., with an expected return at 8:00 p.m. Train will stop in Hawley for dinner. Night photo opportunties with Lumydine flash lighting on-line. Bring a tripod and cable release. Fare: $50 for train ride and night photo session. Send check to Steve Barry, 117 High St, Newton, NJ 07860 or order on line using the paypal link at http://WWW.daylightimages.com/bl2

I just got word that Morristown & Erie has cancelled this trip. They may reschedule for the spring, no word on a date yet. Seems like this "transition" is a pretty rough one so far!

-otto-

Just got this email from Steve Barry, who asked me to post this here:

The BL2 excursion scheduled for November 29 has been postponed until the spring (date to be determined).

The Morristown & Erie Railroad, which will be operating the railroad for the new owner, had some legitimate concerns about the trip, and since they just arrived on the property it was agreed that we could do a much better trip once the M&E had a chance to settle in. The real reason we rushed into this trip this year was because of concerns about the BL2 leaving the property, but the M&E has given assurances that the BL2 will still be available for a spring charter.

The biggest concern was insurance. The Stourbridge Line is only insured to discharge passengers at the platforms in Honesdale, Hawley and Lackawaxen. Since this trip wasn't being operated by any group, we didn't have trip insurance in place to cover detraining at non-platform locations (incidentally, if any group with trip insurance wants to "sponsor" this trip in exchange for a small profit, lt me know). Furthermore, for detraining for on-line night photo opportunities the M&E requested a generator and portable lights to aid in the unloading process (which we can provide in the spring).

Another issue we need to address is a photo stop/night photo opportunity at the power plant. While we would be legally within our rights to include the power plant in any photos taken from non-PP&L property, the M&E would feel better if we gave PP&L a heads-up.

Finally, the M&E would like to have their own personnel on board for the trip, but with the trip scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend it would require calling folks in off vacation at an additional expense (to us). Rescheduling in the spring will allow the M&E to schedule personnel without needing to pass the costs on to us. There are M&E employees who would be willing to ride the trip without charging us (but not on Thanksgiving weekend).

Bottom line is the BL2 is not going away and we can do a better quality trip in the spring. All checks will be returned uncashed and those who paid by credit card will have their cards charged back. I'll be doing chargebacks early next week.

Thanks for your interest in the trip. I'll send an e-mail when we get a rescheduled date. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Steve Barry