b&m 1566 wrote:Was talking to Peter the other day and got some intrusting information. Supposedly next spring they may have a customer in Penacook. There is a warehouse for lease and a customer is interested in leasing the warehouse and use NEGS for service. Peter said nothing is in stone and isn't going to get his hopes up but something is in the works. Pan Am gave him a hard time a few weeks back for bad track conditions from Concord to Penacook and had to remind Pan Am they haven't serviced the area in about 15 years. Track work would need to be done before regular service starts but wouldn't need it if it was only going to be spears service. Peter did have a big company wanting to move into Penacook about a year or two ago that would have given NEGS another 1400 car loads per year (about 26 to 27 car loads a week) but Pan Am turned it down saying they couldn't do the service.
On another note: Peter is hoping to re-paint the 2370 in another year or two but right now is main concern is getting the track up to a better quality; this year alone they have replace almost 2,000 ties from Bow to Northfield and are only halfway done. When he does paint the 2370 he's not sure want color he wants to paint it. His company colors are a dark green and gold but he likes the yellow on the 2370 because it sticks out better in regards to safety. What color do you people think he should paint the 2370 with?
Engine 503 is still sitting crippled next to the lumber company but he hopes to start fixing it next spring; two of the traction motors need to be fixed. NEGS still needs the 503 for back up and as a helper when the consists sometimes get to be about 40+ cars long and when over half of them are cement cars the 2370 sometimes struggles.
This year alone NEGS has done alot of tie work as Brian pointed out. This is nessisarry i believe due to the fact that the ROW as much as NEGS pusts work into, the sections that Pan Am runs with the most, up to say Bow, parts of that are the worst. NEGS and all it's staff as I see are hard working and dedicated people, they have transformed this railyard and line to something that is cleanred up and presentable. Where if no one was running it, it would be all filled with weeds, and trashed beyond belief, I wouldn't want to know what vandals would do to the Concord Tower. The foks down at NEGS keep NH Railroad History alive each and everyday they run, and they deserve alot of credit.
I really am excited, I want to see the 503 running, as NEGS is just left with the 2370 now. The ex Quincy Bay Number 20 is now opperated by the PSNH Power Plant, the NEGS 566 ex Conrail has been sold to a private owner and now up in Lincoln, NH at the Hobo RR. It wil be good as my NEGS conterpart Brian pointed out, that when the NEGS Carload gets out, the 2370 can't handle the load as a single unit. Those Cement cars now even give it some trouble. I would like to see the 2370 painted in the Union Pacific sceme back to it's orig condition, and maybie somethig special, NEGS can create a updated version of their logo to place on the engine.It currently looks like this:
