Railroad Forums 

  • Silver Lake Railroad

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #427661  by frrc
 
Most of the locomotives were sold off to other interests. The railroad collection that was inside was sold off to a museum in Maine, and to a few railroadiana collectors. There were some interesting narrow gauge items in the collection. From what I heard, the museum is being renovated and will reopen in the Fall / Winter ?

F

 #437191  by b&m 1566
 
I and my girlfriend are heading up to N. Conway 9/22(Sat.) - 9/26(Wed.) and one of the things we do on are way up is stop at the Yankee Smoke House (aka. The Piggy Place) for lunch; followed by a visit to the Madison Train Station and then on to Mt. Chocorua/Chocorua Lake.
Will the Silver Lake Railroad be running weekends still by this time? If so what are the departure times? I’m hoping to catch a ride.

 #437305  by NHN503
 
I believe they will still be running weekends at that point...I will talk to Bruce to make sure.

Departure times are not listed....its pretty much when it comes back and they get a decent amount of riders.

 #437610  by NHN503
 
Found this article in todays Conway Daily Sun

http://www.mountwashingtonvalley.com/bu ... 82&-search
Silver Lake's little railroad that can
Hobbyist runs small train weekends through late October

Tom Eastman

— MADISON — The Silver Lake Railroad just may be the world's smallest line — at least in terms of the two-and-a-half mile distance the cars of the privately-owned standard gauge railroad travel along abandoned but still in good shape Boston & Maine Railroad tracks in Madison.
We've all read about the “Little Engine That Could,” but operator Neil Underwood's small-scale venture is the latest version of the story.
On weekends, the public can ride the railroad at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. The railroad offers rides June through late October, with a possible ghoulish train ride currently being planned for October as a fundraiser for a Madison nonprofit. No admission is charged on the rides, but donations on all rides are requested.
The ride from the old Silver Lake Train Station to the farthest of two lily ponds of Madison's Chain of Ponds takes about 25 minutes at a leisurely pace of 5 or 6 mph. The grade maxes out at just 2 percent, and along the way past the two ponds, one may enjoy such sights as beaver dams, pines, hills, ducks, herons and even a moose and calf or two.
What one never sees along the out-and-back route is anyone's house.
 #559034  by NHN503
 
Still running. They actually with the help of some of our club members installed 250' of new track in Madison by Boulder Rd.

They are doing rides just about every weekend.

Re:

 #562972  by Bartlett Roundhouse
 
Ian MacMillan wrote:
b&m 1566 wrote:I'm not sure if this means much but the New Hampshire Railroad Revitalization Association reports the Silver Lake Railroad will be up and running. Maybe something as been worked out with the state; I can't see the association reporting such information, if it wasn't Okayed by the state. I would assume insurance would be the big factor here? Click on the link http://www.nhrra.org/minutes/200701.doc it’s the 2nd to last paragraph at the bottom of the page that tells about the Silver Lake Railroad.
Still no website for this tiny little railroad, or... I just can't find it.
Humm dunno on that one. The reply we got from NHDOT when we asked about the RR was on Jan 27th.
I know on our Bartlett project, Insurance is the major issue. We have waivers and on top of that 2 other forms of insurance, just to restore a building. I Imagine the lads here will have to carry some heavy insurance, but if it is like ours it's not so bad a cost per year.
 #563009  by B&Mguy
 
A little off topic, but is the state still looking to reactivate the abandoned stretch of track between Ossipee and Conway? Is the section of track that the SLRR uses still considered abandoned? I wonder what it will mean for the SLRR should the state look to reopen this section of track for freight service.
 #563208  by NHN503
 
PORRTrainman1888 wrote:
Ian MacMillan wrote:
b&m 1566 wrote:I'm not sure if this means much but the New Hampshire Railroad Revitalization Association reports the Silver Lake Railroad will be up and running. Maybe something as been worked out with the state; I can't see the association reporting such information, if it wasn't Okayed by the state. I would assume insurance would be the big factor here? Click on the link http://www.nhrra.org/minutes/200701.doc it’s the 2nd to last paragraph at the bottom of the page that tells about the Silver Lake Railroad.
Still no website for this tiny little railroad, or... I just can't find it.
Humm dunno on that one. The reply we got from NHDOT when we asked about the RR was on Jan 27th.
I know on our Bartlett project, Insurance is the major issue. We have waivers and on top of that 2 other forms of insurance, just to restore a building. I Imagine the lads here will have to carry some heavy insurance, but if it is like ours it's not so bad a cost per year.

They have insurance, I beleve the same as my group has....its part of a NE trust of Railroads. $3mil coverage per incident, $2700 a year.
 #563210  by NHN503
 
B&Mguy wrote:A little off topic, but is the state still looking to reactivate the abandoned stretch of track between Ossipee and Conway? Is the section of track that the SLRR uses still considered abandoned? I wonder what it will mean for the SLRR should the state look to reopen this section of track for freight service.

There has been nothing stated since the last survey years ago. The line is not actually considered abandoned, its railbanked. In NH abandoned corridors go back to the previous land owners, if railbanked they remain owned by the state. If the state did decide to reactivate the line from Ossipee to Conway, it would go out for bid, and SLRR would either have to bid, or move along depending on their current operators agreement. Line goes to the highest and most qualified bidder.
 #591648  by b&m 1566
 
Unfortunately I never made it to area this year while in Conway but was just wondering how the season went? I can't remember when, where or who but I do remember someone telling me there were always people stopping by to take rides. Have they made it to bolder road yet? Last year the owner said that once he reaches Boulder Road and depending on how ridership went, he would look into the section along Silver Lake for a shorter but more scenic ride.
 #591689  by Dick H
 
I rode the last train of the day last Sunday. They didn't quite run to Bolder Rd., as there is a track problem a bit south of there. The next to the last train probably had 30 or so riders and the last train had maybe 20 riders. I believe that this weekend (Oct 18-19) is the last weekend for trains. They are planning some sort of Halloween observance, but I do not know the schedule for that.

As was mentioned, they hope to run South along Silver Lake for a half mile or so sometime in the future. Of course, this would mean that the paved over crossing would have to be dug out and there is the question of crossing protection.

Dick
 #591861  by b&m 1566
 
Dick H wrote:I rode the last train of the day last Sunday. They didn't quite run to Bolder Rd., as there is a track problem a bit south of there. The next to the last train probably had 30 or so riders and the last train had maybe 20 riders. I believe that this weekend (Oct 18-19) is the last weekend for trains. They are planning some sort of Halloween observance, but I do not know the schedule for that.

As was mentioned, they hope to run South along Silver Lake for a half mile or so sometime in the future. Of course, this would mean that the paved over crossing would have to be dug out and there is the question of crossing protection.

Dick
The rails at that crossing weren't paved over they were removed from the road sometime in the mid-90's. Also, his insurance doesn't cover him to cross roads (at least with passengers on board). He would have to restructure his insurance to do so, which would cost more. I'm sure rebuilding the crossing would cost a good junk of change too, something that probably wouldn't be worth it for his kind of operation. He said at best he'll build a small platform on the other side of the road and put a set over there.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 25