Silver Lake Railroad

[SilverLakeRailroad]

To everyone who will read this in time, i apologize, but SLRR will NOT be operating this weekend (4 + 5) of july.. We will most likely be operating next weekend (11+12) of July.... We are not opening due to weather conditions.. Thank you.. If there are any further questions about the RR operating times, please check out http://www.freewebs.com/slrr1/ or e-mail [email protected] .. we will be happy to answer any questions, involving our operations.

[SilverLakeRailroad]

Silver lake railroad is scheduled to open for the 09 season, next sunday; July 12th, weather permitting.. we apologize for the 1 week delay. Thank you.

Here is the brochure for the 09 season;

Front Page

Silver Lake Railroad ran their first passenger trains on July 7, 2007. This portion of the line was reactivated for the first time in over 30 years. The train ride is approximately 40 minutes long, traveling a total distance of over 6 miles! The train travels from Silver Lake Depot, through the Madison Chain of Ponds, and terminating at Davis Pond/Boulder Road. Hope you enjoy the ride, on behalf of Silver Lake Railroad and crew!

Dates and Schedule
Summer Season
Independence day Weekend—Labor Day weekend
Sat. & Sun. 12, 1, 2, 3
Foliage Season
Late September through early October (e-mail for more info, dates and times)
Sat. & Sun. 12, 1, 2, 3
Halloween Express
Mid October, Fri. + Sat. 7-9 pm. Train runs every 30 mins. (e-mail for more info, dates and times)

Phone: 603-367-9777
E-mail: [email protected]

Inside Pages

-SLRR Route MAP


-Photo gallery

-Things To Notice (on the ride)
Four Newly Cut Sections– Be on the look out for the four newly cut sections on the line. (All near Davis Pond)
Newly Extended Line– SLRR has extended its operating line over 1/4th of a mile, all the way up to boulder road.
RR operations signs– Throughout the 3 mile stretch of track keep an eye out for “yard limit”, “B”-“bell”, and “W”-”whistle/horn signs.”

[Otto Vondrak]

So I assume the fears about turning away throngs of passengers has diminished?

[SilverLakeRailroad]

well thats none of the problems.... and i did take your advice, and try to set up a website, for free.. again, we do not want to overfill our trians.. that is our fear, but i do not feel that a website, with no google advertisements is a problem.. hahaha.. we start sunday weather permitting, so lets see if we have any overfilled trains.... I would like to hear any comments suggestions of how the website could be made better... Thanks

[SilverLakeRailroad]

On saturday august 15th, we will be having our largest event of the season. Cotton valley will be up to run their speeders down our line, and across Boulder road, up to Colemans in Albany. In addition to that, the B&M historical society will be visiting on the same day. Train rides will continue to be SAT, and SUN; weather permitting; 12 1 2 3. We welcome everyone to come on the 15th, and as a way of increasing our capacity, we are thinking of running a 3 car train, and our trolley should be on the line for that day. That may also make for some interesting rides. Hope to see you then!

[Otto Vondrak]

Careful, people might show up for that, and you might overfill your trains.

[SilverLakeRailroad]

Thats why we have an extra car, and hopefully we wont overfill our trains...

[SilverLakeRailroad]

Careful, people might show up for that, and you might overfill your trains.

We will have pleanty of capacity 60-80 peeps per ride, and a 8 person trolley.. were fine, so do you mind?

[Otto Vondrak]

The reason we do not have a website is because we do not want to attract too many people on the ride, and turn people away, but this year we are planning to run a second train... only a possibility...

Advertising Is a great idea, and would provide info to riders, but we are doing the best we can, but it seems senseless to pay in return for something we wont see back, and in turn, we truly dont need a site anyways... but i agree it is a good idea...

From everything I read, it sounds like there is a dedicated group working to keep those tracks open. Silver Lake Railroad sounds like it could be a successful operation, but either you're in business or you're not. Either you want customers to show up to enjoy your railroad, or you don't. You simply can't make a go of things by running trains for 40 people and turning the rest away. Either advertise your excursion to the public and see how many paying customers you can attract, or simply close your doors, and remain a private railcar operators' club that offers occasional excursions open to the public. But you simply cannot have it both ways.

-otto-

[SilverLakeRailroad]

To otto, like Ian said way back, this RR is truly a few guys passion of restoring old things, and running track-cars, to give people a scenic 3 mile ride, without charging ridiculous or any fees.. We don't want to compete, or even become a business. We want to continue giving people train rides, and making every rider who joins in happy.. But if I can point out just one thing. When we pull into the station, and pull to a stop, there is nothing more pleasing to us than hearing our riders clap, and give terrific comments on how we have a fantastic "little" railroad for ourselves.. try going to conway scenic, or mostly any other scenic railroad, and see if any people will come off that train and clap at your accomplishment.. Now forget the business, making riders happy is good enough for me, and every other volunteer of SLRR. So answer this, is it about how well the business is run, and the trains that are in it; or is it really, truly about the people riding that train, and the experience and value they get for riding that train.

[b&m 1566]

How about this, you both have valid points, it all depends how you view things.

[SilverLakeRailroad]

That is very true.. And I'm not even going to start on how what otto is saying does not fit our railroad....

So to everyone who would like to make a harsh judgement of the slrr, could you at least ride it first... Please come and understand what the slrr is all about before..

[b&m 1566]

I rode it in 2007 and enjoyed the ride very much. I hope to ride it again this year if I make it up there!

[SilverLakeRailroad]

I hope you get to come up.... We have extended the line over 1 mile since then.. So it will be a bit longer...

[Otto Vondrak]

That is very true.. And I'm not even going to start on how what otto is saying does not fit our railroad...

You obviously didn't read what I wrote, or you are too young to understand it. Every statement you make about your operation contradicts itself. Either you're trying to attract riders, or you are not. Either you are a railroad, or you are not. No one said anything about competing with Conway Scenic, that's obviously something in your head.

So pick one. Are you open for business, or not?

I know I sound like Otto the Bully, but really, I'm trying to work through to find out what this operation is all about. The answers I am getting are contradictory, at best. The answer seems to change daily.