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  • Conway Scenic Railroad (CSRX) discussion thread

  • 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

 #1479970  by Jonathan
 
b&m 1566 wrote:
Jonathan wrote:What's the probability of Shuttles being run on the Conway branch this winter?
0%.
Why do you think they should run shuttle trains to/from North Conway and Conway?
Because people could take the train for a day of skiing at Cranmore. It would create less traffic congestion on 16
 #1480087  by b&m 1566
 
They are not a commuter railroad they are a scenic railroad, operating old equipment that at times is probably very cranky and probably needs constant TLC. I don't think we will ever see any kind of winter operation from the railroad, beyond what they do now. If we have a snowy winter any given year, they could potentially lose money just trying to keep the line open with non-revenue runs. I suppose you could operate a "Cabin Fever" type of operation for Massachusetts and New Hampshire, February school vacation weeks but even that would be a very long stretch, because it's right in the middle of their maintenance season, which is very important to them. It's not like everyone packs up and goes home for 3 months, there's a lot of behind the scenes work going on during that time. If they opened back up for those two weeks, they could potentially lose a months’ worth of work just by doing that.
On the other side of that idea, are the ski goers themselves. I don't believe for a second that they would park at some random train station 8 or so miles from their destination, after driving x number of miles and hours to board some train that will stop over a mile from the ski lodge. Now you’re talking about having people walk on foot with ski gear in hand or hiring a bus company to shuttle skiers to and from, it's just not going to happen. Life was a lot different back in the 30's, 40's and 50's a lot of people still did not have cars back then, even more so for the people coming from the city. The train was the only way they could reach the ski slopes back then and that meant even walking the last leg.
 #1480179  by John Smythe
 
NHV 669 wrote:John, those reports are directly tied to the RFP I mentioned several times a few pages back. All several years old, but with still somewhat valid info. They figured how much rehab would cost for both lines in a multi-phase effort, starting with operating at a bare minimum class I, and working up to a full class II. They then put out the Request For Proposal, soliciting operators to possibly run through freight on either the entirety of the Mt. Division, or the entirety of the Conway Branch to current end-of-track down by the pit. Not a single carrier, including CSRX or NHN, put in a bid, and not much noise has been made since. If freight is going to move on either line, a serious customer is going to have to petition the state, and the current/nearest operator, and likely pony up some serious $$$ for track repair. More than likely it will take several serious customers, with serious carload potential. A couple of guys saying "I'd like to use rail", getting a few cars a week, or a handful a month just isn't going to cut it.

As for the Attitash flag stop being added, that doesn't make them anything close to the MBTA. It is simply a wise business move to add an unofficial stop where one is certainly necessitated on a more-seasonal basis. Stopping a few extra times a day, a handful of times a week, for a few months out of the year, does not make a tourist road a commuter one.

When were the solicitations put out? If it was more than several to a dozen years ago then I'd bet that NHNC which was very busy supplying sand & gravel for The Big Dig Project & CSRX which was under different management back then may take a new look perhaps. I'm sure the NH State DOT is aware of or putting out feelers on a regular basis. I believe the problem lies with state legislation which may be interested in pouring millions of dollars into RT 16 projects rather than trying to get people to use their cars. If NH would only appropriate funding & do the rail rehab I'm sure interest by a company wishing to provide service will come into play.

Remember The MBTA operates a very popular Summer train between S. Station & Hyannis on Cape Cod Friday - Sunday, takes many hundreds of automobiles off the highways & local roads. Same potential from N. Station to N. Conway. Once passengers get to N. Conway & likewise Hyannis local buses & shuttle vans, etc, move people around.
 #1480298  by b&m 1566
 
John, the state sent out a Request for Expression of Interest (REI) for both the Conway Branch and the Mountain Division back in January 2015. Submissions were due in February of that year and that was for potential operators and on line customers. The state received 0 (zero) applications, so not much will be changing in the foreseeable future. Forget the passenger trains, coming up from Boston, we can't even get commuter rail to Nashua. As I've mention before and asked before, if the Conway Scenic decides to expand south on the Conway Branch, what are they willing to give up to run a train down to say Mt Whitter Station? Purchasing more equipment, to make up another train will just drive up there monthly expenditures and decrease their profit margin, so I doubt that will be an option.

The link below is the REI
https://www.nh.gov/dot/org/aerorailtran ... an2015.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1480392  by Jonathan
 
Also just an observation. The hurricane mountain car is painted in a scheme close to the red valley cars. Why do they run that car on the notch train not the valley? They should run a 7 car valley train and a 8 car notch train. Or possibly change the paint scheme to match the other notch cars.
 #1480414  by CSRR573
 
im pretty sure its just never been repainted like the rest of the valley cars
Last edited by MEC407 on Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: unnecessary quoting
 #1480442  by b&m 1566
 
The normal is 5 cars for both trains. During the fall the valley gets 6 and the notch can get up to 9 when needed. They use Hurricane Mountain because they don't have another matching car for the notch train. As for a 7th car on the valley; is there even room on the sidings at Bartlett and Conway, for a 7th car?
As previously mentioned, Hurricane Mountain is the same color as all the valley coaches but it's been a very, long time since its been painted, so the color is faded (bleached) from the sun. I think they just started painting the valley cars this past off season, so maybe it will get it's time in the paint booth soon.
Last edited by b&m 1566 on Sat Jul 21, 2018 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 #1480463  by b&m 1566
 
Jonathan wrote:Does anybody know where the 5 acres of land that CSRX purchased @ Conway yard is?
Opposite side of train tracks from the freight house. Trees that were growing up along the ROW were cut down, the dead end siding that was next to the main was pulled up and platforms put down in its place for passengers to get off and on the train. They cleaned up the area a lot, it looks really nice and open now.
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