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Conway Scenic Railroad | |
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Locale | White Mountains region of New Hampshire |
Connections | New Hampshire Central Railroad |
Commercial operations | |
Built by | Conway Branch: Portsmouth, Great Falls and Conway Railroad; Mountain Division: Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad |
Original gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Preserved operations | |
Owned by | Profile Mountain Holdings Corp; Mountain Division right-of-way owned by the State of New Hampshire |
Operated by | Conway Scenic Railroad |
Reporting mark | CSRX |
Length | 51 miles (82 km) |
Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Commercial history | |
Opened | 1872 |
1875 | Mountain Division is completed and connected |
1890 | Boston and Maine Corporation acquires the Conway Branch |
1972 | Conway Branch abandoned north of Ossipee |
1983 | Crawford Notch regular service ends in September |
1984 | Last Crawford Notch train (October) |
1992 | Mountain Division abandoned east of Whitefield |
Closed | N. Conway Station 1961 |
Preservation history | |
August 4, 1974 | Started |
1994 | Mountain Division operations begin |
Headquarters | North Conway |
Website | |
conwayscenic |
The Conway Scenic Railroad( reporting mark CSRX) [1] is a heritage railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire, owned by Profile Mountain Holdings Corp. The railroad operates over two historic railway routes: a line from North Conway to Conway that was formerly part of the Conway Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad, and a line from North Conway through Crawford Notch to Fabyan that was once part of the Mountain Division of the Maine Central Railroad. The Conway line is owned by Conway Scenic, and the Mountain Division is owned by the State of New Hampshire.
The railroad's main terminal is located in historic downtown North Conway in the Mount Washington valley. The station complex has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. [2]
The Conway Scenic Railroad was formed by Dwight Smith, who was an employee of the Boston and Maine Railroad in the late 1960s. After years of negotiations, Smith was able to convince his employer to sell a portion of the Conway Branch, which it planned to abandon, to him and two local businessmen in 1974, and the Conway Scenic Railroad began that year. [3] In 1999, the original owners were bought out by husband and wife Russ and Dot Seybold and on January 30, 2018, the railroad was sold again to Profile Mountain Holdings Corp. [4] [5]
The railroad operates passenger trains out of its station in North Conway Village from April to December each year. [6]
On June 20, 2009, a 20-axle Schnabel car was brought down through Crawford Notch carrying a 227-ton transformer for Public Service of New Hampshire, an electrical utility company. The train was led by locomotives No. 573, No. 6505 and No. 6516. It was the first scheduled freight train through Crawford Notch since September 3, 1983, and the first freight train of any kind since October 1984. The empty cars were shipped out nine days later, led by No. 6505 and No. 4266. This shipment completed the first and only revenue freight move for the Conway Scenic to date. [7]
Number | Images | Builder | Type | Wheel Arrangement | Build date | Serial Number | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7470 | ![]() | Grand Trunk Railway | Steam | 0-6-0 | 1921 | 22/1500 | Operational |
23 | ![]() | Budd Company | RDC-1 | RDC-1 | 1952 | 5504 | Operational |
216 | ![]() | EMD | GP35 | (B-B) | 1965 | 30297 | Operational |
252 | ![]() | EMD | GP38 | (B-B) | 1966 | 32661 | Operational |
255 | ![]() | EMD | GP38 | (B-B) | 1966 | 32664 | Operational |
360 | ![]() | General Electric | 44-tonner | (B-B) | 1942 | Unknown | Display |
501 | ![]() | Alco | Steam | 2-8-0 | 1910 | 47732 | Under restoration |
573 | ![]() | EMD | GP7 | (B-B) | 1950 | 12369 | Operational |
1741 | EMD | GP9 | (B-B) | 1957 | 23239 | Under restoration | |
1751 | | EMD | GP9 | (B-B) | 1965 | 22036 | Operational |
4266 | | EMD | F7A | (B-B) | 1949 | 8476 | Operational |
4268 | | EMD | F7A | (B-B) | 1949 | 9932 | Operational |
Number | Images | Builder | Type | Build date | Wheel Arrangement | Serial Number |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | General Electric | 44-tonner | 1945 | (B-B) | 27975 | |
108 | Baldwin | Steam | 1920 | 2-6-2 | 52820 | |
1055 | Alco | S-4 | 1950 | (B-B) | 78416 | |
1757 | EMD | GP9 | 1956 | (B-B) | 21888 | |
6505/6516 | ![]() | GMD | FP9s | 1954/1957 | (B-B) | A635/A1046 |
On the morning of January 3, 2022 at 4:44am, a radio inside No. 7470's cab caught fire, and it caused the inside of the locomotive's cab to burn up as well. The fire also damaged the spring in the whistle valve, causing the whistle to continuously blow, which alerted the nearby steam locomotive mechanic, who called 9-1-1. [22] The nearby fire department arrived shortly afterward to put the fire out. Had it not been for the whistle valve blowing itself, the 1874-built roundhouse it was stored in would have received critical fire damage and collapsed onto No. 7470. The cab has since been repaired and the engine returned to service in June 2022. [23]
In the 2005 Christmas television film, The 12 Dogs of Christmas, starring Jordan-Claire Green, the museum's depot was filmed in several scenes during the beginning of the film, and the Conway Scenic's passenger cars were also used in the film. [24]
North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town of Conway, after the village of Conway proper. North Conway maintains its own fire station, post office and public library, sharing its other services with Conway. The White Mountain National Forest is to the west and north. The area is home to Cathedral Ledge, Echo Lake State Park, and Cranmore Mountain Resort. North Conway is known for its large number of outlet shops.
The Mount Washington Cog Railway, also known as the Cog, is the world's first mountain-climbing cog railway. The railway climbs Mount Washington in New Hampshire, United States. It uses a Marsh rack system and both steam and biodiesel-powered locomotives to carry tourists to the top of the mountain. Its track is built to a 4 ft 8 in gauge, which is technically a narrow gauge, as it is 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) less than a 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge.
Rail transport terms are a form of technical terminology applied to railways. Although many terms are uniform across different nations and companies, they are by no means universal, with differences often originating from parallel development of rail transport systems in different parts of the world, and in the national origins of the engineers and managers who built the inaugural rail infrastructure. An example is the term railroad, used in North America, and railway, generally used in English-speaking countries outside North America and by the International Union of Railways. In English-speaking countries outside the United Kingdom, a mixture of US and UK terms may exist.
U.S. Route 302 is an east–west spur of U.S. Route 2 in northern New England in the United States. It currently runs 171 miles (275 km) from Montpelier, Vermont, beginning at US 2, to Portland, Maine, at U.S. Route 1. It passes through the states of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The EMD FP7 is a 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW), B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, excepting locomotives destined for Canada, in which case final assembly was at GMD's plant in London, Ontario. The FP7 was essentially EMD's F7A locomotive extended by four feet to give greater water capacity for the steam generator for heating passenger trains.
The EMD FP9 is an American 1,750 horsepower (1,300 kW), B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive that was produced between February 1954 and December 1959 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division, and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, except for Canadian orders, which were assembled by Canadian subsidiary GMD at London, Ontario. The FP9 was essentially EMD's F9 locomotive extended by 4 feet (1.2 m) to give greater steam generator and water capacity for hauling passenger trains. A total of 90 cab-equipped lead A units were built; unlike the freight series, no cabless booster B units were sold. Regular F9B units were sometimes used with FP9 A units, since they, lacking cabs, had more room for water and steam generators. The FP9 and its predecessor, the FP7, were offshoots of GM-EMD's highly successful F-unit series of cab unit diesel locomotives.
The Maine Central Railroad was a U. S. class 1 railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to 1,358 miles (2,185 km) when the United States Railroad Administration assumed control in 1917. The main line extended from South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada–United States border with New Brunswick, and a Mountain Division extended west from Portland to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and north into Quebec. The main line was double track from South Portland to Royal Junction, where it split into a "lower road" through Brunswick and Augusta and a "back road" through Lewiston, which converged at Waterville into single track to Bangor and points east. Branch lines served the industrial center of Rumford, a resort hotel on Moosehead Lake and coastal communities from Bath to Eastport.
Crawford Notch is a major pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located in Hart's Location. Roughly half of that town is contained in Crawford Notch State Park. The high point of the notch, at approximately 1,900 feet (580 m) above sea level, is at the southern end of the town of Carroll, near the Crawford Depot train station and Saco Lake, the source of the Saco River, which flows southward through the steep-sided notch. North of the high point of the notch, Crawford Brook flows more gently northwest to the Ammonoosuc River, a tributary of the Connecticut River.
The Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad is a class III shortline railroad operating on the Concord-Lincoln rail line in central New Hampshire, United States. The railroad consists of two distinct passenger operations, the Granite State Scenic Railway, which offers passenger excursion trains in the White Mountains, and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad, which operates passenger excursion trains along the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. In addition to passenger operations, the railroad owns the Lincoln Shops, a railroad equipment maintenance and repair facility located in Lincoln, New Hampshire.
The Silver Lake Railroad is a heritage railway located in Madison, New Hampshire, USA.
The Mountain Division is a railroad line that was once owned and operated by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC). It stretches from Portland, Maine on the Atlantic Ocean, through the Western Maine Mountains and White Mountains of New Hampshire, ending at St. Johnsbury, Vermont in the Northeast Kingdom. The line was abandoned in 1983 by MEC's successor, Guilford Transportation Industries (GTI). Guilford retained a stub between Portland and Westbrook. A section in New Hampshire remains in use by heritage railway Conway Scenic Railroad.
North Conway station is a railway station located in North Conway, New Hampshire. Built in 1874, the depot was designed by Nathaniel J. Bradlee in an eclectic Russian-Victorian style. The station is also the terminus for the Conway Scenic Railroad. Northwest of the station stands a roundhouse, which now houses the Scenic Railroad's rolling stock; it was built around the same time as the station. The yard and depot were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 as North Conway Depot and Railroad Yard.
Crawford Depot, also known as Maine Central Passenger Railway Station, is a historic passenger railroad station at the top of Crawford Notch in the Bretton Woods area of the town of Carroll, New Hampshire. Built in 1891, it is a surviving emblem of the importance of the railroad in the area's history as a tourist destination, and is one of the finest examples of Queen Anne railroad architecture in northern New England. Now home to a visitors center operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It is also the northern terminus of most trains on the "Notch Train" service of the Conway Scenic Railroad.
Steamtown, U.S.A., was a steam locomotive museum that ran steam excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s to 1983. The museum was founded by millionaire seafood industrialist F. Nelson Blount. The non-profit Steamtown Foundation took over operations following his death in 1967. Because of Vermont's air quality regulations restricting steam excursions, declining visitor attendance, and disputes over the use of track, some pieces of the collection were relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s and the rest were auctioned off. After the move, Steamtown continued to operate in Scranton but failed to attract the expected 200,000–400,000 visitors. Within two years the tourist attraction was facing bankruptcy, and more pieces of the collection were sold to pay off debt.
Canadian National 7470 is a preserved class "O-18-a" 0-6-0 "Switcher" type steam locomotive at the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire.
The Portsmouth, Great Falls and Conway Railroad (PGF&C) is a former rail line between Rollinsford and Intervale, New Hampshire, in the United States. At Rollinsford, the line connected to other lines to provide service between the White Mountains and coastal cities such as Boston. At Intervale, it connected to the Mountain Division of the Maine Central Railroad. The rail line takes its name from the city of Portsmouth, near its southern terminus; the city of Somersworth ; and the town of Conway, near its northern terminus. Today, the infrastructure of the former PGF&C is owned by different entities, including the State of New Hampshire, the Conway Scenic Railroad, and the New Hampshire Northcoast Corporation. Some segments are still operated as freight or heritage railways, while other segments are being maintained as rail trails.
The Bartlett Roundhouse, also known as the Bartlett Engine House, is a historic railroad service facility in Bartlett, New Hampshire. Located just south of United States Route 302 and east of Pine Street, it consists of a multibay service building and the remains of a 56-foot (17 m) railroad turntable which provide access to the service bays. Built in 1887–88, it is a reminder of the historic importance of the railroad in the local economy. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad 1309 is a compound articulated class "H-6" "Mallet" type steam locomotive with a 2-6-6-2 wheel arrangement. It was the very last steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949 and originally operated by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) where it pulled coal trains until its retirement in 1956. In 1972, No. 1309 was moved to the B&O Railroad Museum for static display until 2014 when it was purchased by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR), who undertook a multi-year effort to restore it to operating condition. The restoration was completed on December 31, 2020, and the locomotive entered tourist excursion service for the WMSR on December 17, 2021. This was the first time an articulated locomotive operated in the Eastern United States since the retirement of Norfolk and Western 1218 in November 1991.
Grand Trunk Western No. 6039 is a preserved class "U-1-c" 4-8-2 "Mountain type" steam locomotive built in June 1925 by Baldwin. It served the Grand Trunk Western Railroad by pulling fast passenger and freight trains throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, until the railroad decided to dieselize their locomotive fleet. During that time, it was leased to the Central Vermont Railway for freight service, only to become one of the very last steam locomotives to regularly operate in the state of Vermont. After being retired in the late 1950s, No. 6039 became one of the first steam locomotives to be owned by F. Nelson Blount, and it subsequently became part of his Steamtown, U.S.A. collection for static display. In 1984, the locomotive was moved along with every other locomotive in the Steamtown collection from Bellows Falls to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the name would late be changed to Steamtown National Historic Site under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. As of 2023, No. 6039 remains on static display at Scranton with very meticulous cosmetic care.
The Mountaineer was a summer-only passenger train connecting Boston with Littleton, running via Dover, North Conway and Crawford Notch. The Mountaineer began service sometime in the 1940s, replacing an unnamed train. Like most summer trains, it was suspended during World War II, but resumed service in August 1945 and operated until 1961.