February 2025 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon Photos by Mike Lacey Plow Extras Keeping the railroad open over Crawford in the winter has required numerous plow extras. Since Saturday Winter at Crawford excursions have been schedule throughout January and February, plow extras have typically operated from North Conway on the Mountain Division over Crawford Notch on Fridays. Former Maine Central 255 has been assigned to these trains with the former Central Vermont Railway Russell plow facing westbound. In situations where the base level of snow has only been a few inches, the snow and ice accumulation in the rock cuts has still required special attention and can take hours to be cleared effectively. In addition to Friday extras, plow trains have also run mid-week, both to clear portions of the Mountain Division and the Conway Branch. On Tuesday, February 11th, a plow extra worked…