June 2026 Wheel Report

By Brian Solomon
Photos by Mike Lacey

Valley Train—7 Days a Week

Since August 1974, Conway Scenic Railroad has been entertaining visitors on its North Conway–Conway excursion. This popular run carries tens of thousands of passengers annually. Today, the Conway trip is advertised as the Valley Train, a name that aptly describes the run, which traverses the Mount Washington Valley.

During the spring and summer, this train regularly carries a Budd Vista Dome, which routinely sells out. Conway Scenic markets the train to families, who are likely to enjoy the shorter run, which is better suited to young children. Recently, we revamped our descriptions of the Valley Train to better distinguish this excursion from the Mountaineer, which runs west over the Mountain Division to Crawford Notch.

Since Memorial Day weekend, the Valley Train has been operating four times daily. With the introduction of the high-season Summer Timetable, additional departures will run during busy periods. On Saturday afternoons, one car is dedicated to our Murder on the Rails entertainment experience.

Annual Firecracker Trains

On July 4th, Conway Scenic will offer its annual Firecracker Express, which is a reverse of its normal Valley Train experience. Instead of taking the train from North Conway to Conway and back, the Firecracker Express enables passengers to board trains at the Conway freight house and travel to North Conway for the fireworks display, return after the show has finished.

Firecracker Express trains are scheduled to depart the Conway depot at 4:30 p.m., 6:15 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. Last year’s Firecracker Express sold out. Based on last year’s success, the railroad encourages passengers to purchase tickets early and plan to arrive in Conway at least 30 minutes prior to departure.

Two Mountaineers on the Schedule

The introduction of the Summer Timetable after July 4 includes an expanded schedule for the Mountaineer. This will be similar to the Summer 2025 timetable, with morning and afternoon Mountaineers operating between North Conway and Crawford Station on Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday and Sunday.

These trains will depart North Conway at 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively. In addition to North Conway–Crawford round trips, these trains facilitate Hiker’s Tickets with a long layover at Crawford and the Crawford-to-North Conway ticketing option. Passengers wishing to begin their rail journey at Crawford may select this option to ride from Crawford Station in Crawford Notch to North Conway, with a very short layover in North Conway. The railroad hopes to expand this market during the course of the 2026 season.

The former Maine Cental Crawford Station is not a Conway Scenic facility and does not sell tickets for the railroad at this time. Passengers interested in traveling from Crawford to North Conway must purchase their tickets online in advance using the Conway Scenic website:
conwayscenic.com.

More Equipment Arrives

Several historic railroad cars that had previously been stored in Lincoln, N.H., have been delivered to Conway Scenic Railroad at Conway. These include a former Boston & Maine milk car built in 1957 and a former New York Central Budd-built stainless-steel streamlined passenger car.

Both cars are in rough condition, having been stored outdoors for years. The railroad plans to perform the necessary work to restore these vintage mid-20th-century cars to service.

The intent is to transform the milk car into a head-end power car that will carry a generator to deliver three-phase AC power to a passenger consist. The exterior of the car will be preserved to resemble its original function as a milk car. The Budd passenger car was built in 1947 as a 56-seat coach for New York Central. It later served Penn Central and Amtrak before being sold to Maine Central, which converted the car into a bunk car for work crews by removing the seats and installing a kitchen, bunk beds, among other alterations. The car was subsequently privately owned. Conway Scenic plans to rebuild the Budd car as a coach. Its stainless-steel fluting makes it a good match for the railroad’s three Budd Vista Domes.

Conway Scenic anticipates the arrival of additional vintage railroad equipment in the coming weeks and months