June 2023 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon Construction and Repair Projects The week of May 22th saw several important repair projects underway simultaneously. This included the long anticipated repair to the River Road trestle on the Conway Branch. The work required the road below the bridge to be closed with detours in place from May 23 to May 25, while contractors replaced major structural members that had been damaged during 2022 bridge strikes. During this same period, several grade crossings were repaired including the private crossing on the Mountain Division at Sugarwood (near the twin span Saco River bridge in Glen), which allow for the removal a temporary speed restriction on the line. Another set of contractors repaired the station tower roofs on the North Conway Station. Also in late May and early June, two track geometry vehicles inspected the railroad to help…
April 2021 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon Spring Season Debut April 2, 2021 dawned beautiful and clear. It was an auspicious start to our Spring season that began with our annual Easter Bunny Express. We scheduled three trains a day for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, boarding at 11 am, 12:30 and 2:30pm, all operating using a foreshortened streamlined train…
January 2021 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon 2020 Finale In late December, the big news at Conway Scenic was firing steam locomotive 7470 for excursion service. We made the decision to focus steam operations during the week between Christmas and New Years to get the locomotive ready for its 2021 debut on Winter Steam that was held January 2nd….
December 2020 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon How’s this for something novel? I’m writing this month’s Wheel Report from the fireman’s seat of Boston & Maine F7A 4266! It’s been a busy December at Conway Scenic, and I’ve been trying to accomplish multiple tasks at the same time. In November, we learned with little warning that the Believe in…
November 2020 Wheel Report
Pumpkin Patch Conway Scenic Railroad’s Pumpkin Patch event was very popular. We operated three trains per day over eight days in the last three weekends in October. Free pumpkins were available for every child, donuts, cider and hot drinks were on sale at the Conway freight house. A variety of equipment was on display including…
October 2020 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon Foliage and Busy Trains Autumn came early to Conway Scenic Railroad. By the third week of September brilliant colored trees had dotted the Mount Washington Valley. In October, the railroad was experiencing robust patronage, with many trains sold out to the limits of Covid-19 capacity constraints. Our Mountaineer ran 7 days a…
September 2020 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon Busy Summer Conway Scenic Railroad enjoyed a robust summer season despite restrictions relating to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Although we necessarily needed to limit the number of guests traveling and imposed social distancing and other safety measures, we did our best to accommodate as many people as we could. At peak times many…
August 2020 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon The good news is that through the summer Conway Scenic has been visited by a rising tide of guests. At times our greatest challenged has been how to handle so many people while safely complying with State of New Hampshire’s protocols aimed at mitigating the spread of Covid-19. To meet rising demand,…
July 2020 Wheel Report
Operations Our big news is that on June 20, 2020 we finally resumed operations and began our summer operating season. We are delighted to be up and running, but achieving this has presented more than its fair share of challenges. We received notice that we could resume operations with very little warning and a host…
June 2020 Wheel Report
By Brian Solomon Manager, Marketing & Events As Spring blossoms on the Conway Scenic Railroad, I have lots to write about and just limited time and space to work with. On June 11, 2020 we finally got the word that we can resume public operations. Our planned 2020 reopening is for Saturday June 20th. Initially…