Earlier this month, NHDOT issued a “request for expressions of interest” for parties wanting to operate 60 miles of former Maine Central track between the Maine border and Lunenburg, Vt.
The state is also looking for anyone interested in operating the former Boston & Maine Conway Branch between Ossipee and Conway. The Conway Scenic owns the track west from Conway to Mountain Junction, where the former B&M meets with the Maine Central. The Conway Scenic also operates passenger trains on most of the former Mountain Division. The NHDOT proposal states that anyone who does express interest in running freight must work with the tourist railroad and that it would “have priority over all other users.” It also states that any potential operator would have to work with the New Hampshire Central Railroad that runs on a few miles of track near Whitefield.
According to NHDOT, there would be no public funding available to a potential operator. Interested parties must submit questions and a meeting request before Feb. 20.
The last time regular freight trains ran on the Mountain Division was in the early 1980s, when the Maine Central ended service between Portland and St. Johnsbury, Vt. After that the only freight to move over the line was in 2009 when the Conway Scenic moved a 411-ton electrical transformer for the Public Service of New Hampshire.
Conway Scenic Operations Manager Paul Hallett tells Trains News Wire that the railroad has not heard of any industry that is interested in moving freight on the Crawford Notch line but that the tourist road would never rule out moving freight.
“Our position on freight service is this; bring us a proposal,” Hallett says. “We will consider any proposal that is logical and makes financial sense.”
I lived in the north country for 12 years and one thing the rails could do is transport fuel from the coast inland. Irving Oil and others make daily runs with tanker trucks on the road that parallel this line today. Gasoline, LPG and heating oil. We always paid a premium rate for fuel living above the notch.
That would be somewhat awesome that freight rail service would come back to the area. The problem with this is will there be any large industries in the area perhaps in northern New England to use the tracks. If there are, who would own the tracks. Might be Norfolk Southern, maybe CSX Corporation.
There is few busineses in the area. The trains used to run into St Johnsbury and then across the Lamoile Valley RR to St Albins Vermont. The LVRR no longer exists so they would only get to St Johnsbury and would then use the Washington County to go north to a connection for the old STl+A to Montreal. The other option is to go south on the Washington County and connect with the Vermonet Central at White River Junction. Opening the route between Conway and Ossipee does allow a connection south to the seacoast near Dover. One product that could be moved is cars of wood chips to the Schiller power plant in Portsmouth NH that has been converted to wood chips bio mass. Beyond that most communities want industry as long as it can't be seen , heard or felt and has zero impact on all town services.
Talk is cheap and there has been a lot of it lately about this. Actual track and roadbed rehabilitation on the other hand is expensive and so too are grade crossing warning systems. Then you get to Lunenburg, VT and there's nothing there. Apart from the segment operated by CSRR, the rest hasn't supported a train in years. Ossipee to Conway seems like the relatively more viable of the two lines if you asked me, and at least it's a logical route to both Portland and Boston via Dover, NH. Still expensive, still very little traffic but a revival of the ski trains to North Conway would be fantastic. Still a question of who has deep enough pockets. Freight railroading in northern New England is very, very challenging. Proceed with caution; keep nostalgia in check.
Hot dog! The sooner the better.
I hope they ru the ex mec and b&m lines
There is a lack of efficient east-west transportation across northern New England. Every few years, there is discussion about building an interstate; implicit in this discussion is increasing rail traffic. The problem is that there is not the growth or density of population or industry to truly support this, at least at the outset… That might change somewhat if the infrastructure and service were there.
I have wonderful childhood memories of staying at the Dry River Campground, east of Crawford Notch. I recall that people in the campground would hurry to the road to watch any train movements. People knew that the end was near for this scenic stretch of railroad, but they also knew that any movement reset the clock before abandonment could occur. Thankfully, the Conway Scenic's operations have, at the least, preserved this corridor as an active railroad, even if seasonally.
There is apparently a significant interest from forest product producers for east and west transportation options to trucking.
There is no industry left in this area that would ship by rail. Most businesses are small and tourist oriented. Don't hold your breath on this one. Rehabilatation of the track to Portland would be hugely expensive and there is still few, if any, businesses left that would ship by rail.
It always does my heart good to hear of proposals such as this and also how the railroads continue to make moves to increase their capacity and efficiency. The benefits of the more efficient use of fuels and the accompanying reduction of highway congestion appear to finally be sinking in with the American public.
This will be interesting to see unfold. The main traffic on the line used to be Portland, ME to Montreal, QE through St. Johnsbury, VT. Could this be revived? Is there really enough local loadings and unloadings to warrant such service? If so, how much, how often would it take to make one invest?
Thank you. 08:58 and it showed up
Is there a story here? As of 08:53 CST, there is just a picture of the last train, and a caption…
StL&A had a line between Portland and Montreal connections, but it is abandoning the Portland end. If the business can't keep one line busy, how could it keep 2 parallel lines in business.
With railroads earning record profits it would be shortsighted to say no freight can be generated for this line. Obviously they are conducting business in a different manner since Maine Central's tenure. And, this illustrates the new found interest in lines left for dead thirty years ago. Too bad many have been removed.
Like this? https://flic.kr/p/cXdJAA