New Hampshire Central Railroad (NHCR) Discussion

eustis22 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 9:56 am Also, another rookie question, does anything travel north up the Berlin Main Line from Hazens? Again, just sparked by looking at Open Railways.

There's nothing to travel north... the only thing that comes south down the Groveton Branch is new equipment for the Conway Scenic these days. The last regular freight run was September 2019.

Sorry Eustis, I didn't answer your question fully. Since 2019, the only customer left has been the Conway Scenic and their equipment moves. The information I gathered that day was simple, swap the rail lines, so the trail can be built into downtown Whitefield. The state can take the rails and ties between Waumbek and Hazen and relocate them between Waumbek and Quebec Junction. Should the need arise for rail service to return west of Quebec Junction, service can still be provided and with the section between Hazen and the diamond built for two tracks, there’s room for trail and track. The only section of the Presidential Rail Trail that would close and disappear, is the section between Airport Rd and Waumbek Junction, but in return they would get the rest of the Berlin line going into downtown Whitefield. The plan has always been to link the Presidential and Ammonoosuc Rail Trails, this is the only way to achieve that goal. It seems straight forward to me but that was before VTR entered the picture.

Since there is really no substancial business in Whitefield, unless someone is planning to build a yet-to-be-announced rail serviced location, is the ultimate goal to reconnect to WACR so you can route VTR-SLR into Maine? With the CSX deal VTR has rights to connect the primary lines with the WACR, so in theory you could route slurry traffic to Danville for handoff to CSX, but beyond this really I don't see what major benefit there is to the cost of reinstalling the line from Whitefield to St Johnsbury

but beyond this really I don't see what major benefit there is to the cost of reinstalling the line from Whitefield to St Johnsbury

It's going to be one of those situations where we'll guess and hope, but it'll turn out to be nothing or rehabbing some short chunk of track for car storage. I'd be totally happy to be wrong, though.

Who wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 10:40 am fast forward to today and I hear the Quebec Junction wye is fully in service now

I went out and had a look today:

Assuming there were to be some business in Whitefield or Gilman or beyond on the ex-MEC, doesn't this rumored relocation of the line to Quebec Junction merely free up the former B&M ROW for a trail to Whitefield while still allowing rail service to Whitefield from Groveton?

There's not going to be a relocation of the line to Quebec Jct.

Well that authoritative info kills the rumour

As NHN503 stated, it's not going to happen. However for the sake of discussion could it happen, yes, but Waumbek Junction to Quebec Junction and Quebec Junction to Hazen, is all abandoned rail corridor. Before anything happens the STB would have to reverse abandon (whatever the legal jargon is called) the route, before VTR or the state could do anything. New lease contracts would have to be drawn up for VTR and CSRX, all this would take time and money for the state to do this.
While it wouldn't surprise me if the rail trail folks are dreaming of such a scenario, it will take major support of big players high up in state government to force DOT to make a bold move like this, DOT won't do it on their own accord to appease the trail supporters.

FatNoah wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 2:30 pm

but beyond this really I don't see what major benefit there is to the cost of reinstalling the line from Whitefield to St Johnsbury

It's going to be one of those situations where we'll guess and hope, but it'll turn out to be nothing or rehabbing some short chunk of track for car storage. I'd be totally happy to be wrong, though.

Likewise-- I'd love to see solid business and regular freight dont get me wrong, just trying to understand the business case. I do see that there is a biomass plant right off the wye, consumptions of 185000 tons of biomass per annum is nothing to shake a stick at, so surely some potential there. Also tracking the line from Groventon to Hazen with the 10,000ft view it would seem on first take there could be potential for small hits of rail traffic along the already in service corridor, so hopefully (and I assume so) VRS starts knocking on doors once they get their feet under them on the line.

b&m 1566 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 7:40 am ...Before anything happens the STB would have to reverse abandon (whatever the legal jargon is called)

The lines NHDOT owns are railbanked, not abandoned, specifically for this purpose of needed.

I've only been able to find documentation on the abandonment, nothing about railbanking. I know Quebec Junction to Waumbek Junction was abandoned in 1976, which predates railbanking.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR- ... 4-1768.htm

Here's the closest I could find to a map indicating ownership: https://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/dot/rem ... ap2018.pdf

It indicates that all of the lines in the area, including those between the various junctions, are owned by the state.

So, the Mt. Division is abandoned, I didn't realize trains could still operate abandoned tracks.

That's dated back to 1994, it seems like that was just Guilford absconding themselves of the line in full before Conway Scenic rehabbed the tracks between Conway and Whitefield.