Conway Scenic Railroad (CSRX) discussion thread

[b&m 1566]

I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone this weekend, who will be chasing the 7470, to please be careful. We all know what happened in NH last weekend and this weekends festivities won't be that far from the accident scene. A lot of people (MC's) will be up there to pay tribute, so you really need to keep your head on a swivel. Remember to drive slowly, plan your trip and photo locations a head of Saturday's event. Do not speed and try to get every photo spot possible, pick a few and leave your self time in between each spot, remember the train only averages a speed of 15mph, with the tops speeds of 20/25 where permitted.

[NHV 669]

Be aware of traffic in general. There was nearly a collision last Friday on the light engine move, as a Toyota 4Runner travelling southbound on Route 3 failed to observe the train as it approached the easternmost crossing, until he nearly slammed into the stopped car in front of him.

[John Smythe]

Well...... how did #7470 event go today?

[NHV 669]

They ran late, and made more than a few stops, but it was a railfans' dream. No major rush to get from point to point, and was great for socializing with fellow rail fans trackside. Plenty of folks out, traffic never got too hairy, although some folks took a bit too much liberty in terms of non-legal areas to shoot.

Two shots from today:

https://youtu.be/eMELeh1CcLc

https://youtu.be/9Vgq5iDN7Ms

[John Smythe]

Nice video, love that stack sound coming through the Gateway.

OK.....Now that #7470 is all back together, running & pulling revenue trains. I believe we railfans were advised that following #7470's return to action, #501 was next on the list to be evaluated for restoration work, etc. I expect that sometime shortly " A New Wheel Report " will lay it all out for us in greater more exact detail. One of 2 things are going to happen at that moment in time. The big green light will be given to proceed or excuses made that some other project(s) need to be finished first & this will go on & on like it did back when Russ was in charge. I hope it's the first pick.

[b&m 1566]

Good idea with the tank car, that must have given them all the water they needed for the day. 7 cars plus the tanker, 216 and 252, that was quite the train. When they made the special run from Hazen's to and back from Fabyan Station did they leave 7470 at Hazen's for viewing or did it stay with the train?

[Bill Reidy]

The lead story in yesterday's Conway Daily Sun was the restoration of #7470 to service and the planned excursion to Whitefield.

"CONWAY — Railfans were delighted to see the return over Father’s Day Weekend of the steam-powered No. 7470 engine to the high rails of the Conway Scenic Railroad...

"Today, it will be leading the Conway Scenic’s first excursion to the Mt. Washington Regional Airport during an inaugural “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” event.

"“She will lead the train to the airport in Whitefield, which the Conway Scenic has been to only once, in 2011,” said Susan Logan, marketing director for the railroad...

"(Brian) Fanslau, who oversaw the restoration with his team of mechanical engineers Jason LaMontagne, Joe Card of South Carver, Mass.’s Edaville Railroad and Hannah Miller of Whitefield, Maine, will be serving as one of the firemen on today’s excursion..."

The full article can be found here: https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news/loc ... 44618.html

[highrail]

The 7470 return was quite an effort by all! Great job!

I was hoping to grab some photos on the grade west of Notchland with the 7470 fighting up the grade, but alas, the "helpers" were pretty much doing all the work. The 7470 wasn't even breathing hard. I doubt that 7470 could have handled the load anyway, and I understand with all that has been done in overhaul that the extra boost made sense, but it certainly made the photo possibilities less dramatic.

[NHV 669]

When they made the special run from Hazen's to and back from Fabyan Station did they leave 7470 at Hazen's for viewing or did it stay with the train?

They never made the additional excursion, which was only supposed to go to Quebec Junction, as they didn't arrive at Hazens until about 2. I was at a home on Route 3, and could hear them blowing for the crossing near the fish hatchery, returning east, somewhere around 1530.

[superwarp1]

My son and I were on the train. They were behind schedule from the get go. They didn’t have the train set up the night before, had to do a few moves to get the train built. Then there from what I can only guess was a stuck brake shoe or loose brake hose as the conductors kept walking up and down the train looking for something. Finally we boarded well after 9 and we didn’t leave until 9:35-40. Made several stops before the notch due to a failing generator one one of the first class cars which added to the delay. By the time we got to the airport the air show was over. Spent over an hour before the return. They had to beak the train up as they were blocking the access road. When ask about the delay one of the conductors stated they were missing people. I kind of find that hard to believe as no conductors that I saw was doing a head count and walking the train it looked full. What I suspect was more brake issue as they kept pressurizing the system and then releasing the air. Sadly there were lots of none railfan guests not happy with the long day and missing the air show and we’re going to ask for a refund.

As for my son and I we enjoyed it and glad we did it. The smell of coal smoke and ash in your hair was awesome. My only suggestion is the open and coach cars should of been up front right behind 7470. Being right in front of the diesels you really couldn’t hear 7470. So with that said, I look forward to going back when/if 501 gets rebuilt

[b&m 1566]

I hope they do it again next year and use this year as a learning curve. I would've thought the train would have been put together the evening before. Not much you can do about the brake shoe, that's just bad luck. If they were waiting for people, I thought they redirected late arrivals to Bartlett to be picked up? And first class is always on the west end, they get loaded closest to the stations at pretty much all the stops accept Fabyan's, which off loads on the opposite side of the station platform anyways.

[superwarp1]

Talking about learning curve. When they were putting 7470 to bed, they didn’t center the engine on the turntable bridge and when they spin her around the bridge jammed. Oops, move her a little forward please

[Dick H]

The CSRX will be running another trip to Hazens with the 7470 on September 1st.
The Mass Bay RRE will be participating.
http://www.massbayrre.org/events.htm

[superwarp1]

Here’s a video of the days activities.

https://youtu.be/pFecW_nh7us

[Jonathan]

My son and I were on the train. They were behind schedule from the get go. They didn’t have the train set up the night before, had to do a few moves to get the train built. Then there from what I can only guess was a stuck brake shoe or loose brake hose as the conductors kept walking up and down the train looking for something. Finally we boarded well after 9 and we didn’t leave until 9:35-40. Made several stops before the notch due to a failing generator one one of the first class cars which added to the delay. By the time we got to the airport the air show was over. Spent over an hour before the return. They had to beak the train up as they were blocking the access road. When ask about the delay one of the conductors stated they were missing people. I kind of find that hard to believe as no conductors that I saw was doing a head count and walking the train it looked full. What I suspect was more brake issue as they kept pressurizing the system and then releasing the air. Sadly there were lots of none railfan guests not happy with the long day and missing the air show and we’re going to ask for a refund.

As I was chasing, I heard that the reason that they stopped after the 4th iron bridge was because of one of the bearings over heating on the steam engine. I don't know if anyone can confirm or deny this.

All in all, I would definitely chase this again if they did it next year.