One of the runs that I am planning to build is the old Boston and Maine Mountain Division that ran up through North Conway and through Crawford Notch New Hampshire. Are there any old timers out there that can inform me as w[?]hat type steam engines were used on this mountainous rough climb?
grayfox1119
Actually, the B&M ended at Intervale, just north of North Conway. The line from Intervale (well, actually Portland, ME) through Crawford Notch belonged to the Maine Central. The MEC used 2-8-2’s (including 6 USRA lights), light Pacifics, 4-6-0’s and the occasional 2-8-0 on the Mountain Division. The B&M did have a run-through train in the late 40’s, the “Mountaineer”, which was a summer season train. However, MEC crew handled the train from Intervale to Littleton.
You can get a video on the Mountain Division from Herron Rail Video. It’s called “New England Glory: Mountain Division”. The tape is item 017, the DVD is item 017-D. http://www.herronrail.com/video-list.html
Andre
Thank you Andre, this is excellent info. Do you still live in Maine part time?
grayfox1119
GrayFox,
Are you from the area? have you been up to the Conway Scenic RR? They have an 0-6-0 steamer that they run up to Crawfords Notch during Railfan weekend, although I believe that it has a helper by means of the FP-7’s of maybe the F-7 that they have. Itr’s still grreat to see Steam running up over the Notch.
I’m from Southern NH and have been up to the Conway Scenic dozens of times. Got some great pictures if your interested.
Hi Meybic, my real name is ***, yes, we have been vacationing up at Attitash since 1984, and rode the 1st train through Crawford Notch ( The Legend Returns!!) It was awesome. We now ride this Crawford run every year in the Fall, and that is when they run all the way to Fabyan Station. I also stayed for railfans weekend in North Conway three times, and rode old 7470 (0-6-0) all the way to Crawford station . That was quite a feat for a 1919 0-6-0 yard goat. I don’t see too many of these engines doing that around the country!! This year, I got to ride in the FP7 from Crawford to North Conway and that was awesome, the treat of my lifetime.
When the 7470 ran up through the mountains in the notch, they made two run-bys in which we all took pictures. On this same railfans weekend, they ran the FP7 all the way to Quebec Junction, just outside of Whitefield. They also now run a train from Intervale down the B&M tracks almost to the Maine border on route 302 near Fryburg Maine.
I also heard that some people in Maine are trying to open the line from Portland to New Hampshire ( Conway) but they are having trouble with some old farts in Maine that live on Sebago lake and are blocking efforts to open the line in that area.
Grayfox1119
Greyfox, I also was on the first CSRR trip thru the notch in 94. My dad got tickets from his work (GRS). The notch is one of my favorite places to visit. I also live in So. NH. My layout is based on the MEC in metro Portland, ME in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
Josh
Hi Josh, as you are in southern NH, you are not too far from me, I live in Cherry Valley, which is a part of the town of Leicester. I travel up to NH sometimes via I190, then route 13 into NH to route 101 near Bedford.
grayfox1119
Hey ***,
My name is Michael. I live (lived) in Manchester for a number of years. I can remember in my younger days when the Manchester Freight Yard was a pretty busy place. Now it’s nothing and most of the track has been removed.
Like I said, I’ve made many a trip up to Conway and points north to see the Conway Scenic in action. Several years ago I purchased a nice Sony Digital Camera and have got several hundred pictures burned to CD. I’ve posted many of them to www.Nerail.org.
I’ve even had a few of them published in a local Tourist Magazine back in NH last year.
I now call South Carolina home. My Job with the Air National Guard has taken me away from the beautiful Northeast, but at least we have NS and CSX down here. Something different to railfan besides Guilford and NEGS (New England Southern).
Michael
The four seasons in Maine are Winter, Winter, Almost Winter and Construction.
I live in Maine during the Almost Winter and Construction seasons.
Andre
Mybic - from your other thread, don’t forget to get the BLI free replacement shell for your E-7. It has the right color stripes.
Like the others said, the Mountain Division was the MEC. To model MEC steam in HO you need to do some kitbashing with a few exceptions.
The light USRA Mikados can be done with BLI or Athearn engines pretty exact, The MEC also had USRA 0-6-0 and 0-8-0’s like the ones made by Life-Like but they weren’t common - of used at all - in the mountains. LL made the 0-6-0 in MEC paint.
The 2-8-0’s used on the division can be approximated from the Bachmann Spectrum, which even came lettered for the MEC once.
For the other 2-8-2’s and the 4-6-0’s used on the Bartlett-Beecher’s Falls mixed, you’ll need to scratchbuild. Same goes for the 2-6-6-2’s once used on the hill.
There is a fellow here in NJ modeling the hill, and I expect to as well once I have a basement.
Rob
Oh yeah, and I was on the first Notch train, too. Nice to do it in the CNJ coaches. Great ride. Love the commemorative paper weight!
Rob
Hi Mike and Andre. Thanks for the NErail.org site info, this looks real interesting. I live about 25 minute ride from the “diamond” in Palmer , Ma, this is a hot spot for action in all of New England with as many as 50 trains crossing the diamond. Now that I am retired, I plan to visit the Diamond and video the action on my Sony.
Mike, unless you also ski and therefore would really miss NH in winter, S Carolina is mighty nice in Winter.
Andre, global warming is making the seasons more tolerable in Maine, at least the southern half, now Caribou and Fort Kent…that’s another matter. But it seems you have the situation well in hand, sunny California in Winter, nice cool Maine in Summer…NICE !!!
grayfox1119
Hi Rob,
I did not know that MEC used 2-6-6-2’s on the Crawford notch run !! Do you happen to know during what date period ?
grayfox1119