Sawyers By The Seasons
Due to 7470 being down for maintenance this year's annual Mass Bay RRE's 'Steam In The Snow' charter on the Conway Scenic Railroad was instead billed as 'Covered Wagons In The Snow' and it did not disappoint. Having traveled as far as the Notchland Inn where four photo runbys were performed the two original Boston and Maine F7s (4266 and 4268) owned by the 470 Railroad Club are on their way back east with the train.
This route opened in 1875 as the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway and would remain an important through freight route for succesor Maine Central until 1983, known for most of its life as the Mountain Subdivision. Shuttered for a dozen years it was purchased by the State of New Hampshire from MEC Guilford Transportation in 1994 and revived by 1996 to become a wildly popular 25 mile extension of the little Conway Scenic.
This was the only true 'must have' shot I wanted for the day, and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. They are seen at Sawyers River, MP 74.8, where fom 1877 to 1928 the 8 mile long Sawyers River Railroad (a logging operation) connected, although the MEC agency at this spot was closed in 1921. Two historic structures survive to this day, the section men's car house at right and the foreman's dwelling at left, both now privately owned. To the left of the train obscured by the snow is a 21 car passing siding that once again sees use in the summer season as a run around track. One interesting fact is that the house used to also be located on the right (north) side of the mainline but was moved across in the 1950s when Route 302 was relocated. Not wanting a private grade crossing here the railroad chose to move the home instead!
I now have good shots in three of the four seasons here, and a true spring one isn't really possible as the railroad doesn't run their first regularly scheduled Mountaineer train until May 27th.
To see a green summery view here if you missed it before check out this shot:
And for a favorite fall scene this shot:
And for a 'Steam In The Rain' shot this same weekend three years ago check out this:
As for the two classic EMDs, 4266 was built in Mar. 1949 and was acquired for preservation in 1981 off the Billerica deadline. Restored a couple years later, she has called North Conway home ever since and has been operational off and on for the past four decades.
4268 was built in Oct. 1949 and ran for the very first time in almost a half century in early 2022. I'm not sure when her last run was, but I can find no photos of her in service after about July 1974. She languished for a decade behind the Billerica shops after being stripped of all major components including prime mover, main generator and traction motors. In 1986 she finally left Billerica by truck after being acquired by George Feuderer who displayed her in a field in East Swanzey, NH until acquired by the 470 Club and trucked to North Conway in October of 1991.
She received a cosmetic restoration in 1993 and had been prominently displayed at the Conway Scenic in the company of her operational sibling ever since. After years of planning, the club began restoration in earnest in 2018 with the full support of the railroad and its shop using ex New Hampshire Northcoast GP9 1757 (ex PRR) as a major parts donor for the four year long restoration project.
Addendum: thanks to Carl Byron for supplying the fascinating historical information below that I'd never read about before.
The 4268A was actually built in March, 1949 as Engineering Test Dept Locomotive #930. Used for high altitude component testing on the DRGW's Soldier Summit among other locations. It spent some of that summer masquerading as a CB&Q locomotive leading their passenger car display at the 1949 Chicago World's Fair. It was then was cleaned up, re-engined, and made into to a standard F7A and offered for sale at a "slightly used demo" price. The B&M bought it and it was renumbered and painted into the B&M livery and shipped east, so while the builders plate may well say 10/49 but it certainly had a prior interesting career.
Harts Location, New Hampshire
Saturday January 7, 2023
Sawyers By The Seasons
Due to 7470 being down for maintenance this year's annual Mass Bay RRE's 'Steam In The Snow' charter on the Conway Scenic Railroad was instead billed as 'Covered Wagons In The Snow' and it did not disappoint. Having traveled as far as the Notchland Inn where four photo runbys were performed the two original Boston and Maine F7s (4266 and 4268) owned by the 470 Railroad Club are on their way back east with the train.
This route opened in 1875 as the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway and would remain an important through freight route for succesor Maine Central until 1983, known for most of its life as the Mountain Subdivision. Shuttered for a dozen years it was purchased by the State of New Hampshire from MEC Guilford Transportation in 1994 and revived by 1996 to become a wildly popular 25 mile extension of the little Conway Scenic.
This was the only true 'must have' shot I wanted for the day, and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. They are seen at Sawyers River, MP 74.8, where fom 1877 to 1928 the 8 mile long Sawyers River Railroad (a logging operation) connected, although the MEC agency at this spot was closed in 1921. Two historic structures survive to this day, the section men's car house at right and the foreman's dwelling at left, both now privately owned. To the left of the train obscured by the snow is a 21 car passing siding that once again sees use in the summer season as a run around track. One interesting fact is that the house used to also be located on the right (north) side of the mainline but was moved across in the 1950s when Route 302 was relocated. Not wanting a private grade crossing here the railroad chose to move the home instead!
I now have good shots in three of the four seasons here, and a true spring one isn't really possible as the railroad doesn't run their first regularly scheduled Mountaineer train until May 27th.
To see a green summery view here if you missed it before check out this shot:
And for a favorite fall scene this shot:
And for a 'Steam In The Rain' shot this same weekend three years ago check out this:
As for the two classic EMDs, 4266 was built in Mar. 1949 and was acquired for preservation in 1981 off the Billerica deadline. Restored a couple years later, she has called North Conway home ever since and has been operational off and on for the past four decades.
4268 was built in Oct. 1949 and ran for the very first time in almost a half century in early 2022. I'm not sure when her last run was, but I can find no photos of her in service after about July 1974. She languished for a decade behind the Billerica shops after being stripped of all major components including prime mover, main generator and traction motors. In 1986 she finally left Billerica by truck after being acquired by George Feuderer who displayed her in a field in East Swanzey, NH until acquired by the 470 Club and trucked to North Conway in October of 1991.
She received a cosmetic restoration in 1993 and had been prominently displayed at the Conway Scenic in the company of her operational sibling ever since. After years of planning, the club began restoration in earnest in 2018 with the full support of the railroad and its shop using ex New Hampshire Northcoast GP9 1757 (ex PRR) as a major parts donor for the four year long restoration project.
Addendum: thanks to Carl Byron for supplying the fascinating historical information below that I'd never read about before.
The 4268A was actually built in March, 1949 as Engineering Test Dept Locomotive #930. Used for high altitude component testing on the DRGW's Soldier Summit among other locations. It spent some of that summer masquerading as a CB&Q locomotive leading their passenger car display at the 1949 Chicago World's Fair. It was then was cleaned up, re-engined, and made into to a standard F7A and offered for sale at a "slightly used demo" price. The B&M bought it and it was renumbered and painted into the B&M livery and shipped east, so while the builders plate may well say 10/49 but it certainly had a prior interesting career.
Harts Location, New Hampshire
Saturday January 7, 2023