Silver Lake Railroad
Offering Train Rides
BY DONATION
The Railroad Report
SLRR Pictures
| Posted on December 4, 2010 at 8:54 AM |
comments (0)
|
We have noticed that some of the pictures did not work through the emails sent out so here is the link to the Album "SLRR: Filling A Washout"
http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10485580
We have also taken some pictures of the Filled Washout. This link to that picture Album is here: http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10516892
-Will Scopa
SLRR Volunteer
SLRR Washout News / Update
| Posted on November 22, 2010 at 11:58 PM |
comments (3)
|
SLRR Washout Update
Thanks to the volunteers who helped fill the washout and workers from the state our washout is now filled.
Here's how it happened- After we close for the season, we rarely do track and line inspections. The "busy beavers" got to work very quickly, and nearly completely clogged our 5*7 ft. culvert. One of the passing rain storms raised the level of the beaver pond to over the culvert ceiling and the water pushed on the soft sand that was underneath the ballast. (soft sand was in that location because that section of track had laid dormant and washed-out for nearly 15 years, and the sand was brought ashore. (we filled it in 2008 ) The State has cleared their culvert (line is owned by State of NH- we only own nearly 1000 feet of track), and provided us with fill and labor. We completed fixing this washout on tuesday 11-23-10. Picture of the filled washout are linked below along with captions written by operations manager Bruce Stuart and I!
Thanks to all who helped out on Monday and Tuesday!
Photos: credit to Joe Sheehan
Joe Sheehan Loads The First of Many
It took a joint effort by the SLRR, NH Bureau of Trails, Ossipee Valley Snowmobile Club, and Colemans Sand and Gravel to accomplish this washout fill.
Workers Starting to fill the Washout
SLRR Operations Manager Bruce Stuart and Trails Bureau member Josh utilize the 1931 Anthony bodied hydraulic dump cart to start filling in the washed area.
Fill Starts Taking Shape
Positioning Dump Car Over Fill
Continued Dumping of Fill
Frank Spreads Gravel
Trails Bureau member Frank spreads fill through the washout. It took two eleven hour- four man work days to complete the project.
Support Pillars Used On Every Other Tie
The washout encompassed fifty linear feet by three feet of depth and ten feet of width. Pillars were needed in order to support the work train. (Blue A6 and Dump Car)
Fill Arrives Monday Morning
A total of 110 yards of gravel were needed to fill the washout. A Colemans truck delivered the fill to boulder Rd on monday morning at 9AM. Colemans input toward this project was essential.
Work Train Shuttles Gravel
Loaded Dump Car
Unloading Dump Car
-Will Scopa
SLRR Volunteer
Unfortunate News
| Posted on November 21, 2010 at 8:19 PM |
comments (0)
|
Washout On The SLRR- "Read All About IT!"
The year's final railroad report has been reported, and any new news will be reported on the railroad report page.
Last week we were told about a washout that had occurred on our line. This washout is located around Milepost B128.5. This washout is located in the same place as where it had washed out nearly twenty years ago. As our line is owned by the State of NH, and the state uses the line as a primary snowmobile corridor, filling this washout is a priority. Some workers from the state and a bunch of the SLRR's volunteers plan to fill the washout on Monday Nov 22nd. Pictures of the washout are linked at the bottom of this article.
The washout is around fifty to sixty feet long and five or more feet deep. The washout is believed to be caused by a clogged culvert, which had been work of the "busy beavers." The water couldn't adequately flow through the culvert and had washed out the tracks. The tracks are currently dangling over the washout.
On monday our blue A6 and dump car will be used to move gravel out to the washout where the volunteers and state workers will distribute and fill the washout. Pictures of "filling the washout" should arrive by midweek.
Hope all goes well!- If there are any questions please contact silverlakerr@yahoo.com.
Pictures: http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10432317
Until next time,
-Will Scopa: SLRR volunteer.
NOTE: If you haven't already- sign up for the SLRR site and have railroad news, the railroad report and other cool stuff emailed straight to your email inbox! Sign up today- http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/auth/signup
The Railroad Report- Year's Final Report!
| Posted on November 16, 2010 at 4:01 PM |
comments (0)
|
The Railroad Report- Year’s
Final Report To start off I would like to thank
all riders and supporters of the Silver Lake Railroad! We love seeing your
joyful faces when you get off the train. Nearly everyone departs the SLRR with
a smile, and the occasional clapping at the end of the train ride never gets
old! We also want to thank our supporters for your donations. Your donations
help to keep this great operation alive and well! A lot of various things were
accomplished in our 2010 season. First off I would like to mention our new
orange Fairmont A6. We purchased this “locomotive” (for lack of a better term)
in mid July. When we purchased it, a large amount of repairs were needed. It
was only “firing” on four of its six cylinders, and other various maintenance
(cosmetic and mechanical) was needed. By the end of July and with many hours of
labor from our volunteers this A6 was completely restored. I must admit- I
didn’t like the paint job at first, but it certainly grew on me. I think the
Black trim in combination with the Orange Paint looks really good! It runs like
a charm now too! We’ll find a “proper horn” for next year- the current horn
sounds more like a bicycle horn than a train horn. Unfortunately our Fairmont A8 has a
similar horn- if not the same horn. Not to make this report about horns- but
here is some exciting news in the whistle department. We have two new whistle’s
waiting to be put on our locomotives. They sound very relaxing and vibrant, and
we plan to get one of the whistles on the Excursion Train’s A6 as well as one
on either our A8 or other A6 which is still in the restoration process. This
will free up the current Excursion Train’s horn, which is adequate. This will
give us four great horns/whistles for our five “locomotives.” Now onto our Fairmont A8! We gave
this huge gang car a complete restoration. The engine has been refurbished
(ford 300 I6) along with a complete cosmetic restoration. This engine still
needs a new floor and a new fuel pump and should be 100% completed before the start
of the 2011 season. This will be our best engine in my opinion. It has
four-wheel drive, and vacuum brakes which are very nice. The A8 was restored
before NH Chronicle arrived in late July, and served as the locomotive to power
our overfill train for the latter half of the 2010 season. Came in handy after
Chronicle aired; that’s for sure! The biggest addition to the SLRR
this season was the completion of our 1941 sterling diner. This diner made
enough to support itself and thank god because we want this to be around for a
long time. It looks great and the Ice Cream choices were fantastic. Everyone
likes this diner and I understand why! After many years of hard work the Riley
Bros diner from Lynn Ma Lives on! What I (and you being the reader of
this) think has been very cool is the addition of the Railroad Report. It’s
been a great way to communicate online with folks interested in our operation,
but unable to attend our little railroad! Next year I plan to do a weekly photo
thing along with the current every-other-weekly railroad report! Should be
great!’ The SLRR was mentioned twice in the
local newspaper “The Mountain Ear.” First for an article called “Take A Ride
With The Silver Lake Railroad Through Madison Chain of Ponds”, and an awesome
mention in Sara Young-Knox’s “Top Ten Things To Do in the MWV”, where we ranked
#3! Thanks Sara! In late August we started Cruise
Night’s. Simply put; it was awesome. A cruise night video is in the works! SLRR
volunteers Ingrid and Rick Utley were an immense help in the creation and
workings of cruise nights. You would often see them handing out flyers at car
shows, and helping out in the diner when need be in union with their 100%
attendance racord! Many car enthusiasts enjoyed this event and it turned out to
be a great success. We will undoubtedly be continuing this event through future
years of SLRR operation! Among the projects completed this
season was the push to complete our North Switch in time for Putt Putt Day. We
did it and now have a fully functioning Siding! Putt Putt day was another great
success. Lots of happy people from the B&MRRHS and CVRTC! A putt-putt day
video is in the works, and expect it in the nov.- dec. range! The Halloween Train was also yet
another success. Ridership was down 10%, but that was to be expected after we
pushed it back one weekend into colder October. It started snowing on
Saturday’s Halloween Train! Thanks for the Madison Old Homes Committee for
putting on the show! By the start of the 2011 season all
of our mileposts will be completed and painted. The stencils are ready made and
awaiting to be put on by volunteer Ross Hall. We did lots of Photo Specials this
year including two photo freights and one mixed extra. There are videos for
each of those occasions. The First Photo Freight was from Sept 19th;
filmed by Doug Scott- (short version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wItTOk36oiE Oct 2nd
Mixed Extra Filmed by Volunteer Rick Utley- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdpWN9wpao4 and finally the second Photo Freight
filmed by me, Will Scopa- http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/videos/videos/show/11379723-slrr-photo-freight-october.
There were plenty of photo opportunities at the SLRR this year…. Well for me at
least J.
My good friend Mark Thompson is in
my opinion the best amateur videographer and short film producer I have ever
met so I asked him to make two SLRR films. I was hoping they would come out
better than they did. One makes you feel like you just walked off the cruise
ship and into Jamaica and the other is too short (judge for yourself), but they
are worthy of mentioning… Here are the links- Video # 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwjlOTln514
and video #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cddRLdg4kfA&feature=related.
I’ll try to get one of Marks amazing productions out of him next year! Among my videos My most recent
video was “my best SLRR 2010 pictures”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T2MyX389Pg&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL,
my very spooky “Halloween Train Promo”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wexdn6aPszc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL,
and my favorite production, the SLRR’s official Promo Vid- “The Silver Lake
Railroad”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp9JX2mpaOQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL.
Lots of other train clips are on our official YouTube Channel located at http://www.youtube.com/user/SilverLakeRailroad. Lots of photos were taken this
season, and we had amateur photographers Sean Ramini and Doug Scott join us
this year for some official shoots. Sean Ramini’s pictures are located at http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=9484143
and Doug Scott’s pictures are located at http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10026579.
Thanks Guys! Great Photos! As I mentioned earlier in this
report, NH Chronicle filmed the SLRR in Late July and the show aired in early
September, filling our foliage trains! If you are interested in watching the
episode of NH chronicle, here it is: http://www.wmur.com/chroniclevideo/25057442/index.html The Silver Lake Railroad’s Official
yearly film will be coming out in December. If this film is unable to make the
Internet, we will consider offering it for a donation at our Depot. It’s coming
along great! During the 2010-2011 winter we will
continue refurbishment of our forth Fairmont A6: the last of our A6’s awaiting
completion. Hopefully this engine will be completed by the launch of the 2011
season. As far as I’ve followed, the new rebuilt Ford 300 I6 engine block has
been installed, and the A6 is awaiting a new clutch and breaking
mechanisms. After completion we
will have five fully operational locomotives. Here will be our tentative 2011
locomotive Roster. The excursion Train A6 will pull the Excursion Train, The A8
will serve as a back-up and recovery locomotive for any EXC train problems that
may arise, The new A6 (in restoration)- will power our overfill train, The Orange
A6- will serve as an inspection vehicle, and last but certainly not least our
Blue A6- will serve as a Work engine; a MOW loco, and help with the track
inspections. Projects for the 2011 season will
include new paint on our Blue A6, a new paint job on our trolley, painting of
our new A6 currently in mechanical restoration, new paint on our coaches, a
possible new forth coach, the possible extension of train service by Silver
Lake, and possible trolley rides through our yard area! The 2011 Season will be great.
Train service will be Independence Day wknd through Labor Day wknd SAT &
SUN 12 1 2 3. We will also be continuing Cruise nights. Every Saturday
Independence Day Weekend through OCT 1st with Cruise Night trains
being moved forward to 5 & 6 PM. Foliage Rides will be SEPT 17, 18, 24, 25,
OCT 1, 2. 2011 Putt Putt Day will be September 24th and an all out
Railfans Day is in the works for the Sunday after Putt Putt Day. Last but not least I would like to
mention our Special Thanks! A quick thanks to non-volunteers Sean Ramini, Doug
Scott, Mark Thompson, NH Chronicle crew, Sara Young-Knox, Jim Nigzus, Don
Provencher, B&MRRHS and CVRTC volunteers, and any others I may have forgot
to mention! Also thanks to the diner volunteer’s- Both Sarah’s, Michela, and
Alex! A Special Thanks to our team of
Volunteers: Ingrid and Rick: you initiated cruise nights and were always around
when we needed help! Gary- you helped with a tremendous amount of work. You
were a great help! Peter- Neils right hand man! Will - you have been a great
addition to our team, glad to have you around! Cici- always around to fill in
when we were in demand of help! Ross- your mileposts are coming along
beautifully, we appreciate the immense amount of time you have spent on them!
Operations Manager Bruce- once again you “proved invaluable with your rail
knowledge”… so to speak, and led us through the season! And the big cheese:
owner Neil: Simple fact- we all owe the SLRR to you, and once again your love
of restoration, seeing peoples smiles, and the smell of gasoline burning away
complements your immense heart, and affection for an operation like this! Have a great
winter everyone- see you in 2011! SLRR volunteer, -Will Scopa
The Railroad Report- Mid October
| Posted on October 20, 2010 at 8:31 PM |
comments (0)
|
The Railroad Report- Mid October
The season is coming to a close. The only trains left for the 2010 season are the halloween trains which were postponed to 10-22-10 and 10-23-10. Hope to see you then. The halloween train should be another great and successful event!
The SLRR and www.newenglandrailfans.com (remember the s!) are teaming up to help endorse each other. We would like to encourage all members of the SLRR website and Railfans alike to sign up for newenglandrailfans.com. SLRR site members, click this link and log in with your same username and password you have for the SLRR site. Your account will work on both sites: http://www.newenglandrailfans.com/apps/auth/login. For readers who are not a member of the SLRR site, sign up for NERFS (newenglandrailfans.com) using this link: http://www.newenglandrailfans.com/apps/auth/signup. We suggest that all who read this report be a member of the SLRR site and NERFS!
We have added three new videos to the LSRR official YouTube Channel- these include "Halloween Train Promo", "SLRR Mixed Extra", and "Silver Lake RR (by amateur videographer mark Thompson! Check them out! http://www.youtube.com/user/SilverLakeRailroad
There will be one last "railroad report" for the 2010 season! That report will conclude the 2010 season. Stay tuned - mid november is the expected day for that!
See you on the halloween train!
-Will Scopa
SLRR volunteer
The Railroad Report- Mid September
| Posted on September 13, 2010 at 7:54 PM |
comments (0)
|
The Railroad Report- Mid September
First off; the important stuff, be absolutely sure to watch NH chronicle on Channel 9: WMUR on Wednesday at 7:30PM. For more info, click this link: http://www.wmur.com/chronicle/24871504/detail.html
Putt Putt day is ALMOST here! Unfortunately Mystic Valley Railway group will be unable to attend, but this will still be an awesome event! Hope to see you then! The schedule for Saturday September 25th is as follows:
|
Trip |
Departure Time |
Arrival Time |
|
CVRTC- Boulder RD to Madison |
10:00 |
10:20
|
|
CVRTC- 10 Mile RT Madison to Coleman’s to Madison |
11:00 |
12:55 |
|
SLRR- Excursion Train Madison to Boulder RD to Madison |
12:05 |
12:50 |
|
SLRR- Excursion Train Madison to Boulder RD to Madison |
1:05 |
1:50 |
|
SLRR- Mystic Valley Extra Madison to Davis pond to Madison (Cancelled) |
1:10 |
1:45 |
|
SLRR- Excursion Train Madison to Boulder RD to Madison |
2:05 |
2:50 |
|
CVRTC- 10 Mile RT Madison to Coleman’s to Madison |
2:55 |
4:30 |
|
SLRR- Excursion Train Madison to Boulder RD to Madison |
3:05 |
3:50 |
|
CVRTC- Madison to Boulder RD |
4:45 |
5:05 |
|
SLRR- Excursion Train Madison to Boulder RD to Madison
|
5:35 |
6:20
|
|
SLRR –Excursion Train Madison to The Vista to Madison |
6:35 |
7:00 |
*CVRTC Set on at 9:00 AM
*CVRTC Safety meeting at the SLRR Depot: 10:45 AM
Another fantastic thing is that we just completed our short infomercial: “The Silver Lake Railroad.” Be sure to check it out on our homepage, or follow the link to it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp9JX2mpaOQ
Riley Bros Diner at the SLRR will stay open through the fall! Be sure to stop by and grab some ice cream! New fall flavors complement our array of summer flavors.
We are even considering continuing our foliage season through oct. 10th if the colors and rider ship levels permit.
Cruise Nights continue through October 2nd. Here is a copy of the new Cruise Night Flyer.
------------
----------
To wrap up it’s going to be a busy fall. Be sure to stop by the SLRR this foliage season! See you around the SLRR!
Until Next time,
Will Scopa,
SLRR volunteer
The Railroad Report - Early September
| Posted on August 30, 2010 at 9:41 PM |
comments (0)
|
The Railroad Report- Early September
Okay- Okay its not September yet, but what the heck! Here’s The Railroad Report!
The summer season has come to a near close, with one weekend left, but on the colorful side, foliage season will be coming up shortly. The schedule is as follows:
September –Train Rides
4 – SAT 12, 1, 2, 3, 5:30, 6:30
5 – SUN 12, 1, 2, 3 (End of Summer Season)
11 – SAT 5:30, 6:30
12 – SUN No scheduled Trains
18 – SAT 12, 1, 2, 3, 5:30, 6:30 (Beginning of Foliage season)
19 – SUN 12, 1, 2, 3
25 – SAT 12, 1, 2, 3, 5:30, 6:30 (Putt Putt Day)
26 – SUN 12, 1, 2, 3
October – Train Rides
2 – SAT 12, 1, 2, 3, 5:30, 6:30
3 – SUN 12, 1, 2, 3 (End of Foliage Season)
9 – SAT No scheduled Trains
10 – SUN No scheduled Trains
15 – FRI Halloween Train Rides 7-9 PM
16 – SAT Halloween Train Rides 7-9 PM
17 – SUN No scheduled Trains
22 –FRI No scheduled Trains (Halloween Train Rides Rain Date)
23 – SAT No scheduled Trains (Halloween Train Rides Rain Date)
24 – SUN No scheduled Trains
Our milepost B127 has painted letters on both sides, and the white face on the north side of B127 Remains to be painted. It is evident that in lack of time, we will not be able to complete them for Foliage, but with any luck at least two of them can be completed by Putt Putt Day—September 25th.
Our first Cruise Night was a great success. We plan to continue this event every Saturday through October 2nd. Train rides will be at 5:30 and 6:30 every Saturday, along with the day’s usual 12,1,2,3 trains. Hopefully this event will grow to over 20 or 30 classic cars; and families, etc. will be joining in to see some awesome old cars, grab some ice cream, and of course take the train ride. All Cruise Night Train Rides are the full, Six mile round trip rides! Also note that there is lots of wildlife out at the time of the Cruise Night Trains! We saw four deer on the 6:30 last Saturday, one of which jumped right out in front of the train. While getting a front row ticket to see this dear was terrific for the people sitting in the front car, I was rather timid sitting in the engineers seat. Luckily we go nice and slow!
Not to make it all about Cruise Nights, but…
-For a copy of the Cruise Night Brochure, email silverlakerr@yahoo.com
-More info about Cruise Nights, see the cruise night section of the SLRR site: http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/cruisenights.htm
-To see some pictures of our first Annual Cruise Night, click this link:
http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=9860101
-To see a video of the 6:30 train on Cruise night, click this link:
http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/videos/videos/show/10338170-slrr-cruise-night-1-6-30-train
Thats it for now, and see you around the SLRR!
Will Scopa
-SLRR volunteer
A Special Railroad Report
| Posted on August 23, 2010 at 9:29 AM |
comments (3)
|
Extra Extra, Read all about it!
Cruise Nights 2010
Hosted by the Silver Lake Railroad
Saturday’s 5-7:30 PM on these Dates:
August 28
September 4, 11, 18, 25
October 2
Stop by the SLRR to see some classic cars! Ice Cream Parlor open until 8PM and Train Rides at 5:30 and 6:30 PM.
*Do you have an classic car? Join us at the SLRR on Cruise Nights!
If there are any questions please contact:
Also see
For more info!
The Silver Lake Railroad: Route 113 in Madison NH
For a copy of the Cruise Nights flyer, email silverlakerr@yahoo.com
The Railroad Report- Mid August
| Posted on August 16, 2010 at 10:21 AM |
comments (0)
|
The Railroad Report- Mid August
The summer season is winding down and Madison Old Homes Weekend was a success. Remember that there are only three more weekends of Summer Season Trains. Visit us soon!
The Mountain Ear had also mentioned us in their latest issue. Sara Young-Knox (the same journalist who wrote an earlier article about the SLRR) wrote an article; “The Top 10 Must-do’s in the MWV.” The SLRR was tied with our friends at the CSRR for the number three spot. The link to the article is listed at the bottom of this report.
NH DOT came down with a “monster” of a machine and mowed our line. The DOT cut the sides and tops of the three-mile stretch, something that would have taken us forever to do. The line looks great, so come on down and see it!
Our milepost painting is coming well. When the DOT came, they cut out our third milepost: B 129. We have now painted the white face and black line on all three mileposts and they are ready for lettering. We have also started lettering on milepost B 127. It is looking good. This is very tedious work and takes quite an amount of time, but when completed the mileposts will look superb. We hope to have all the lettering done as soon as possible; Hopefully in time for foliage!
The Foliage schedule is now official. All foliage trains depart Madison Station for forty-five minute rides. Trains leave at 12, 1, 2, 3.
We plan to run foliage trains on these dates:
September: 18, 19, 25, 26
October: 2, 3
Also note that we have changed the hours of operation on our diner. Here are the new hours. The diner will stay open through September.
Thursday 6-8 PM
Friday 6-8 PM
Saturday 11:30-8 PM
Sunday 11:30-4:30 PM
Putt Putt day will be September 25th. It is an all day event. Regular trains leave at
12, 1, 2, 3 on that day. More info on Putt Putt day will be coming in September.
Sara Young-Knox’s “top 10 must-do’s in the MWV” (on page two)
http://www.newhampshirelakesandmountains.com/pdf/MTN.2010.08.12.pdf
See you at the SLRR!
Will Scopa
-SLRR Volunteer
The Railroad Report- Beginning of August
| Posted on August 2, 2010 at 2:00 PM |
comments (0)
|
The Railroad Report- Beginning of August
Lots of news for this railroad report! First off, news on our new Fairmont A6. This fully restored motorcar runs and looks great. It has been painted orange with black trim around the windows, and black running boards. The black accent's the orange, and makes an awesome looking A6.
Also exciting is that we have repainted and fully restored our Fairmont A8 gang car. In my opinion, it is the best looking "locomotive" that we have. It also runs like a charm; easily one of our best running gang cars. The A8 Will be hooked up to our third passenger car and be our current "overfill" train until our 4th A6 is restored.
The flat car has also been painted fire engine red, and looks terrific. Videos and pictures coming soon! Expect to see a SLRR promotional video on the homepage of the website soon!
Coming up for the next weekend will be the festivities of Madison Old Homes Weekend. Be sure to stop by this weekend, for the usual train rides, and extra festivities around Madison this weekend!
In the news...
On Wednesday July 21st, NH Chronicle came down and filmed us. Look for the SLRR on NH chronicle this September. Also in the news, a fantastic article was written by Sara Young-Knox, and published as a cover article on the Mountain Ear. A link to the article is listed at the bottom or the report.
NOTE: The exact foliage schedule will be coming soon!
See you around the SLRR!
Will Scopa
-SLRR volunteer
The Mountain Ear article:
Categories
Upcoming Events
The Railroad Report
Recent Videos
