Silver Lake
Railroad

Silver Lake Railroad

The Railroad Report

Mid July

We have been busy lately working on the Silver Lake Railroad! Sorry about the delay to deliver this report. I’m very happy with the way our 2011 season is going! Our excursion train rides are for the most part no longer weather permitting! We installed florta-glass (I’ve miswritten this in the past, I hope the spelling is correct now) on the top of our two excursion train coaches. Florta-glass is similar to a shower curtain but stops UV rays.

Most rain comes in through the trellis roof and the open ends of the cars. Now that the roof is covered we will hang a shower curtain on the ends of the cars on a rope. This rope can be removed for sunny days and put back on when the weathermen forecast rain. It is a great fix to an annoying problem! I must mention we refuse to run in lightning (for obvious reasons), and in heavy downpours because the sides will still be open for heavy rain to blow in and our rear-wheel drive A6 only has so much traction on wet rails.

The mileposts are nearing completion! One side left to go on Intervale 13.We want to give a special thanks to Ross Hall on the extensive work he did on this project. Between contact with the B&MRRHS for info on the markers on the way to cutting stencils and eventually painting the mile markers, he has done a fantastic time-consuming job! We also want to note that Ross will paint B 126 / I 14 (the milepost near Silver Lake) in case we ever extend southbound. It’s nice to see these mileposts looking so remarkable! Another piece of B&M Railroad history saved!

We spent the bulk of last week repainting our three passenger cars. They were not too bad, but needed a spruce-up. The Green portion and red trim on the lower half of the three coaches were painted last week. The red vertical posts, which support the ceiling, were completed by Tuesday. All that is left is the interior, a bit of touch-up, and the sideboards of the passenger cars (The boards without paint, on top of the wall where the vertical support beams begin).

This year we have slowed the train down quite a bit. At maximum we reach ten miles per hour and average seven and a half mph. but we travel slowly through the vistas. I was opposed to the idea at first but I now see how this eliminates almost all of the shaking we had in the coaches. The ride is much more pleasant and comfortable for riders. The ride has been extended by five to ten minutes and we only travel to our second Davis Pond vista where milepost Intervale 11 / Boston 129 is located. Don’t worry because that only cuts out a quarter mile of lackluster scenery. Note that we will travel to Boulder Rd. upon request!

Our Classic Car Cruise nights are doing well this summer! We have started a 50/50 raffle for 2011. While I am not a fan of having a 50/50 (especially after I didn’t win with my 7 tickets), I like how this funds our door prizes. We hand out door prizes to lucky classic Car owners. They get a number while entering and if they’re lucky they win a prize. We give out car wax and car wash, etc. and the kind classic car people are happy to receive the gift. About one in four car owners win something! The more raffle tickets we sell the more prizes we hand out, so come on down and support the railroad / cruise nights in this fashion!

Our July 30th Railfans Day is coming up soon! Unfortunately we will not be able to offer the rare mileage past Boulder Rd. An insurance issue came up and we could not solve it in time. There’s always next year. With that said what we have planned is awesome. I don’t want to spoil the surprise so I won’t go into too much detail. There will be extras, photo opportunities, and more! We have a few seats left on the 10:30AM, 12 and 1PM but we are running out fast. All I will say is if you’re a railfan and haven’t signed up yet, you better sign up soon! The rides are still by Advance Reservation Only. RSVP ASAP via silverlakerr@yahoo.com or by calling 1-978-470-2066. We have 23 seats total left between the three extras. We apologize about the rare mileage. If you wish to cancel your reservation let us know! Thanks!

As always, thank you for reading the Railroad Report and if there are any questions or comments please send me an email via silverlakerr@yahoo.com!

Will Scopa

SLRR Volunteer