Silver Lake
Railroad

1st 2011 Season Report

I for one sure am happy that the 2011 season is almost here! We have a slew of things that we plan to add this year to the railroad, online, etc. as well as many projects that need to be completed. It was my intention through the winter to publish this report in the beginning of April, but I decided to hold off until now when we would have more information on the upcoming season. 

First I'd like to write about the winter. The trains may have ben silent on the siding, wrapped up with snowmobilers zipping up and down our line, but we the volunteers have been busy. Operations manager Bruce has been working on our forth Fairmont A6. He hopes to have it completed in the next few weeks. This will serve as our second train's locomotive power, sharing the duty with the A8 which was restored for last season. This locomotive will also share use with the A8 as a recovery locomotive. It will have the power and tractive effort to retrieve any broken down train stuck out on the line. Owner Neil has been busy with the state renewing our line lease. I (Will) have been busy finding new ideas on how to direct more tourists onto NH113 and into our trains as well as remaking some of the pages on this site and planning Railfans Day 2011. Our milepost painter Ross Hall has been in contact with the Boston and Maine RR Historical Society discussing how exactly the B&M RR painted the mileposts on our line. He has also found out that northbound trains read I # (for Intervale). He has completed stencils for the "I" side of the mileposts as well as the "B" side of the mileposts. We plan to have this 100% completed this spring.

For the most part our line survived the winter well. Memorial Day WKND was our first work weekend. We accomplished a lot. For some photos from the weekend see this link: http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=11674517. One of the bearings in the transmission in our Excursion Train's A6 was whining, so we pulled it and sent of to the mechanic over the weekend. While the transmission is out we will install a new clutch as well. The Blue A6's air compressor quit, so we replaced it. Stone was spread in front of the depot and it looks great. At the first beaver pond we installed a new culvert which should fix any problems there. At the location of last fall's washout we tamped the tracks. The line is all set for the season with the acceptation of a few low branches!

Our basic list of projects for the season includes installing a new electric fuel pump in our A8, A new floor in our A8, painting the floor in our Blue A6 with enamel. We plan to paint all three coaches, the EXC train A6, Blue A6, and the trolley. We are considering running the trolley on the other side of  NH113 by Silver Lake. The mileposts are promised to be completed by the end of June. I kept mentioning this last year, but I've been assured we will install new whistles in our main loco's. Bruce our operations manager has two steam-engine-like whistles. The best will go on our primary A6, and the second best will go on our soon-to-be newly refurbished A6, and the current horn on the EXC train A6 will go on our A8. That will leave all of our loco's with a good working horn. We just need some bells now!

I have a lot of interesting things to report that will happen this year. First off we plan to now run two friday night trains at 5:30 and 6:30PM. What I think is the most interesting is July 30th where we plan to have a Railfans Day! This will be a great day with many extras, and a chance for 60 railfans/ riders to ride the extra rare mileage up to Colemans Pit. Three of the days trains will allow you to do this but they are all by "Advance Reserve Only." Seats may fill fast so visit our railfans day page and reserve your seat. http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/railfansday.htm. I want to note that this rare mileage trip is essentially a once-in-a-lifetime trip! RSVP ASAP because I have a feeling these will fill up super fast!

Online this year we have reached well over 1100 friends on facebook!, as well as over 20 subscribers on YouTube. We intend to launch a slew of SLRR films this year, so please subscribe to our YouTube Channel!  http://www.youtube.com/user/SilverLakeRailroad Keep a lookout for the new video series coming this year. I would also like to mention that i intend to have a 2011 Photo of The Week and post it around the SLRR links.

We ask all Silver Lake Railroad fans to do us a favor and write us a review on google via http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=15719571010000531832&q=silver+lake+railroad+madison+nh&hl=en&dtab=0&sll=43.888228,-71.173314&sspn=0.024072,0.053733&ie=UTF8&ll=43.905375,-71.218786&spn=0,0&t=h&z=14 . This would be a great help!

We are also accepting any ideas on how to promote the SLRR. We all want to see the SLRR grow and live strong for many years to come, and we wish to add clients to our roster as well as keep all our fans coming back for a ride time and time again. We love seeing your happy faces when you disembark! It truly is a hidden gem, and if you have any ideas on how to make it a little less hidden, please email silverlakerr@yahoo.com!

Thats pretty much all for now folks. Help us have another successful fifth year in 2011! We hope to see you around the railroad, and as always if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at silverlakerr@yahoo.com!

As always thanks for reading The Railroad Report!

SLRR Volunteer Will Scopa