Steam at Crawford's Notch. The cell phones come out among the hikers and other visitors to Crawford Notch State Park, as CN 7470 brings Conway Scenic's Notch Train into Crawford's Notch Station for the first time in 8 years. Whereas steam-powered trains regularly passed through here during the latter half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, you can count the number of such trains since the late 1950s on one hand. Yes, the Conway Scenic Railroad has been operating steam on portions of the old Maine Central Mountain Division since the 1970s, they have almost never operated this far west, mainly because the infrastructure to support steam (water, etc.) is long gone, and because the sole operating steam engine is a yard switcher, albeit a beefy one, which was never meant for main line operations. The railroad ran this particular trip to celebrate the return of the 7470 from 4 years of major maintenance, and to participate in the Whitefield Airport Open House and airshow. The Whitefield Airport is located right at the west end of Conway Scenic's trackage, which is a distance of about 44 miles from North Conway....quite a trip for an 0-6-0. Fortunately, the railroad has outfitted a tank car as an auxiliary water car, minimizing the need for water support, and in this case, they added a couple of Geeps to the tail end of the consist, to give the 7470 a bit of a boost on the steep grades, and to drag the passenger train home when the excursion was complete. By all accounts this trip was successful both operationally and from a sales standpoint. They were basically sold out. Look for the 7470 to operate on the Conway run a couple of days a week in the late summer, and look for some special operations during the railroad's annual Railfan Weekend at the end of August.
Beautiful mountain scenery has made this small state a draw for rail buffs to ride the Mount Washington Cog Railway and the Conway Scenic, among others.
