Tag Archives: Conway Scenic Railroad

Riding the Rails – Conway Scenic Railroad

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If you like trains and railroading, like I do, bring your scanner with you the next time you take a train trip. It will give you an exciting behind–the–scenes look at railroading!

Conway Scenic Railroad
North Conway, NH

Over Labor Day weekend, my family and I made the trip up to White Mountains of New Hampshire for some rest/relaxation, shopping and a train ride! The Conway Scenic Railroad is a must for any rail fan.

Conway offer many rail excursions:

The Valley Trains
Conway Excursion – 11 Miles, 55 minute round trip
Bartlett Excursion – 21 miles 1-3/4 hour round trip
Route maps – Train Schedules

The Notch Trains
Crawford Depot Excursion –  5 hour round trip
Fabyan State Excursion – 5 1/2 round trip
Route maps – Train Schedules

Saturday we made our way to North Conway Station. The station is very impressive with its Victorian-style construction and size. Behind the Station you will find the boarding platform and a small yard with an 85′ turntable and roundhouse. Due to time, we choose the shorter Conway Excursion.

Riding Conway Scenic Railroad
We boarded the open air coach #1557 formally from Boston & Maine Railroad. Pulling us south to Conway Station was #573 a GP-7 Diesel Electric Locomotive. Along our 55 minute roundtrip journey we passed breath taking views of Moat Mountain Range and cross the Saco and Swift Rivers. Once we reach Conway Station engine 573 made a run around move (uncoupling and passing us on the siding to couple onto the other end).

North Conway Model Railroad Club
I’m also a big fan of model trains as well, while there I was able to see North Conway Model Railroad Club (NCMRRC).  The club occupies  former Boston and Maine Freight House, located in the North Conway Rail Yard.  NCMRRC operates a 500 sq ft HO scale layout, features replicas of the North Conway Station, yard and Crawford Notch.

Engines 4266 and 252 in the yard behind North Conway Station
 Engine 252 on the turntable
View from open-air car 1557 of the Moat Mountain Range
Engine 573 making the run around at Conway Station
Engine 573 Passing us on the siding at Conway Station.

Scanning Conway Scenic Railroad
On the Conway Excursion communications took place on 160.2500 their main road channel.  Be sure to program 161.3250 and 160.4250 as well.

If you’re visiting the area for the weekend, you may want to bring a digital scanner since most of the law enforcement is operating on digital conventional VHF.

My Scanning Gear
Uniden BCD396XT with the stock antenna
Soft leather Case with Swivel