The Conway Scenic Railroad was founded by local businessmen Bill Levy and Carroll Reed and by Boston and Maine Railroad employee Dwight Smith. A few years after the Boston & Maine ended passenger service on the Conway branch in 1961, Levy and Reed formed the North Conway Depot Company and purchased the station and land that made up the North Conway rail yard, with the railroad retaining ownership of the tracks and rights to operate on the still-active line with freight trains. In 1967, Smith purchased Engine 7470 and started searching for a place to restore and operate it. As early as 1968, word started to spread that the B&M was looking to abandon the Conway Branch, and in a 1968 railfan-charted "Snow Train" that Smith was a part of, saw what North Conway had for facilities. Shortly after, a meeting was held with Levy and Reed where a handshake agreement was made and the beginnings of a railroad were underway. In 1970 the B&M petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon the line north of Ossipee. The abandonment was approved in late September 1972, with the last train pulling out of North Conway on October 31 of that year. With terms and agreements finally completed with the B&M, in May 1974 the North Conway Depot Company was dissolved and the Conway Scenic Railroad was born. They purchased the rail line starting at the Conway/Albany town line, ending at the junction with the Maine Central in Intervale, a distance of. The first train was run on August 4, 1974. In 1983, bridge traffic on the Mountain Division ended, with traffic being diverted south over the B&M. Local freight service out of Portland to North Conway continued until the 1986 union strike. From that point on, the Conway Scenic had no connection to the wider United States rail network. In 1992 Guilford Transportation abandoned the Mountain Division from Windham, Maine, to Whitefield, New Hampshire, and sold the line to the state of New Hampshire from the Maine state line to Whitefield in 1993. In early 1994 the Conway Scenic obtained an operating lease from Bolton Hill Road in Redstone to Hazen Road in Whitefield, giving the railroad a connection to the national network again at Whitefield. Work to clear and rehabilitate the tracks commenced immediately, and on December 17, 1994, the first train to Bartlett was run, with operations through Crawford Notch starting in September 1995. The first train to Fabyan Station was run in September 1996. Expansions east to Redstone and west to Hazen Road in Whitefield were added in June 1998, but those two points have only been used for special runs. After brush clearing and track rehab, in 2019 the railroad extended their operating lease with the state by about going east of Redstone to the Saco River bridge. The first train to go the additional mile was in May 2019, marking the first expansion the railroad had seen since 1998. In 1999 the original owners were bought out by husband and wife Russ and Dot Seybold, and on January 30, 2018, the railroad was sold again to Profile Mountain Holdings Corp.
Operations
The railroad operates excursions of varying duration, generally under two banners, the Valley Train and the Mountaineer: The Valley Train – running either south to Conway or west to Bartlett. The Valley Train includes the dining car Chocorua; the 1898 open-deck Pullmanobservation carGertrude Emma, which is the oldest active standard gauge passenger car in the country; a former Boston & Maine heavyweight coach converted to an open-air car; and several restored heavyweight coaches, some dating back to the 1920s. The schedule varies year to year, but typically the Heritage Excursion operates mid-April through the end of December. The Bartlett Excursion operates early May through mid-November. The Mountaineer – covering the line through Crawford Notch, is typically a 5-hour round trip to Crawford Depot, but is extended to 5½ hours during the fall foliage season when the train travels beyond Crawford Depot to Fabyan Station at Bretton Woods in the town of Carroll. The Notch Train includes an open-air car, a first-class vista dome dining & lounge car, a first-class vista dome car, a first-class car, a first-class dining car and commuter coaches retired from the Montreal commuter pool, one of which was converted to a "Café table car" for passengers riding in coach. Like the Valley Trains, the schedule varies year to year but typically operates mid-June through late-October to early-November. The Sunset Dinner Train – typically operating mid-June through mid-October on select weeknights and weekend nights. It is a 1¾-hour round trip excursion to Bartlett. Special dinner trains of varying lengths include the Murder Mystery Dinner Trains and the Cupid Express, a Valentine's dinner train in February. Although the dinner train is considered part of the Valley train, the Mountaineer trainset is typically the one offered for these services. Annual special events at the railroad have included Mother's Day & Father's Day specials, Autism Spectrum specials, Military & First Responders Appreciation Days, Railfans' Weekend, Johnny Appleseed Express, Pumpkin Patch Express, Journey to the North Pole, and "Steam in the Snow", which is a photographers' special in early January, sponsored by the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts. The railroad used to host a "Day Out With Thomas" , but the event has been discontinued. Snow Trains started in February 2020 and operate over the two February school vacation weeks, for Massachusetts and New Hampshire respectively. These are shuttle trains that run daily every 90 minutes from North Conway to Attitash Mountain Resort in Bartlett and back, starting at 7:30am and making a total of seven round trips per day.
Special freight operation
On June 20, 2009, a 20-axle Schnabel car was brought down through Crawford Notch carrying a 227-ton transformer for Public Service of New Hampshire, an electrical utility company. The train was lead by 573, 6505 & 6516 It was the first scheduled freight train through Crawford Notch since September 3, 1983, the first freight train of any kind since October 1984. The empty cars where shipped out 9 days later led by 6505 & 4266. This shipment completed the first and only revenue freight move for the Conway Scenic to date.
Locomotive roster
Active units
Inoperable units
Former units
Appearances in film
In the 2005 Christmas television film, The 12 Dogs of Christmas, starring Jordan-Claire Green, the museum's depot was filmed in several scenes during the beginning of the film, and the Conway Scenic's passenger cars were also used in the film.
