Letter: Conway Rail branch deserves long term vision

Published: 03-13-2024 3:46 PM

The notion of a Budd railway diesel car from Conway to Mountain View Restaurant or Hobbs during the summer has excited folks. Expanding on that, the NH DOT is in the middle of the process to figure out best users and rail suitors for that line. Not an easy task. While the line has been inactive for many years, the landscape has now vastly changed recently. The Successful Conway Scenic Railroad is expanding. In 2022 CSX Bought Pan Am/Boston&Maine which has perpetual freight rights to freight on the Conway Branch as part of the deed to NH. CSX is in a very large expansion and restoration mode in New England, including NH connecting to Ossipee aggregates. (Is this maybe why NH Northcoast Railways wants to rip up rails on the Conway branch to promote exclusivity?)

Should freight return to the Conway branch, one can expect 3-4 less trucks on Rt. 16 for every freight car. Is traffic on Rt. 16 lessening? Lower home heating costs. Doesn’t everyone benefit? Less air pollution. Doesn’t everyone benefit? The list goes on. HB 1468 proposes to rip up the rail lines on the Conway Branch. This seems similar to Firestone Tire ripping up the rails in major cities to sell more tires back in the 1960s. The rail trail proposed is great on the Conway Branch, please just have some vision and put it safely alongside the rail tracks. Should the Conway Branch be utilized for scenic trains, freight trains, and a rail trail, suggests everyone wins.

John Whalen

West Ossipee

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