I'm sure each of us has a "pet project", a dream piece of equipment or line to save. I would offer that the former Maine Central branch from Brewer, Maine, to Calais, Maine, or some sections therein would be ideal for development as a steam tourist line. The trackage is accessible, though it rambles through woods and along rivers and the ocean. It hasn't been maintained in 20 years, so plenty of work needs to be done, however...
a light steam locomotive and three or four coaches being run during the June to October months would attract a lot of business in this heart of vacationland. A locomotive like a C.N. or C.P. ten-wheeler would be ideal.
How does anyone start such an enterprise? Somebody must have experience in turning an idea into a viable operation.
Comments?



glueck@saturn.caps.maine.edu

Forgive my ignorance of those frozen lands but does the line run through areas already full of tourists there for other attractions? If so, a scenic part of the line might be marketable if the ride can be priced as an impulse buy and take no longer than 1.5 hours.

Dave

lathro19@idt.net

Yes, and please forgive my not explaining to the unfamiliar. The line starts on the river side opposite Bangor and meanders downeast along the main highway to Ellsworth and eventually, past the Bar Harbor turnoff, and onto Machias. This is all prime summer tourist line, as it lures tens of thousands of vacationers to listen to our quaint accents (Ayuh!) and snarf up our lobsters and blueberry pies. A seasonal steam operation on light rail would be a natural for this region.

glueck@saturn.caps.maine.edu

It has been quite a while since I was involved with steam tourist railroading, but the rules of thumb were; expect that three percent of tourists who passed by your station site would ride, and keep the round trips to less than an hour. Forty-five minute trips meant you could run "clocker" service on the hour and still have a little time to service the locomotive between trips.

Does anyone on the board have currrent estimates and how steam vs. diesel affects ridership?

dsrc512@sd.value.net

Cool. Your market is aleady at your front door.

Depending on the amount of reconditioning the track might need, you might want to relay at 2 foot and run like the old Maine NG lines - instant picturesqueness and retired South African locos and cars? Maybe Eastern European?

If sharing with freight or wanting to build feight, standard gage of course.

If the grades and curves are reasonable, an inexpensive start is a 45 tonner and a couple leased cars to test the market. If your rides are 30 - 45 mins, you won't need restrooms on board if there are some at the stops on either end. And there should be stops at either end, each with a ticket office and gift shop if possible. This spreads out your parking requirements where real estate is costly, important consideration unless the majority of your riders will park at other local lots and walk in, while making a walking tour of the area.

Best of luck.

Dave

lathro19@idt.net

Dave,

It is however never easy! The Maine Coast Railroad just went into Chapter 11. They were in Wiscasset right on route 1 the center of all things Tourist.and I have ridden their trip across the wet lands, it's great! Correction it was great. You might also talk to the folks at the Belfast and Moosehead Lake line, to see how they do things. TM

ted_miles@NPS.gov

I believe this trackage is former Maine Central, now owned by the State of Maine. First order of business would be a lease from the state, followed by thousands of new ties. I have my doubts about the viability of a line such as this, however. There are too many other attractions in the area, and without a load of cash being spent on advertising, well.... This kind of attraction generally doesn't do well when close to the sea, due to the obvious attraction of the beach. It will only do well on cold, windy, rainy days. Finally, there are several other rail attractions relatively near, and the saturation limit may be close. Witness the demise of the Maine Coast RR, the struggles of Seashore Trolley Museum, etc. Most tourists do not go around riding all the trains in an area --
if they ride one, they generally don't go up the road to ride another. And there aren't enough railfans in the country to support one tourist railroad, much less another new one.

gbry@innernet.net

These are my concerns as well, and I would add that even many tourist railroads survive with volunteer assistance, and the railroad volunteer base may be tapped-out as well. I would add that a northeastern railroad museum (not a tourist railroad with a few historic restored cars) might be a nice thing that doesn't seem to really exist north of Connecticut.
If passenger train operations on this branch are on your mind, what about connecting it to the new Amtrak service in the area? Maybe it could be promoted as a way to beat the tourist traffic.

Last year Dr. Bill McDonald put together an effort to start up a small tourism operation near Ellsworth. I would suggest that you contact him, as you may be able to help each other. He can be reached at 802-773-2701.

Stone Consulting helped to provide him with some guidance and resource information concerning tourist rail operations. We work on about six different tourist rail proposals each year. Our primary role is one of education. We always need to educate the local tourism and development leaders as to how a rail operation would fit into their specific tourism dynamics. Sometimes we need to educate the proposer as to the economic realities of these operations, to make sure they have a sound plan and a clear business focus.

The Bar Harbor gateway at Ellsworth is a prime location for a tourism operation. But without the correct plan and marketing approach, even the right location can fail.

Stone Consulting & Design
garylandrio@stoneconsulting.com