Abandoned Railroad Restoration Success Story - Conway Scenic's Mountain Division

Back in the mid 1990’s the Conway Scenic Railroad resurrected the Mountain Division line in New Hampshire after a decade of no use. This was no easy task back then but was well worth it. Conway Scenic Railroad recently celebrated 50 years of operation and this project was completed about three decades ago. This investment has been proven worthwhile as popular tourist trains continue to run on the line today with exciting new experiences being offered this year. With special permission to use Conway Scenic Railroad’s “Legend Returns” footage we’ll take a look at the Mountain Division in the 90’s and fast forward to today to show the restored line’s success. The Mountain Division rail line was originally built in 1875 and celebrated its 150th anniversary this year. The line was built through Crawford Notch, crosses two major bridges, and is extremely scenic. The line was named the Mountain Division for the mountains that it passes through in Crawford Notch. Built by the Portland and Ogdensburg it later became part of the Maine Central Railroad. In 1983 the Maine Central, now under Guilford ownership, stopped running road freights over the line from Portland, Maine to St. Johnsbury, Vermont. This left a good portion of the New Hampshire section of the line without much of a purpose. The last trains ran through Crawford Notch in 1984 and the line was abandoned. Later in the 1990’s the state of New Hampshire bought the tracks and the Conway Scenic took over the dormant line. A decade of abandonment left the line in bad shape with overgrowth, washouts, and deteriorating track conditions. Conway had a lot of work ahead of them before trains returned but they were successful in restoring the track to the conditions they are today. The restoration work started in 1993 with clearing the overgrown tracks. As you can see crews had to cut down small trees using specialized equipment including a woodchipper attached to a maintenance of way railcar. This work was just the start with bigger problems ahead. The line runs on the side of a mountain and that resulted in washouts, boulders on the tracks, and even sections of the line had gotten covered with stone and dirt. These views show Conway Scenic crews tackling these issues during the restoration process. Jump ahead three decades and trains still run regularly from North Conway to Crawford Notch and sometimes further out to Fabyan, a testimony to how resurrecting this railroad has been a success. Occasional excursions even make their way to Hazens where the Conway Scenic’s operating rights end. The Notch Train, now called the Mountaineer, runs two trips, five days per week as of Summer 2025. This increased use of the rail line was a result of higher demand for the train given its increasing popularity. In addition to the increase in the Summer, Conway Scenic started to schedule three trains over Crawford Notch per day on select days during the Fall. Not only has the train been running more regularly in season, winter trains are now back running through the Notch. In late 2024 the Conway Scenic launched Winter at Crawfords where the Mountaineer would run in the snow all the way up to Crawford Station. More plans, on a much larger scale, are being made up to operate the Maine section of the Mountain Division. The Conway Scenic’s owner would like to run freight between Portland and North Conway by reactivating the unused, but in place trackage. He discussed this topic at the 150th anniversary of the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad celebration held at Fabyan Station. I have produced a few videos on this topic so be sure to check those out in the video description for more info. It is exciting to see this rail line grow from what it was in 1990, a dead railroad that hadn’t seen a train for years. Now increasing rail operations in 2025 to meet demand is showing the long term popularity and success of the restored line. Taking that a step further to potentially have freight is even better. This goes to show that just because a railroad was once abandoned doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a future beyond today’s popular rail to trail trend. Just look at the out of service section of the Mountain Division being reopened from Whitefield, New Hampshire to Gilman, Vermont. Vermont Rail acquired the New Hampshire Central Railroad in 2024 and has started work to bring back freight service as far as the Gilman mill. Their long term plan calls for restoring rail service all the way to St. Johnsbury, VT. For now though they are focusing on getting to Gilman to serve some parties interested in getting rail service. I have also done a series on this and those videos are linked in the description.    • Dormant Rail Line Restoration Update - Tra...      • Abandoned railroad to be restored? Maine's...      • What's next for Maine's dormant Mountain D...      • Dormant rail line to be restored! Whitefie...      • Out of service rail line to be restored? S...      • Abandoned railroad to be restored! St. Joh...   ©2025 South Coast Rail Videos