Beats a Hurricane - Fall Weather Transition

TEO · Oct 3, 2022

peakbagger said:
JE Henry didnt start his mountain railroads until later, they were definitely logging railroads with little passenger traffic.

Henry's railroad did, however, take tourists out through Zeeland Notch to Thoreau Falls.

Daniel Eagan · Oct 3, 2022

Mike P. said:
One may argue what created the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, however, we have the ability to anywhere at anytime. I don't have to wait until the train runs from Point A to Point B, I don't have to go to a hub first and then a substation and then figure out how I can get to the middle of nowhere. ... The automotive economy allows for instant gratification for mobility.

Sadly I use cars a lot more than public transit for their convenience. Even though I haven't owned a car since 1995. Around NYC we use trains to reach Hudson Highlands trailheads because they're frequent and convenient.

In Europe it's a lot easier to use trains and buses. Here we have not invested as much in infrastructure. I have Delaware & Hudson train schedules going back a hundred years. The timetables between 1970 and today are essentially the same, meaning we have not improved passenger rail transportation to the Adirondacks in fifty years.

Mike P. · Oct 4, 2022

Daniel Eagan said:
Sadly I use cars a lot more than public transit for their convenience. Even though I haven't owned a car since 1995. Around NYC we use trains to reach Hudson Highlands trailheads because they're frequent and convenient.

In Europe it's a lot easier to use trains and buses. Here we have not invested as much in infrastructure. I have Delaware & Hudson train schedules going back a hundred years. The timetables between 1970 and today are essentially the same, meaning we have not improved passenger rail transportation to the Adirondacks in fifty years.

Even if they would have kept the old lines they converted to rail trails, they ran to the larger villages. Old Forge, Saranac, Lake Placid. Speculator, etc I seem to recall an old unused RR crossing when I first went up to the ADK in the early 90's in the area around Marcy Field but I may be just imaging that. You'd need a cog likely to have gotten there by the same path 73 takes. The AMR may have had enough clout at the time to keep the RR off their property, NIMBY has been around forever. They likely ran to Tahawus as mining would have needed a freight line. The Hudson Highlands are right along the river which is consistent with the history of train lines in America for Freight,

Initially, items were shipped by water, rivers and canals. Once the new technology, trains were invented, they were run along the rivers they had used for transit as that is where the infrastructure was. When autos and trucks became competitive, they were built along the rail lines in many cases. It's not coincidence that the Erie Canal, the rail line and I-90 are all together. Several small cities are along the canal, roughly a days travel apart from back in the time that barges were initially pull by teams of animals. The Cape Cod Canal was cut when shipping from Boston to parts west and south went predominately by boat. (no decent sized navigable river went in that direction and why the rail line that I-90 follows in NY continues to Boston along I-90, but without a river capable of handling what was deemed large freight, historically. It's unlikely the Cape Cod Canal would be dug today. Yes, some cargo goes through it, however, today's huge ships I don't believe fit. The largest don't fit in Panama either and that was built with global trade intended, 100 years ago. (We used to stay within a 1/4 mile of the Cape Cod Canal, seeing the ships go through was neat, on occasion a large CG Cutter or a destroyer might go through. )

skiguy · Oct 4, 2022

Mike P. said:
Even if they would have kept the old lines they converted to rail trails, they ran to the larger villages. Old Forge, Saranac, Lake Placid. Speculator, etc I seem to recall an old unused RR crossing when I first went up to the ADK in the early 90's in the area around Marcy Field but I may be just imaging that. You'd need a cog likely to have gotten there by the same path 73 takes. The AMR may have had enough clout at the time to keep the RR off their property, NIMBY has been around forever. They likely ran to Tahawus as mining would have needed a freight line. The Hudson Highlands are right along the river which is consistent with the history of train lines in America for Freight,

Initially, items were shipped by water, rivers and canals. Once the new technology, trains were invented, they were run along the rivers they had used for transit as that is where the infrastructure was. When autos and trucks became competitive, they were built along the rail lines in many cases. It's not coincidence that the Erie Canal, the rail line and I-90 are all together. Several small cities are along the canal, roughly a days travel apart from back in the time that barges were initially pull by teams of animals. The Cape Cod Canal was cut when shipping from Boston to parts west and south went predominately by boat. (no decent sized navigable river went in that direction and why the rail line that I-90 follows in NY continues to Boston along I-90, but without a river capable of handling what was deemed large freight, historically. It's unlikely the Cape Cod Canal would be dug today. Yes, some cargo goes through it, however, today's huge ships I don't believe fit. The largest don't fit in Panama either and that was built with global trade intended, 100 years ago. (We used to stay within a 1/4 mile of the Cape Cod Canal, seeing the ships go through was neat, on occasion a large CG Cutter or a destroyer might go through. )

A bit of history here. Maybe Pete Hickey was on to something. https://www.adirondackrailtrail.org/trail-history

Mike P. · Oct 4, 2022

As mentioned, it's scenic. We did a client trip once from Utica part of the way to a restaurant where we took clients to dinner and then took the train back. We may have leased the train for that event as it was a weekday evening in the early fall. It was a very well attended dinner.

It certainly at that time was not a means to go from any point A to point B quickly. When my college students were young we did the Lake Placid to Saranac Lake bit. That section might be a bit longer than North Conway to Bartlett trip on the NCSRR but the experience is similar. The money that would have to be invested to bring American Rail Standards to other countries/continents would be substantial. While Interstates are funded with federal $$ and State roads with State (& likely highly subsidized by Federal $$) and then locally for towns (with State $) people tend to find that expenditure less painful as they see local benefits. You wouldn't fund even the NE Corridor this way let alone spurs that bring to other places. People vacation taken the train from CGO to LA and yes 1700 miles should be more than a day. (Until you have the latest train tech.) People would probably bark more at taxes to connect IA to MT. unless you live along that line. Now that I'm dancing near the VFTT third rail...

Was that Pete was onto something or on Something?

peakbagger · Oct 5, 2022

I did a run down to Worcester and back today from Gorham. My read is north of notches is at or just past peak. The long view at overlooks is great but the closeup views along RT 3 and RT 115 is bit raggedy. I 93 south of the notches looks to be near peak around Lincoln, my guess is the Kanc and Crawford Notch would be great. A good wind would change things quickly. The lakes region is not at peak yet.

The Franconia Parkway was steady traffic the entire length.

Anyone visiting the whites this long weekend should plan for long lines at store and restaurants, labor is incredibly tight while demand is high.