Last Maine Central trains on the Mountain Division

Converted VHS footage.This is a video of the last Maine Central trains on the Mtn. division.This footage was shot by Arthur Purchase Jr. I felt this was worth preserving.

[@amypeterson4615]

The Maine Central's Mountain Division is beyond awesome. That's the only way I can explain it. If you are ever in New Hampshire during the summer months and you are a rail fan, please plan a trip to North Conway and take a trip on "The Legend". It will give you goosebumps, I promise.

[@tonyroman1569]

561 just a great horn some horns tuned better then others such a drastic gradient territory done it run it love the last runs over the mountain division stone trains Berlin branch

[@tonyroman1569]

Absolutely awesome .the last hooraw

[@urtx26012]

This is Arthur Purchase i.m not dead yet. date for the 2 trains was 9/29/84 and 10/7/84. I have been living in Illinois for 25 years. keep a eye on my you tube channel at urtx26012 I will try to put some New England things up

[@coosvalley]

Thanks for shooting this, and please post any more!

[@PineTreeProductions]

The Mountain Division is one of my favorite parts of northern New England. Looking at it for me is incredible because you know, a few decades ago, The Maine Central Railroad roared through there.

[@HinckleyBranchRailfan]

I wish I was there back then.

[@mikemadden4084]

thank you for saving the footage, am a big fan of the area and have taken the Conway scenic several times from north conway to fabyans station. hiked all through the area as well. many of the scenes are very familiar. a lot of history thru that notch. thanks again for the preservation. something to show my son!

[@fhowland]

OMG, the sound of that horn reverberating off the mountains. Awesome. Great footage. Sad I never got to witness 'real' trains going through the notch.

[@tonywilley7636]

Great footage. I’m proud to have been on a tie crew out of Fabyans in the mid to late 70’s. Working in the Notch was amazing!

[@TheAdamRides]

Amazing video! First location looks to be Intervale, just West of Mountain Junction. Looks so different, but can see the resemblance to today. Very cool glimpse at the past of the Mountain Division.

[@maineaviationvideos6759]

This is now CSRR line! I railfan there very often and it’s so cool to see what some places looked like where I railfan in the past!

[@gregmilliken5538]

A friend of mines Dad was one of the Engineers who ran the Mountain Division trains. Yankee Magazine did a story about him.

[@CamSargent]

If I'm not mistaken, this video was shot in the fall of 1984 by the late Arthur Purchase. I have this some film on a DVD. The B&M had a washout on the Berlin Branch and they were bringing in trains of ballast to fill it over the Mountain Division. Thanks for uploading this, I'm sure Arthur would've approved.

[@mikemadden4084]

CamSargent that late, 1984. my memory is shot . was always under the impression that the last freight runs were in the seventies. although conway scenic had a Schnabel revenue run in the last few years @ 2014-15, I think

[@dansullivan7547]

@@mikemadden4084 how far to Portland was that run?

[@cooscountyrailvideos2024]

@@dansullivan7547 Portland was Milepost 0 North Conway is Milepost 60 Bartlett is milepost 70 Crawford station is milepost 85 Whitefield at Milepost 101 is the end of Conway Scenic’s operation

[@ChilinMichael]

Diamond Crossing around the 7 minute mark is spectacular. I was lucky enough to be on the Conway Scenic special that ran to that once.

[@ronniefarnsworth6465]

Very sad !!!!! I summered as a "Yout" in the White Mountains from the late 1960s to 1977' at 18' and my Dad I would Railfan the line all those years it was great !! Then did it myself in the early 80s until it ended.

[@sglr5025]

It’s really cool to see this before Conway scenic had it. A lot of those crossings you can still see trains there today.

[@michaelritcheson5472]

Looks like the brakes were getting pretty hot by 5:55!

[@ApproachMedium]

Thanks for sharing! This is really great stuff

[@michaelhodgkins9186]

Outstanding, brings back a lot of great memories, some with Arthur.

[@coosvalley]

I got all of these videos from your father!..I wish I had preserved more of them!. He had some great Winnepesaukee /NEGS vids that he shot..Kicking myself for not converting them to DVD when I had the chance...

[@sglr5025]

The first crossing in the first clip in this video is the crossing that is still used by Conway Scenic today.

[@Kmaster2007]

Great video showcasing one of the best MC lines

[@coasternamegenerator5611]

Was that opening shot in Intervale?

[@erbenton07]

I performed electrical maint and repairs on the 561 many many times

[@dustybroe]

that detour train was going to B&M to littleton nh on Berlin sub due to a derailment

[@coosvalley]

It's not just "that train", there were several...

[@craigfazekas3923]

Try the chowdah in Bah Hahbah, it's soopah...😎🇺🇸 Nice, nice video of days gone by. Thank you !!

[@southernnewenglandrailvide3142]

Wow, this is great, thanks for sharing!

[@105C09]

Thanks so much Art!

[@stephenhuffer3243]

Love mec

[@christopherwestley3966]

❤

[@GP9railfan]

Seems like yesterday...

[@RailPreserver2K]

Didn't they reopen it recently ? I saw a video of them laying new rail alongside the road bed so it could be reinstalled a while ago

[@TG-cf6qb]

Yes the segment from Westbrook - the NH and Maine Border has been restored mostly, there are plans for reviving passenger and freight service on that line, but it's low priority at the moment but is eventually gonna happen in the future

[@TheAdamRides]

Does anyone know the grade crossing location at 4:26?

[@TheAdamRides]

It would appear to be Evans Road in Twin Mountain.

[@Maine_Railfan]

Nice did you take this video?

[@dustybroe]

Maine Railfan© it was a derailment in Littleton NH

[@Maine_Railfan]

Dustin Broe What?

[@maineaviationvideos6759]

Dustin Broe that’s not what he asked

[@sinatralerby7545]

why did they abandoned?

[@Mrcreapycreaper]

The railroad didn't think the line was profitable.

[@christophertracy9944]

It’s was redundant to GTS’s needs and was always an MEC overhead line to the Midwest via CP giving them longer haulage miles. The hoosac tunnel line replaced it when B&M and MEC merged.