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Upcoming TRAIN Excursions
Saturday, April 19, 2014:
‘Old Colony & Newport Special'
on the former New Haven Railroad 'Newport Secondary'
Boston to Newport, RI & The Hummocks & Return
Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts kicks off its 2014 excursion schedule with an all-day train-and-motorcoach tour from the Boston metropolitan area to Newport, RI on Saturday, April 19, 2014 for a five-hour, specially chartered train ride on the Old Colony & Newport Scenic Railroad along the shores of Narragansett Bay.
Our deluxe chartered motorcoach will leave Boston's South Station at 8:45 AM and the Braintree MBTA station at 9:00 AM. We'll go directly to the OC&N depot in Newport to board our special train.
The train will leave Newport at 11:00 AM and will travel along the spectacular shoreline of Narragansett Bay, covering all of the available operable track (about 12 miles) of the former Old Colony/New Haven/Penn Central rail line. We'll go well beyond Melville, the terminus of the regular OC&N and Newport Dinner Train operations, to The Hummocks, at the western end of the vanished Tiverton Narrows swing bridge that once connected the rail line to the mainland. Along the way we'll stop for photos and video runbys at several scenic and historic sites. The train will return to Newport about 4:00 PM. After the OC&N excursion, our motorcoach will return to Boston, arriving at South Station about 6:00 PM.
The train features a center-cab diesel locomotive and two vintage wood passenger cars: the "turn-of-the-20th-century" ex-Boston & Maine coach Ruth Blount and the parlor car Nelson Blount, both heated by real pot-bellied coach stoves! The parlor car, with its wicker chairs and sofas facing Narragansett Bay, is thought to be the oldest operating passenger car in North America. It was built in 1884 for Canada's Intercolonial Railway as an office car. Note: these historic cars are not handicapped-accessible.
For passengers who wish to drive to Newport rather than ride our package tour, a limited number of "train-ride-only" tickets will be available. Tour passengers from Boston will receive a tasty box lunch catered by Gerard's of Dorchester. Riders boarding at Newport may order a Gerard's box lunch in advance, or bring their own lunch. SOLD OUT!
Saturday, May 10, 2014:
‘Nautilus Extra'
over the Providence & Worcester Railroad's Norwich Branch
(Boston) - Worcester - Putnam, CT - Groton, CT & Return
Our specially-chartered excursion train will travel from Worcester to Groton, CT, including an extended visit to the Submarine Force Museum, home of the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. To our knowledge, this is the first time a passenger train has been allowed to stop at the Museum, located within the Naval Submarine Base along the Thames River in Groton, CT. Convenient connections from MBTA commuter rail at Worcester Union Station.
Saturday, May 31, 2014:
‘7470 Photo Special'
on the Conway Scenic Railroad
(Boston) - North Conway - Conway - Redstone - Bartlet & Return
Conway Scenic's 0-6-0 steamer 7470 ventures out of the roundhouse for a grand photo tour of the lower portion of the Conway Scenic before her upcoming boiler inspection & overhaul. This special limited-capacity train will make multiple photo stops and runbys at various locations, some of the accessible only by train. Don't miss this special event! Motorcoach Connection package available from Boston & Woburn
Saturday, June 14 & Sunday, June 15, 2014:
‘Washington County Limited '
on the Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad
Saturday: (Boston) - White River Junction - Wells River - St. Johnsbury - Newport, VT (w/ motorcoach return to WRJ or Boston)
Sunday: Newport, VT - White River Junction (w/bus connection WRJ - Newport
Mass Bay returns to the Washington County Railroad in June, our first trip over the line from White River Junction to Wells River in a decade, and our first trip between Wells River and Newport since 1996. This trip will operate northbound to Newport on Saturday, with a bus return to White River Junction at the end of the day. Sunday's trip will have a morning bus connection from White River Jct. to Newport, and the train will operate southbound back to WRJ. We'll have a Boston motorcoach connection from South Station and Woburn on Saturday only. Both trips will offer first-class accommodations for 10 passengers aboard the VRS business observation car MacIntyre.
SAVE THE DATE!! TRIP DETAILS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON.
TOURS
Granite Railway Quarry-to-Wharf Tours: 3-1/2 hour guided tours explore the history of the Granite Railway - the first chartered U.S. commercial railroad (1826) - in West Quincy and East Milton, MA. No scheduled tours - private group tours may be arranged - call 617-822-4046.
OTHER MASS BAY RRE EVENTS
Thursday, April 17, 7:00 PM at the Pearl Street Station Restaurant, Malden, MA:
‘Dinner in the Depot' with Trains Editor Jim Wrinn
To the delight of railfans everywhere, two of the most iconic steam locomotives in American railroading are headed to the shops for restoration to operating condition.
In California, Union Pacific "Big Boy" 4014 (right) has left the RailGiants museum in Pomona, Calif. on its way to Cheyenne and a 5-year restoration before returning to operation across UP's 35,000-mile system.
Back in the east, the Fire Up 611! committee of the Virginia Museum of Transportation has raised enough money to restore Norfolk & Western Class J 611, and is now seeking funds for a dedicated maintenance facility.
Trains Editor Jim Wrinn has been intimately involved in both of these exciting projects, as a member of the Fire Up 611! committee and through Trains' extensive coverage of the preparations for restoring the 4014. Jim will give us his insider's perspective on these two remarkable restoration projects, as well as his observations on trends in railroad preservation and in the overall railfan hobby.
Cocktails 6:00 PM -- Buffet Dinner 7:00 PM -- Program Starts at 8:00 PM
DINNER & PROGRAM: $35 Members/$40 Non-members. PROGRAM ONLY: $10
Historical Information From Mass Bay RRE Excursions
Mass Bay RRE publishes a "Historical Brochure and Route Description" booklet for each of our rail excursions. Each booklet contains extensive information on the history and points of interest of the routes traveled. To obtain a list of brochures from past trips that are available for purchase, Click Here . The list is in reverse chronological order and lists the trip title or train name, the terminal points for the trip, and the purchase price for each brochure. Details on how to order brochures are also contained on the list.
You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this list. To get a free copy of Acrobat Reader, click here: www.adobe.com.
To Contact Us:
Mass Bay RRE
P.O. Box 4245
Andover, MA 01810-0814
Information Line 617-489-5277 or 978-470-2066
Email: info@massbayrre.org or trips@massbayrre.org or visit our "CONTACT US" page.
