Grassroots Railroad Sports?

On Friday and Saturday, Adirondack was supposed to be running trips from Utica to Thendara and back for the Old Forge "Christmas on Main Street" even, which goes from Friday to Sunday. The Adirondack can't run on the state-owned rails above Remsen (Snow Junction, technically) starting December 1st, so Saturday would be the last train on the north end for this year. I checked Friday night and saw that it departed at 10am, and also noted that the website alerted me that there was only 4 tickets available, which indicated it likely wouldn't be canceled for lack of ridership. The forecast also called for snow in the northern and western parts of NY, so there was hope there would be some snow on the north end. 

I got out to Utica at 9:30, to see what they were going to be using for power. I was partially expecting for MA&N's two C425s, since last I knew, the #3573 and #1845 were having mechanical issues and I hadn't seen the #1835 around much this year. When I got there though, the #1845 was hooked up to the head end of the consist by itself, which seemed an odd choice. One, the #1845 only has 1800hp, and, two, it had issues last I had heard. I bumped into Bill Moll up to Thendara when I chased #2400 south this summer, and he said that it had sat out most of last year due to mechanical problems, the shop crew solved those, it ran north to Thendara once and then developed a host of other issues. It was really odd that they were only going to use the #1835, since the #2400 was down at the east end of the yard idling away, tucked in amongst the passenger cars they weren't using. (The #2400 presumably isn't winterized yet, and it was too far away to hook up to the station's electrical power, so it was left idling to keep it from freezing the water in the cooling system)

As it got nearer to 10am, I found it odd that the crew hadn't lit off the #1835, or the undercar generators on the passenger cars, nor did I see anyone coming over the pedestrian bridge. The gate into the yard that MA&N and Adirondack crews use was also still closed. I eventually wandered into the station and noticed that the Adirondack's office wasn't open either. A check of their Facebook page had no mention of cancelations, but they sure weren't running. Since there had only been four tickets left, I can't imagine it was due to lack of ridership. The only thing I can surmise is that the weather was bad enough north that Old Forge canceled their event, and without the event, the Adirondack had no reason to run up there, and they must have e-mailed or called ticket holders. 

I hung around until 11, just in case the departure schedule was wrong.

"NYC" SW-1 #705 and GP9 #1267, along with an old ex-VIA coach. This track is usually where equipment is placed before leaving the property. I know the #705 is leaving the property, not sure on the #1267. Maybe the private owner is getting rid of it, maybe it's leaving to go be worked on somewhere, or maybe it was just placed here to get it out of the way for the time being.

New York Central 0-6-0 #6721 on display in front of the station. She looks pretty good, considering a number of years ago some kids cut loose a covered hopper and it rolled down the track and hit the #6721 hard enough to shove it back into the station tower behind it, breaking the pilot beam and number plate and cramming the tender into the cab.

An eastbound CSX autorack.

And an eastbound Amtrak Empire Service train behind P32AC-DM #717.

If I had wanted to get some trains running in the snow, I could have gone west and photographed the Arcade & Attica, who was running, I believe, 6 trains a day with two separate trainsets pulled by GE 80-tonner #113 and GE 65-tonner #112, and they got hit with quite a bit of snow. But my fear was that, since it's a three-hour drive out to Arcade, I would get partway out there and they would shut down due to snow, since they are really not that far from Buffalo, who got walloped with multiple feet of snow. Or, that I would get out there and get snowed in and not be able to get home.

I feel bad for Steam Railroading Institute. The Christmas season is the big time of year for their steam engine, Pere Marquette #1225, largely because it was used as the basis for the (nightmarish) Polar Express film due to it's number (#1225, 12/25, get it?). Unfortunately, an issue was found with the superheaters on the #1225, which already sat out most of the season receiving heavy running gear work, and SRI has determined that it is just not feasible to get the issue resolved for the 2024 season. Instead, the excursions on the Great Lakes Central will be pulled by diesels, with the #1225 on static display at Owosso.

I forget which line it was, but it was a pretty major tourist operation (I want to say Grand Canyon Railway) that said that Polar Express trips generated over 50% over their annual revenue, which is a pretty mind-boggling statistic. But I can believe it. Adirondack puts tickets on sale for theirs in early spring and they're completely sold out before summer, usually prompting them to add more capacity later in the year.

One thing I did learn was that, if possible, avoid using the Polar Express name. There was a volunteer for another operation who said that the first year they used the Polar Express name and they were busier than hell than the preceding Christmas season, but paying the royalties for the Polar Express name chewed up almost all of the additional revenue. The next year theye used the legally different name of "North Pole Express" and no one seemed to notice the slightly different name, ridership was still through the roof, and they didn't have to pay royalties.