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NHRRA  Meeting Minutes July 24, 2000

Northfield Freight House. 

President Peter Griffin opened the meeting which 16 members attended at 7:00 PM. Both the Minutes of the June meeting and the treasurer's report were accepted without change.

Executive Director Project:

Paul Chapman distributed a "Project Priority " list to be returned to Peter Griffin by 8 August. The "official" list will be used in conjunction with the ED position description approved by the membership last month to seek grant money to fund the position.

National Corridors Meeting, Washington, DC

Steve Flanders reported on the meeting which he and George Katsakiores attended.

Rail Corridor News:

Newburyport - Portsmouth

• Continued discussion centered on tri-state cooperation and effort on restoring this line.

Northern Line

• Following last month's meeting, we have received many cautions from knowledgeable people that a "historic" designation of the Northern Line could jeopardize it's development as a "high speed corridor".
• Tink Taylor reported on the UNH Civil Engineering Senior Project investigating rail-with-trail for the Northern Line. The report, which discusses rules and work-a-rounds for such projects was given to Paul Chapman to duplicate for distribution. The next step will be to get "Val Maps" so that an end-to-end rail-with-trail concept can be drafted.

Manchester & Lawrence Branch

 Peter Griffin and John Palmer attended the most recent I-93 Task Force meeting which discussed the road widening through Derry and Windham. The need for rail service was equally voiced with the need for a better road. The HJR 6 Legislative study committee will meet again on 23 August and 6 September.

Paul Chapman had had a discussion with Sen. Russman about the necessity of providing a mixed use corridor which would combine useable portions of the historic corridor with new alignments to provide the greatest benefit to the communities on the corridor.

John Palmer noted that NHDOT was constructing a new "at grade" crossing of the historical corridor into an industrial park in Londonderry.

Milford & Bennington

Tom Greenman and Ron Wood discussed recreational/tourism opportunities along the corridor, including annual festivals, foliage trains, and Crotched Mountain ski trains. M&B President Peter Leishman spoke at length about the history, operations and aspirations of the M&B. The discussion went to everyone's heart as we were able to share everything from regulatory frustrations to the economic realities associated with operating a freight-only short line in New Hampshire. His key advice: "Drop negative attitudes and think and act positive". He also underscored the importance of the Surface Transportation Board in getting past some of the local road blocks - political and otherwise. Thank you Peter.

Other:

• CLF A brief report was made by Peter Griffin on the ongoing efforts by CLF to get a legal response on corridor taking without due public hearing by the Manchester Airport.
• Amtrak Tom Greenman led a general discussion of Amtrak activities in Vermont and New York. He will provide Peter Griffin with a brief on the subject.
• Halifax to Florida Because of it's deep water port and closeness to Europe, Halifax continues to be the focus of intermodal transfer to rail. Guilford has taken advantage of that with new trains that utilize the trackage improved for the Portland - Boston Amtrak corridor. Links on to Florida take advantage of both the new CSX and NS rail networks.

The very productive and worthwhile meeting "pooped out" at 10:00 PM.

Recorded

Transcribed:

This page was last updated on August 11, 2003

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