Hi Russ,
We begin operations the week of May 18 with school specials. I don't have a definite schedule for these school specials yet. I know we have several on Thursday, and I am waiting for more info on additional days so I can gather crews. I am sure they can find room for a railfan like you on these school specials. Our regular season begins Saturday, May 23 and runs to Sunday, Sept 27, with our photo specials in mid October.
All of our trips are scheduled round trips starting at 10 AM at McEwen. We do not do runbys on our regular passenger runs. There will be two trips per day on regular weekends only. Holiday weekends we do three runs per day. Any runs scheduled midweek are prepaid charters.
Our Photo Runs are in October only unless otherwise chartered in advance.
Between McEwen and State Highway 7 (about 2.5 miles) has limited access. You can park at the Hwy 7 (Whitney) Crossing area and walk east toward McEwen and get a few photos there. From Hwy 7 to Sumpter (about 3 miles) You can access the railroad at Hucklberry Rd., Bad Water crossing (private), Iron Horse Village and Sawmill Gulch Rd. Bad Water crossing is parallel with the Sumpter Hwy and just a few feet from the road. Iron Horse Village is between the Hwy and the railroad, and easily accessible. Sawmill Gulch Rd. is adjacent to the Hwy, and is the eastern limit of Sumpter yards. We do our Sumpter run-around at Sawmill Gulch Rd.
The Dredge Heritage State Park entrance is on Austin Street in Sumpter. It is well signed. Our Sumpter Depot is on Austin St. just inside the park. There are good photo stops on just about all the crossings including Austin St. You won't have to hike even a 1/4 mile for some good shots. The walk from Hwy 7 to Hawley siding is about 1/4 mile. You might get a good shot from across the pond in that area.
Hope this helps.
dan
