Thursday, 4:30 PM
Warm weather thwarts ski train
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
The MBTA picked the wrong day to promo its ski train.
With temperatures in the mid 60s today and flirting with another record high, Wachusett Mountain in Central Massachusetts is muddy and brown and bare of snow.
That didn't stop officials at North Station today from giving a media tour of the ski coach, which can hold 34 sets of skis, 10 snowboards, and 42 passengers heading for the slopes.
The train is scheduled to begin service next weekend and will leave North Station in Boston at 8:35 a.m. Saturday and Sunday mornings and head to the commuter rail stop in Fitchburg, where a free shuttle will be available to the mountain. Service returning to North Station will leave Fitchburg Station at 5:35 p.m. and arrive at North Station at 7:00 p.m. The cost is $6 one way.
"With these unseasonable temperatures, Mother Nature continues to play tricks on us as we try to get the winter underway," said a posting on the Wachusett Mountain website. "Rest assured, we will make snow every chance to can as the temperatures allow and will open as soon as conditions permit."
That may change soon. Snow flurries are predicted on Wachusett Mountain on Monday, when temperatures are supposed to dip down near 20 degrees.
