Once again, that wonderful day called Friday has arrived, the day that brings in another weekend and another photo of the week!Today's photo comes from last March. Last spring came early, and by this time last year all the snow was gone in Nashua (in comparison, we are down to about 3 feet of the stuff right now). But there was still plenty of snow in the mountains, and my younger brother and I wanted to go snowshoeing before it was all gone. We picked Mount Waumbek, which at 4006 feet is almost at the bottom of the 4000 footers list. We were off the mountain much earlier than we expected, so we made a few stops on the way south, including here:
This is what is left of the J. E. Henry Railway, which I can guarantee you have never heard of before. It was started as a logging railroad out of Lincoln. I believe it was standard gauge, but it is hard to find any info on the railroad now. Today, the railroad serves a very different purpose. What is left of the line is entirely on the property of the Loon Mountain ski resort. Loon Mountain owns and operates the railroad for the skiers. The ski resort area is so huge that walking is practical but most people don't want to do it. Instead, the train hauls them around on two home-built open coaches behind the locomotive.
The engineer probably gets bored because when he saw me with my camera, more interested in the train than skis, he invited me into the cab right away. We rode back and forth a few times talking about the train. It is a 2 foot gauge wood fired steam engine built in Germany in the 1930s. I do not know whether it ran in Germany or if it was built for Maine's vast network of 2 foot gauge logging railroads, but after its first life, it was moved to Gilford, a small town in New Hampshire, where it ran on a tourist railroad near the airport. The railroad and all traces of it are long gone now, and the locomotive was moved to Lincoln for ski service, where it has remained ever since. The locomotive is so small that it is not equipped with brakes, instead the engineer moves the reverser into reverse and basically tries to run the locomotive in reverse to slow it down. Normally this would destroy the cylinders on a regular steam engine, but the steam pressure is so low on this locomotive that it can be done safely.
Because this is not operated as a tourist railroad, there is no fare to ride the train. You don't even need to show your ski ticket. You just climb on board. Most railfans don't know about it though, because Loon Mountain does not advertise it and it can't be seen from the road. I happened across a photo of it once, and found the ski resort on a map, and decided I just had to visit this. Since it is at a ski resort, it only runs in the winter. Notice the big plow on the front of the locomotive!
Loon Mountain ski resort operates the train. It is located on the Kancamagus Highway (NH route 112) just east of Lincoln. It's hard to miss the entrance to the ski resort, it's on the left and there's another logging steamer on display out front from the original railroad. It's not easy to find a place to park, but if you're ever in the area in wintertime it's worth a quick visit.
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