Photo of the Week: 12/9/2011

Today's photo was taken in April of last year, when I was living in Gilford. There was track work going on at Weirs Beach all winter, to be completed before the summer tourist season. I went up there every so often to photograph the work, and this is one photo I took not long before the work was finished. You can see the rail closest to the platform is spiked down, but the opposite rail still needs to be put into place. The platform, which is actually the boardwalk, has also been replaced in this photo. Here is the photo:

In the summer of 2008, a big rainstorm hit the area. A lot of water drained toward the lake, and brought the boardwalk and the ground underneath the track with it in one area. That section of the boardwalk was roped off, and dirt was replaced underneath the track, until something more permanent could be done. During the winter a year and a half later, they tore up the whole boardwalk, put in a retaining wall underneath it, rebuilt the boardwalk with that indestructible plastic decking stuff, and relaid the tracks with the same rail but brand new ties.

The boardwalk was built as a platform for the Boston & Maine, trains such as the Red Wing and Alouette once stopped here. When they were rerouted through White River Junction, this became the northern terminus for trains of RDCs coming from Boston in the winter, with Meredith, one stop north, being the terminus in the summer. B&M stopped running passenger trains in the 1960s, and today the only trains here are run by the tourist railroad.

Photo of the Week: 12/2/2011

Is it December already? It doesn't feel like it here in New Hampshire, the temperature has been in the 60's and 70's and there's no snow anywhere to be found! I'll enjoy it while it lasts. In the mean time, today's photo was taken at the beginning of December, two years ago. I was chasing the Caboose train, of which I've shared photos before. It went north to Lincoln on a Friday and came back on a Sunday. It snowed on Saturday, so on the Sunday chase there was still a light dusting of snow on the ground. This photo was taken at the Route 3 crossing by Lake Winnisquam:

Yup, that's a real life, full size, Lionel Lines caboose! I don't know the history of this caboose, but the owner clearly has a sense of humor (and probably a collection of Lionel trains). I don't know exactly how many cabeese are on this train, but I think it's somewhere around 20. In the middle of the train there are two full length passenger cars, a New York Central car that traces its routes to the 20th Century Limited and a C&O coach. The train runs with a Alco S1 on either end, this is actually the rear of the train in the photo.

Also, can you spot the railfan in the photo?

Photo of the Week: 10/14/2011

Today's photo kind of relates to James's posts on the Lake Shore Limited. I've posted about the Tilton Caboose Train before, and there are two full length passenger cars in the train among the cabeese. One is an old New York Central Pullman car that once ran on the 20th Century Limited. Today it is privately owned and resides in Tilton, NH most of the year. It is used as the First Class car on the fall foliage train, and is brought up to Meredith for that. This photo was taken after the fall foliage excursions, and it was deadheading back down to Tilton to be put back in the caboose train, which was scheduled to run to Lincoln that same afternoon. Here is the photo:

In the photo, the train is passing the old train station in Laconia. The station is no longer used by the railroad, and there are a few businesses in it now. The main waiting area remains mostly intact and empty. The two locomotives are Alco S1s, originally from Maine Central and Portland Terminal, and are now owned by the Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad, which runs the caboose train north from Tilton, as well as the Hobo Railroad and Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad. The caboose train is not open to the public, in order to ride it you have to own a caboose and store it in Tilton with all the other cabooses.

Photo of the Week: 9/30/2011

Well it's fall, and that means it is foliage excursion season! I had the opportunity to ride a foliage excursion train last year, from Meredith, NH to Lincoln, NH and back. I wrote a review, which can be seen here. That railroad isn't running the excursion all the way to Lincoln this year, but they are running excursions along portions of their line during October. They have a website, which can be seen here, which describes the different trains they have and the different amenities available on them. Anyways, my photo is one I took from that train last year:

This was taken as the train was returning to Meredith, along the shore of Lake Waukewan. The train was pulled by an Alco S1, and had New York Central car "Cold Harbor," a Bangor & Aroostoock president's car, and a coach car that is a de-motored RDC-1. It costs extra to ride the fancy cars, so I rode the RDC. On the return trip, the RDC was the last car on the train, so I got some shots from the rear vestibule, including this one.

The fall foliage excursion was a lot of fun. I'd do it again if I had the chance, but I was unable to do it this year. If you are thinking of going on one this year, I would recommend doing it, you won't regret it.

Photo of the Week: 8/26/2011

Today we are coming back to New Hampshire. It's been a while since I've shared a photo from my native state, so I thought we'd visit it again. I shot this photo last year in the spring. This is in Laconia, close to downtown, where the tracks cross the Winnipesaukee River for the who-knows-how-many-th time. This was built by the Concord & Montreal Railroad, a predecessor to the Boston & Maine. Today it is owned by the Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad and does not see regular rail traffic.

The river flows away from Lake Winnipesaukee, the largest lake in the state. The photo looks upstream. Downtown Laconia is in the background, and in the left of the photo just above where the bridge ends you can see a brick building that was once part of the Laconia Car Company, which built streetcars and was once the largest employer in the city.

The depot is also to the left, or railroad north, of the photo. North on this railroad line will take you to Weirs Beach, Meredith, Ashland, Plymouth, and eventually to Lincoln, where the tracks end. In the past, the tracks split in Plymouth and the line went to Montreal. Boston & Maine ran big name trains through here such as the Red Wing and the Alouette. However, these trains were rerouted through White River Junction, a more southerly route, and the line past Plymouth was torn up. Today both routes are torn up, the only connection to the "real world" on this line is to the south, where the tracks meet Pan Am's main line in Chelmsford, MA.

This line last saw regular passenger service in the 1960s, when the Boston & Maine ran RDCs here during the summer. Today the railroad line is owned by the Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad, which operates the Hobo Railroad and Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad, two scenic railroads on this line, although neither goes through here. The Tilton caboose train comes through here on its monthly excursion for the caboose owners. Occasionally, New England Southern railroad runs a short train through here, although that is very rare. Usually they are bringing something to Lincoln for repairs. PLRR has a shop facility there and often does repairs for other railroads. Right now, New England Southern's own locomotive, GP39 2370, is there being fixed up after its February wreck in Concord, which I talked about before.

Photo of the Week: 7/1/2011

Today is Friday, so it's time for another Photo of the Week. I am writing several of these today, to automatically post on following Fridays while I'm on my rail trip, so I will still be posting to the blog even when I don't have internet. Kinda cool huh?

Anyways, looking through past photos, I realized it has been months since I posted a photo from the Hobo/Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroads in New Hampshire, and I have never posted one of the caboose train. So that is what I'll do this week. Here is the photo:

In December of 2009, I got a heads-up when the caboose train was running. I was living near Laconia at the time, so I chased it through the Laconia area. It ran north to Lincoln on Friday night, it snowed Saturday, and the train ran south to Tilton on Sunday afternoon. This photo is from Sunday, looking railroad south from across the tracks from the Laconia train station.

The caboose train is not actually open for the public. A group of caboose owners have a couple sidings at the old Tilton/Northfield freight house, and park their cabeese there. About once a month, except during the winter, they run the whole train either north to Lincoln or south to Concord. In December the train stops at a Christmas tree farm and the caboose owners get to pick out a Christmas tree to bring home with them.

I think owning a caboose or an old railroad car would be cool. You could join a group like this, or if the car is Amtrak certified, you can tour the country in your own private railcar. However, that is a hobby for people with a much fatter wallet than me!

Photos from PLRR's Fall Foliage Excursion

A while ago I wrote a trip report about a fall foliage excursion here in New Hampshire. You can read it here. In it, I posted a few small photos, with the intention of posting a photo album on Facebook. I realized today as I wrote my Photo of the Week post that I never made that photo album. Well, the wait is over, you can now see it by going to our Facebook page or clicking here. I apologize for such a long delay.

Photo of the Week: 1/28/2011

Today's photo goes along with last week's photo. Last week I was debating between two photos to share and picked the one at Elm Street in Lakeport. Today I am going to share the other one I was thinking of last week.

This is the same train on the same day as last week's photo, but in a different location. This is the Lakeport drawbridge just a couple hundred feet north of the Elm Street crossing in the last photo. The trains were running just past the drawbridge, they ended just outside the photo to the left. Then they reversed direction and headed back to Laconia. Without much further ado, here is this week's photo:

This is the same locomotive, the 958, pulling its train over the Lakeport drawbridge. Lakeport was once a very busy railroad town. There was a roundhouse and an engine shed, a freight house and a depot, and 3 tracks running through town in most places. The railroad served docks and factories. A branch line to Rochester split off from the main line here. All of that is gone now. One stall of the engine shed, the freight house and a single track with a tourist railroad on it are all that remains.

This bridge was not originally a drawbridge. It was a wooden trestle crossing the water with two tracks on it. As the railroad traffic dwindled and boat traffic grew, there was no more room on the other side of the bridge to build marinas. However, the bridge was in the way of building marinas on this side of the bridge because boats could not get under the bridge. The bridge was split in the middle, and one track got a drawbridge and the other track was cut off on both ends of the bridge. Today, the bridge is up all summer to allow boat traffic to get in and out, and it is down all winter to allow snowmobiles to use the silent tracks. It goes down in the summer for the caboose trains and for the Bike Week shuttle trains to Weirs Beach. During the normal operating season, the trains turn just short of the drawbridge to not effect boat traffic.

Photo of the Week: 1/21/2011

It's another Friday, which means it's time for another photo! I was busy last weekend and missed the photo, I apologize for that. However, I have two photos to share this week.

The first photo is not one of mine, so I will not post it directly here. Click here to see it. This is a photo of part of the deadline in Waterville, Maine, approximately 20 years ago. The two locomotives in the photo are Maine Central S1 950 on the left and 958 on the right. I can make a very good guess as to what became of the 950, but it is the 958 that I would like to talk about today. Without much further ado, here is my photo for this week:

This is the same locomotive, the 958, working for the Plymouth and Lincoln Railroad (PLRR, the official name of both the Hobo Railroad and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad) in November 2009. Every November, the PLRR runs a Toys for Tots train, not where they distribute gifts, but for people who have donated to the charity. The train runs on a Sunday afternoon at the end of November, originating at Laconia depot and running just past the Lakeport drawbridge, about two miles away. That November, I decided to chase the train along its short route, because there are several decent photo locations in that short stretch but trains are rare and hard to keep up with. Because three of them were running that day, I was able to get photos at all the places I wanted.

This photo is of the train crossing Elm Street in Lakeport on its way back to Laconia. The old Lakeport freight house is behind the fire station on the right, but is not visible in this photo. The train's consist was the 958; two ex-MBTA RDCs, or "Boise Budds" because they were rebuilt into de-motored coaches in Boise; two ex-Lackawanna heavyweight coaches that were used in commuter service in the New York area; and a caboose equipped with headlights, ditch lights, and a plow that the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad often uses for reverse moves.

This same locomotive also pulled my train from Lincoln to Meredith when I rode the fall foliage excursion back in September.

Trip Report: PLRR's All Day Fall Foliage Excursion

(Steven)

Plymouth and Lincoln Railroad operates two tourist trains in the state of New Hampshire. The Hobo Railroad operates south from Lincoln in the White Mountains, and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad operates south from Meredith along the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. Both trains operate on different parts of the same railroad line, starting in Tilton, which is the northernmost point on the fictional Merrimack & Souhegan's trackage. From Tilton, the line went north to Plymouth and Wells River, VT and on to Montreal. In Plymouth, the Lincoln Branch split off from the main and ran north to Lincoln. The line between Plymouth and Wells River is long gone, and all that is left of the network is the line to Lincoln, where PLRR operates.

During the summer, the railroad operates the two trains described above. However, in the fall, they add a few special trains. Depending on how much money you want to spend, you can ride north from Meredith to points such as Ashland, Livermore Falls, or all the way to Lincoln. More info on these trains can be found at their website. I chose to ride the all day train to Lincoln, which includes stops northbound in Plymouth for lunch at the Common Man Inn, and southbound at Ashland to take a tour of the restored depot, all included in the price of the ticket.

I arrived at Meredith and boarded the three car train. The consist was Alco S1 1008 "Edward E Howland Jr.", a former Portland Terminal switcher; Budd RDC1 6105 "Winona", an ex-MBTA, ex-B&M RDC that has had its motors removed; Bangor and Aroostook 103 "Determination," a parlor car built for Canadian National and purchased by BAR for their business train; and New York Central 1642 "Cold Harbor," a privately owned 20th Century Limited parlor car. The RDC served as Coach Class, where I sat, the "Determination" served as Presidents Class, and the "Cold Harbor" served as First Class.

We pulled out of Meredith right on schedule and immediately followed the shore of Lake Waukewan. We ran through many people's backyards, and a lot of people were out waving to the train that only comes through in the fall. We rode past Lake Winona, although it was hard to see the lake through the trees. We arrived in Ashland, and the train slowed down so we could see the town. It is a pretty town, with a beautifully restored depot and freight house. The freight house is privately owned, but the depot is maintained by the Ashland Historical Society. After going through the town, we crossed the Ashland High Trestle, which is a trestle high above a small river and visible from most of the town. After going over the trestle we went under Interstate 93, which we would be following most of the way to Lincoln.

Upon arriving in Plymouth, the train stopped just north of town in front of the Common Man Inn. The inn had a sign out front saying "Welcome Hobo Railroad" because we would be stopping there for lunch. We all got off the train and went inside. Lunch was being served buffet style, and included lasagna, turkey, stuffing, and a few types of soup. Being male, I had to try a little of everything, and it was all excellent. I had eaten at the Common Man before and was very impressed with their food. We had an hour to eat, and I was done before then, so I went back outside to take some photos of the train. Once the hour was up, everyone boarded the train again, and we continued north.

After leaving Plymouth, we went through some tight curves while climbing a steep grade, and the wheels made quite a bit of noise. After climbing the grade, we went past Livermore Falls, which is the site of an old paper mill on the Pemigewasset River. The mill is long gone, but the stone foundations are still there. We crossed the river and continued north, and after a few miles we came to Blair Bridge. It is a covered bridge in the town of Blair. The railroad does not go over it, but it can be seen from the railroad. It is still used, it is a single lane bridge with a speed limit of 5mph. There is a sign on the antiquated bridge stating that riding or driving on the bridge faster than a walk would earn you a $5 fine.

A few miles to the north we passed through the town of Campton. There is not much of a town there, but that is where you get off the highway to go to Waterville Valley, which is a tiny town with a big ski area nestled in the middle of the Sandwich Range. I have done some hiking there, as there are five 4000-footers surrounding Waterville Valley. After passing Campton, we continued north through Thornton and into Woodstock. Woodstock is where the Hobo Railroad trains operate to on a regular basis, so once we got there the track got a whole lot better and we sped up from 15mph to about 25mph. We kept that pace through Woodstock and up to the yard limit in North Woodstock, where the Cafe Lafayette Dinner Train leaves from.

We crossed into Lincoln and went onto the wye. Since there is no passing siding in Lincoln, and the next one south is occupied by the dinner train, the locomotive could not run around the train. Instead, we pulled up just past the wye and stopped there. Our locomotive, the 1008, pulled off the train and went into the stub end yard. Another locomotive, the 958, an Alco S1 of Maine Central heritage, coupled onto the end of the "Cold Harbor" and shoved us into the station. That locomotive would pull our train south to Meredith. We had about half an hour in Lincoln, where we could buy something in the gift shop or take a tour of the Flying Yankee train. Having seen the Flying Yankee earlier that month and several times before, I went to the gift shop and bought a book I had seen there last time but didn't have the money for it. We boarded the train again to head south, and I traded seats with the people across the aisle from me, so I could see out the other side of the train this time.

The train headed south and the sky cleared up a bit, so I got some better shots southbound than I did northbound. Also, since we were now the last car on the train, I went to the back and rode in the vestibule for part of the trip. On the way south, we stopped in Ashland for a tour of the depot. The waiting area has been turn into a kind of a museum, with different railroad related artifacts on display. The office was open and had a train order hoop and other artifacts on display inside there as well.

After looking at the depot, we boarded the train again and continued south. We reached Lake Waukewan as the sun was setting, and the lighting was beautiful. We pulled into Meredith just after sunset and our journey was over. The locomotive then ran around the train to get ready for a fall dinner train leaving in an hour, so I hung around to watch the switching and then left.

Overall, it was a fun trip. The sun was fighting with the clouds all day, so some of my shots aren't the greatest. We also had a late fall this year, and I was on the earliest train, so we didn't see much foliage. However, it was a lot of fun and I look forward to riding this train again next year.