New Hampshire narrow gauge
When rail enthusiasts think about steam in New Hampshire, they're typically thinking about the Conway Scenic Railroad, or Clark's Trading Post, or the famous Mt. Washington Cog Railway. Relatively few know that there's a fourth steam operation, and it's been running for about 50 years. The little train pictured here is running on the J.E. Henry Railroad at the Loon Mountain Ski Resort in Lincoln, NH. It runs on about 900 ft. of 2-foot gauge track and provides a shuttle service for skiers, between two major lodges at the base of the mountain. Although the line is rather short, the train provides an invaluable service for resort patrons, who would otherwise have to walk nearly a quarter of a mile in ski boots, carrying their skis and snowboards, through busy parking lots.
The power on this train is a little, German-built, Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0T locomotive, which was built in 1934 for Peter Buscher & Sohn in Hanover, Germany. It was imported to the US in the mid-1960s and used for a short time at a small steam operation in the town of Gilford, NH, before being acquired by Loon Mountain. Originally a 600mm gauge, stand-alone tank locomotive, with the water supply between the frame rails, she was re-gauged to 24" and had a fuel-only tender added, when she came to America. The locomotive burns wood for fuel and normally hauls a pair of open passenger cars, configured specifically to carry skiers and gear. On the day when this image was captured, one of the passenger cars was out of service for a maintenance issue.
New Hampshire narrow gauge
When rail enthusiasts think about steam in New Hampshire, they're typically thinking about the Conway Scenic Railroad, or Clark's Trading Post, or the famous Mt. Washington Cog Railway. Relatively few know that there's a fourth steam operation, and it's been running for about 50 years. The little train pictured here is running on the J.E. Henry Railroad at the Loon Mountain Ski Resort in Lincoln, NH. It runs on about 900 ft. of 2-foot gauge track and provides a shuttle service for skiers, between two major lodges at the base of the mountain. Although the line is rather short, the train provides an invaluable service for resort patrons, who would otherwise have to walk nearly a quarter of a mile in ski boots, carrying their skis and snowboards, through busy parking lots.
The power on this train is a little, German-built, Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0T locomotive, which was built in 1934 for Peter Buscher & Sohn in Hanover, Germany. It was imported to the US in the mid-1960s and used for a short time at a small steam operation in the town of Gilford, NH, before being acquired by Loon Mountain. Originally a 600mm gauge, stand-alone tank locomotive, with the water supply between the frame rails, she was re-gauged to 24" and had a fuel-only tender added, when she came to America. The locomotive burns wood for fuel and normally hauls a pair of open passenger cars, configured specifically to carry skiers and gear. On the day when this image was captured, one of the passenger cars was out of service for a maintenance issue.