Reminders Of What Once Was
Continuing with the series of from the HOBO Railroad / Winnepesauke Scenic Railroad's Pumpkin Express trains which ran out of the historic downtown Laconia depot for the first time since 2016. They were scheduled to run five short 5 mile and 45 minute round trips south among the scenic and almost never used (except by the rail bikes!) trackage along the shore of Lake Winnisquam as part of the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival which hadn't been held since 2019. This of course is the another section of the famed former Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad later the Boston and Maine's White Mountain mainline to Wells River that is now owned by the state.
I made it up north in time to shoot the noon train and then scope out some different angles for each of the rest including an unscheduled 4 PM train they decided to run at the last minute since each of the prior five were sold out. By any measure they were wildly successful and according to Jay they carried 1100 riders in total on the six trains, which is quite remarkable since the train only consisted of three demotored Budd RDCs pulled by the road's little SW1001, PLRR1590 blt. Nov. 1973 for the Reading as number 2618. After the RDG folded into Conrail she remained with that road for the entirety of its existence and then passed Norfolk Southern in 1999 before being sold in 2011 having never received black paint. She spent another decade and a half as a lease unit until coming to the Granite State in 2016. She remained in her CIT blue paint until finally receiving PLRR maroon in 2021.
Here is the 2 PM run southbound near MP 25.5 (measured from Concord) about a quarter mile from where they will turn back. At left stands a the mast for a two blade lower quadrant semaphore that once protected movements on this line. It is a little hard to fathom that this was once an important mainline with enough traffic to warrant an automatic block signal system but now we get excited if it's operated on once a year! The former White Mountain mainline is littered with relics like this and two have even been cosmetically restored, one to the north in Plymouth and one to the south in Northfield. If you've never seen the latter check out this shot: flic.kr/p/2kbwKcw
This view taken from the delightful paved Lake Winnisquam Scenic Trail in the stretch where it passes behind some nice lakeside homes off Sun Lake Drive. It was only a 3/4 mile walk from the start of the trail up by the Agway on Route 3, and train or no, I hight recommend it if you're ever in the area and want to take an easy stroll. In the distance nearly 25 miles to the north rise the 2500 ft peaks of the Squam Mountains and beyond is Waterville Valley.
Belmont, New Hampshire
Saturday October 29, 2022
Reminders Of What Once Was
Continuing with the series of from the HOBO Railroad / Winnepesauke Scenic Railroad's Pumpkin Express trains which ran out of the historic downtown Laconia depot for the first time since 2016. They were scheduled to run five short 5 mile and 45 minute round trips south among the scenic and almost never used (except by the rail bikes!) trackage along the shore of Lake Winnisquam as part of the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival which hadn't been held since 2019. This of course is the another section of the famed former Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad later the Boston and Maine's White Mountain mainline to Wells River that is now owned by the state.
I made it up north in time to shoot the noon train and then scope out some different angles for each of the rest including an unscheduled 4 PM train they decided to run at the last minute since each of the prior five were sold out. By any measure they were wildly successful and according to Jay they carried 1100 riders in total on the six trains, which is quite remarkable since the train only consisted of three demotored Budd RDCs pulled by the road's little SW1001, PLRR1590 blt. Nov. 1973 for the Reading as number 2618. After the RDG folded into Conrail she remained with that road for the entirety of its existence and then passed Norfolk Southern in 1999 before being sold in 2011 having never received black paint. She spent another decade and a half as a lease unit until coming to the Granite State in 2016. She remained in her CIT blue paint until finally receiving PLRR maroon in 2021.
Here is the 2 PM run southbound near MP 25.5 (measured from Concord) about a quarter mile from where they will turn back. At left stands a the mast for a two blade lower quadrant semaphore that once protected movements on this line. It is a little hard to fathom that this was once an important mainline with enough traffic to warrant an automatic block signal system but now we get excited if it's operated on once a year! The former White Mountain mainline is littered with relics like this and two have even been cosmetically restored, one to the north in Plymouth and one to the south in Northfield. If you've never seen the latter check out this shot: flic.kr/p/2kbwKcw
This view taken from the delightful paved Lake Winnisquam Scenic Trail in the stretch where it passes behind some nice lakeside homes off Sun Lake Drive. It was only a 3/4 mile walk from the start of the trail up by the Agway on Route 3, and train or no, I hight recommend it if you're ever in the area and want to take an easy stroll. In the distance nearly 25 miles to the north rise the 2500 ft peaks of the Squam Mountains and beyond is Waterville Valley.
Belmont, New Hampshire
Saturday October 29, 2022