Concord – White River Junction railway line

Concord NH – White River Junction NH, as of 1999
Society:	CLCO , NEGS
Route length:	112.01 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks:	1
Legend from Nashua 0.00 Concord NH to Wells River after Claremont 12.21 Penacook NH (formerly Fisherville) Contoocook River 15.34 Boscawen NH 21.32 Gerrish NH (formerly North Boscawen) 26.15 Webster Place NH 27.70 Franklin Junction NH after Tilton 30.05 Franklin NH to Bristol 33.07 Webster Lake NH 40.04 Halcyon NH (formerly East Andover) Blackwater River (2 ×) 47.03 Andover NH Blackwater River (2 ×) 49.89 Potter Place NH 51.80 West Andover NH (formerly Gale) 56.20 Converse NH (formerly South Danbury) 61.72 Danbury NH 70.05 Grafton NH 72.95 Grafton Center NH (formerly Cardigan) Mascoma River 82.96 Canaan NH Mascoma River (7 ×) 89.99 Pattee NH (formerly West Canaan) Mascoma River (2 ×) 93.89 Enfield NH Mascoma River 98.06 Mascoma NH (formerly East Lebanon) Mascoma River (9 ×) 104.67 Lebanon NH Mascoma River (5 ×) 111.41 Westboro NH (formerly West Lebanon) Connecticut River Connection curve to Windsor Connection curve to Lennoxville White River Junction – Lennoxville route 112.01 White River Junction VT from Windsor to Burlington

The Concord – White River Junction railway is a former rail link in New Hampshire and Vermont ( United States ). It is around 112 kilometers long and connects the cities of Concord , Franklin , Andover , Canaan , Lebanon and White River Junction . The line is largely closed and dismantled, only a short section from White River Junction to Westboro is still operated by the Claremont Concord Railroad and the section from Concord to Penacook has not yet been officially closed, but has been without traffic for a long time. It belongs to the New England Southern Railroad .

history

After Concord could be reached by rail from Boston from 1842, plans were made to continue the route in the direction of Montréal . In a straight direction mountains were in the way, so it was decided to build the route to the Connecticut River first . From here, routes in the direction of Canada were already planned, which could be connected. White River Junction was chosen as the hub station. In 1844 local entrepreneurs founded the Northern Railroad of New Hampshire , and in the same year they received the concession to build and operate the railway line. The section from Concord to Canaan was opened on September 1, 1847, the remaining section followed on November 20, 1847.

From November 1852 through cars were handed over to the Vermont Central Railroad to Montréal in White River Junction . From 1870 another connection was available from White River Junction to Montréal and Québec via the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad , which was also used by through cars. In 1884, the Boston and Lowell Railroad took over operations, which now controlled the entire route from Boston to White River Junction and was therefore able to offer continuous trains. Three years later, the Boston & Lowell was in turn leased by the Boston and Maine Railroad . Several express trains a day now ran between Boston and Montréal or Québec.

Train accident near Canaan on September 15, 1907.

On September 15, 1907, the worst train accident in New Hampshire history occurred on the railway line. The morning of the day was foggy which resulted in delays. The single-track main line was heavily used, so that there was the possibility of train crossings at almost all stations . The somewhat delayed express train 34 (Chicago / Québec – Boston) had to cross an oncoming freight train. The dispatcher placed the encounter at West Canaan station , but reported only Canaan to the express train , whereupon it passed through West Canaan. At 4:26 a.m., the two trains collided head-on between West Canaan and Canaan. 25 people died in the accident and many more were seriously injured. As a result, Boston & Maine renamed almost all train stations in its network until 1917 that had cardinal points as additions to avoid further confusion.

The most important express trains had been given names in the 1920s and so the Red Wing , the Alouette , the New Englander and the Ambassador ran on their way from Boston to Canada or Chicago via the route. The Alouette later drove over the White Mountain route, but was again led over White River Junction after its closure from 1954. In 1937, a new station building was put into operation at White River Junction after the old one had burned down two years earlier. After passenger traffic continued to decline, many stations along the route were closed or relegated to unoccupied stations in the 1940s and 1950s. The Red Wing last operated on October 25, 1959. The other express trains had only been operated with Budd Rail Diesel Cars since 1957 . In 1960 only the Ambassador and the Alouette left , who stopped in Franklin, Potter Place, Canaan, Enfield and Lebanon. Potter Place, Canaan and Enfield were demand stops, only Franklin and Lebanon were still manned stations with ticket issuance and baggage handling. On January 4, 1965, the Boston & Maine stopped passenger services on the route. Freight traffic between Penacook and Westboro also ended in the early 1980s. The last time the full-length route was used by a train was when it was used once as an alternative route after an incident at Brattleboro in 1982. The New England Southern Railroad leased the section from Concord to Penacook, but ceased operations on it in 1990. From 1983 Guilford Transportation , which had taken over Boston & Maine, was in charge of operations. In 1992, the Guilford shut down the Penacook – Westboro section and sold the route to the state three years later. The tracks were dismantled in 1996. Thereafter, the route between Lebanon and Franklin began to be converted into a hiking trail. In 1997, traffic between White River Junction and Westboro also ended and the line was sold to the state. This leased it in May 2000 to the Claremont Concord Railroad, which resumed freight traffic.

Route description

The line initially forms the northern continuation of the Nashua – Concord railway line . From the beginning, the Northern Railroad used the terminus of this line in Concord, as well as the other railway companies that served the city. The railway line runs first northwards on the west bank of the Merrimack River and crosses at Penacook, where the tracks end today, the Contoocook River directly at its confluence with the Merrimack. The railway line continues along the river shortly afterwards to Boscawen and after a few kilometers to Franklin. Shortly before the Franklin station, which opened in 1847, a new Franklin Junction station was built with the opening of the Tilton railway line, which flows here . In Franklin, a short branch line to Bristol branched off until 1940 .

Potter Place Station, ca.1906.

Here the route leaves the Merrimack River and initially leads northwest past Webster Lake , from where it follows State Road 11 in a westerly direction. Shortly before Andover, the route reaches the Blackwater River , which it crosses a total of four times. The next train station, Potter Place (see picture), is located immediately after the fourth river bridge and is still there today. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The railway now continues to follow the Blackwater River and US Highway 4 in a northerly direction. At South Danbury it leaves the river valley and crosses a range of hills in the further course. Through Danbury and Grafton , the route continues winding northwards near Highway 4. Passing Kilton Pond and Tewksbury Pond , after a few kilometers the train reaches the city of Canaan and thus the valley of the Mascoma River , which it now follows to Lebanon. The railway line crosses the river a total of 25 times on its way to Vermont.

From Canaan the route runs again in a westerly direction, still parallel to Highway 4. After Enfield , the train reaches Mascoma Lake . The route runs directly along the northern shore of the lake and reaches the city of Lebanon a few kilometers further. After the actual center, the route first turns sharply north, and shortly thereafter crosses the Connecticut River and thus the state border to Vermont. Immediately after the bridge, the White River Junction train station begins. The station used to be a junction station, today the passenger station, which is served by Amtrak once a day in each direction , is west of the level crossing with the White River Junction – Lennoxville railway line on the route to Burlington , where the Concord line joins.

literature

• Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .

Web links

• Boston & Maine Historical Society (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 1999.
2. ↑ Distance kilometers from http://www.trainweb.org/nhrra/Mileage-Charts/BM-RR/Southern-Main.htm
3. ^ Hans Joachim Ritzau: Shadow of the railway history. A comparison of British, US and German railways. Pürgen: Ritzau KG, 2nd edition, 1994. ISBN 3-921304-69-5 . Page 165.
4. ^ The Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued May 1960. Boston & Maine Railroad, 125.
5. ↑ NorthernRailTrail.Org , History Section, page 9, accessed March 5, 2019
6. ↑ http://www.fnrt.org/