Grasmere Junction – East Milford Railway

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Grasmere Junction NH – East Milford NH,
as of 1999
Society: last BM
Route length: 29.81 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks: 1
Legend
   
 from Henniker
   
 0.00 Grasmere Junction NH
   
 to Manchester
   
 2.12 Tirrell Hill NH
   
 5.58 Holwood NH
   
 8.51 Bedford NH
   
 12.55 South Bedford NH
   
 16.91 Stowell NH
   
 20.62 Baboosic Lake NH (only in summer)
   
 24.66 Amherst NH
   
 from Nashua
   
 29.81 East Milford NH
Route - straight ahead
 to Greenfield

The railway junction Grasmere East Milford is a former railway line in New Hampshire ( United States ). It is around 30 kilometers long and connects the cities of Pinardville , Amherst and Milford . The line has been completely shut down and dismantled since 1926.

history

After the Fitchburg Railroad had reached Milford from the south in 1895 and considered an extension to Manchester , the Boston and Maine Railroad had to do something to counter the impending competition. She founded the Manchester and Milford Railroad , which was formally leased to the Concord and Montreal Railroad . The branches of the railway line were built in such a way that the Fitchburg trains would have had to head twice to get to Manchester. This was to prevent the railway company from reaching Manchester. Construction began in 1899 and the line was opened the following year. In the same year, however, the Boston & Maine bought the Fitchburg and the disadvantageous branches became a problem.

The through freight traffic between Milford and Manchester usually flowed via Nashua , which was a detour, but the trains could travel the route without shunting and the double-track, well-developed main line of Boston & Maine was between Nashua and Manchester. There was hardly any local freight traffic between Grasmere Junction and Milford, and passenger traffic was sparse, although trains ran from Manchester to Milford and there was no need to change trains at the junctions. In 1926 all traffic ended and the line was closed. Four years later the tracks were dismantled.

Route description

The line begins in the urban area of Pinardville and branches off in a southerly direction from the Manchester – Henniker railway line . It crosses sparsely populated areas and is now partially overbuilt for the first few kilometers by state road 114. From Bedford , the route runs parallel to State Road 101. Near Stowell stop, the route initially turns west. The embankment is still well preserved in this area. The route bypasses Baboosic Lake to the north, where there was also a train stop in the summer season, and continues in a south-westerly direction. At Amherst the route turns south again and runs parallel to State Road 122 to the junction at East Milford. Here it joins the Nashua – Greenfield railway line .

Sources and further information

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/Manchester-Milford.htm
literature
  • Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .
Web links