Jewett – Intervale Junction railway line

Jewett ME intervals Jct. NH, status 1999
Route length:	117.55 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	-
Society:	NHN , CSRR
Legend from Portsmouth 0.00 Jewett ME (formerly South Berwick, Brocks Crossing) to Portland 1.43 Great Works ME 2.91 South Berwick ME (formerly Berwick) Salmon Falls River 4.09 Salmon Falls NH (formerly Cotton Mill) Wilmington – Agamenticus route 8.30 Foundry NH from Rollinsford 9.56 Somersworth NH (formerly Great Falls) from Dover Worcester – Rochester route 18.64 Rochester NH to Alton Bay 28.10 Hayes NH (formerly Hayes Crossing) approx. 30 South Milton NH 32.77 Milton NH Salmon Falls River Salmon Falls River 41.88 Union NH 48.86 Sanbornville NH (formerly Wolfeboro Junction) after Wolfeboro 51.56 Wakefield NH 57.44 Burleyville NH (formerly Hillsdale) 62.19 Matthews NH (formerly North Wakefield) approx. 67 Connection to the sand pit 70.43 Ossipee NH 78.34 Mountainview NH (formerly Center Ossipee) 82.87 Lakewood NH (formerly Ossipee Valley) 87.40 Mount Whittier NH (formerly West Ossipee) 95.06 Madison NH (formerly Silver Lake) 106.36 Conway NH 114.92 North Conway NH from Portland ME 117.55 Intervale Junction NH to Lunenburg VT

The railway Jewett Intervale Junction is a railway line in Maine and New Hampshire ( United States ). It is 117.55 kilometers long and connects the main Portland – Portsmouth line with the Portland – Lunenburg line . The standard gauge line is closed south of Somersworth and between Ossipee and Conway . The New Hampshire Northcoast operates goods traffic between Somersworth and Ossipee . The Conway Scenic Railroad's tourist trains run between Conway and Intervale Junction and further into the White Mountains .

history

Prehistory and construction

The industrial town of Somersworth (then Great Falls ) had no rail connection in the early 1840s. The Wilmington – Agamenticus railway line under construction on the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) should pass around ten kilometers to the south. Local investors therefore founded the Great Falls and South Berwick Railroad in 1841 to connect Great Falls to the Portland – Portsmouth railway line, which was also under construction and opened in 1842 . However, such a connection would not have brought Boston & Maine any profit and so in 1843 they themselves planned a branch line from Rollinsford to Great Falls, which opened in 1843 shortly after the B&M main line. Due to the competition from Boston & Maine, Great Falls & South Berwick got into financial difficulties, so that the route construction was initially interrupted.

In the meantime, the Great Falls and Conway Railroad had been founded in 1844 , to build from Great Falls further north along the Maine-New Hampshire border to Conway at the foot of the White Mountains . On March 6, 1849, the first section from Great Falls to Rochester went into operation. South Milton was reached on March 19, 1850 and finally in the summer of 1855 with financial support from the Eastern Railroad Union . On February 5, 1855, the Great Falls & South Berwick was finally completed, so that the entire railway line now stretched from Jewett in Maine to Union. In 1858 traffic between Great Falls and Jewett had to be suspended for economic reasons, but could be resumed three years later.

The two railway companies merged in 1865 to form Portsmouth, Great Falls and Conway Railroad . In 1870, the Eastern Railroad finally leased the railway company and now ran the company. The extension of the line went ahead quickly, so that in October 1871 West Ossipee was reached and finally North Conway in the spring of 1872. On June 3, 1872 the first continuous train ran from Conway to Boston . When the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad opened the Portland – Lunenburg railway line in 1875 , which ran past Conway to the north, the Eastern established a track connection to this railway line. The junction was called the Intervale Junction . A transfer station was used to transfer passengers towards the White Mountains. Some trains ran through cars that were transferred to Portland & Ogdensburg trains at Intervale Junction station.

business

As of 1883, management was transferred to Boston & Maine, which had leased the Eastern Railroad. Conway and the towns further north are both popular winter sports locations and destinations for summer vacationers. In summer and winter, therefore, express trains ran from Boston to the White Mountains via the route, most of them via Portsmouth. With the closure of some of the larger factories along the route in the 1920s, the volume of freight traffic fell significantly. This intensified after the beginning of the global economic crisis in 1929 and the number of passengers quickly decreased. From April 25, 1936, all through trains ran via Rollinsford, between Somersworth and Jewett only local trains commuted. This was also over in 1941 and the section was closed in November of that year.

On April 26, 1958, the Maine Central Railroad , which Portland & Ogdensburg had leased since 1888, stopped passenger traffic on the White Mountains route. With that, all passenger trains from Rollinsford and Boston ended in North Conway. But on December 3, 1961, the last passenger train to Conway ran. In 1972, Boston & Maine received approval to close the line north of Mount Whittier. The North Conway Depot Company , which had acquired the North Conway station in 1968 to build a railway museum, bought the Conway – Intervale Junction section and opened a museum railway between the Conway and North Conway stations under the name Conway Scenic Railroad in 1974, which ran from 1995 to the White Mountains was extended. Traffic also stopped between Ossipee and Mount Whittier, but the route initially remained in existence.

In 1983, after the bankruptcy of Boston & Maine, Guilford Transportation took over their routes and thinned out the network. The Rochester – Mount Whittier section was also to be closed. However, the state of New Hampshire bought the line, carried out necessary repairs to the track system and since May 27, 1986 the New Hampshire Northcoast has been running the route between a sand pit south of Ossipee and Somersworth. The sand trains continue from there to Boston. The section from the sand pit to Mount Whittier was not reopened and finally closed on January 2, 1998.

Route description

The line begins in Jewett, Maine and branches off to the northwest from the Portland – Portsmouth railway line . The Jewett turntable pit is still in place on the corner of Harold L. Dow Highway and Fife's Lane. The Harold L. Dow Highway was built on the route of the railroad. The route ran over the north end of the highway at South Berwick and crossed the Salmon Falls River and thus the state line to New Hampshire. Immediately after the bridge, the line crossed the Wilmington – Agamenticus railway line , to which there were no connections. The route now follows the river and meets the Rollinsford Boston & Maine branch in Foundry . Both lines are right next to each other as far as Somersworth.

The railway now runs further northwest and reaches the city of Rochester about nine kilometers further . There used to be a railway junction here, where three railway lines met. The Dover – Alton Bay railway touched the line from Jewett and a common station was used, which was built as an island station . The eastern part was driven by the Great Falls & Conway, the western part belonged to the route to Alton Bay. Today the train runs through the western part, the area east of the station building has been closed. The station area still crossed the Worcester – Rochester railway , the station of which was right next to it and which merged into the Portland – Rochester railway here .

The route leaves Rochester to the north and shortly thereafter again reaches the Salmon Falls River, which it follows to Milton . In Milton, the route crosses the river twice in quick succession and thus leads about 400 meters over the state of Maine. The train now leaves the river valley northwards and reaches Sanbornville, the hill country that adjoins the White Mountains to the south. The Wolfeboro Railroad , which led to Lake Winnipesaukee , used to branch off in Sanbornville . In a large S-curve, the route then crosses a chain of hills and continues northwest to the sand pit near Ossipee , where it ends today. At the junction of the pit track there is a freight yard for shunting the trains.

The route is dismantled from the Ossipee sand pit. The route continues through the town of Ossipee, west of Ossipee Lake and Silver Lake, and eventually reaches Conway . This is where the Conway Scenic Railroad's museum train begins. Intervale Junction is reached approximately eleven kilometers further north. The route from Portland used to come from the southeast. The tourist train turns on this route, the former Mountain Division of the Maine Central Railroad. Today the trains run partially to Fabyan at the foot of Mount Washington .

literature

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

Web links

• Conway Scenic Railroad
• Boston & Maine Historical Society (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Mike Walker: SPV's comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. Steam Powered Publishing, Faversham 1999, ISBN 1-874745-12-9 .
2. ↑ Distance kilometers from www.trainweb.org