Tilton – Franklin Junction railway line

Tilton NH – Franklin Junction NH, as of 1999
Society:	last BM
Route length:	8.42 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks:	1
Legend from Wells River 0.00 Tilton NH approx. 1 Northfield (Railway Museum) after Concord Sulphite Bridge Winnipesaukee River Winnipesaukee River 5.52 Franklin Falls NH Industrial connection Merrimack River from White River Junction 8.42 Franklin Junction NH after Concord

The Tilton – Franklin Junction railway is a former rail link in New Hampshire ( United States ). It is around eight kilometers long and connects the cities of Tilton and Franklin . The route is closed.

history

At the end of the 1840s, two rail lines from Concord to the north were opened, the Concord – White River Junction and the Concord – Wells River line . The two routes only had a connection with each other in the state of Vermont. On August 4, 1887, the Franklin and Tilton Railroad Company was founded to build a link along the Winnipesaukee River . The line was opened on June 1, 1892 and leased by Concord & Montreal at the same time. In 1895, the Boston and Maine Railroad took over the lease after they had bought Concord & Montreal. In the following year, the new owner tore down one of the two, only four year old, bridges over the Winnipesaukee in Franklin and built the Sulphite Bridge , a timber frame bridge , to be able to carry heavier trains over the route. It got its name from the frequent transport of sulfur to the surrounding paper and pulp mills.

Sulphite Bridge with fire damage over the Winnipesaukee River in Franklin, 2008.

Passenger traffic was stopped as early as September 1926, helped by the fact that the siding in Franklin Junction was in the wrong direction for topographical reasons and the trains there had to make a cumbersome head to be able to enter Franklin station. However, due to some industry in the Winnipesaukee Valley, freight traffic stopped. A flood in March 1936 washed away the bridge over the Merrimack River , which was not rebuilt. The section from Franklin Falls to Franklin Junction was officially closed in 1942. Until November 1972, however, the rest of the route was used by the freight trains of Boston & Maine, the closure took place in 1975.

Route description

The line branches off south of Tilton Station from the Concord – Wells River line and runs westward. Shortly before Franklin, the train crosses the river on the Sulphite Bridge and shortly afterwards again on another wooden bridge. Both bridges are still standing today. The originally closed bridge box of the Sulphite Bridge burned out on October 27, 1980. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The other bridge is also a truss bridge, but without a closed bridge box. It is right next to the US Highway 3 road bridge and can be viewed from there. After these two river crossings, the route turns south and crosses the city of Franklin, where the Franklin Falls train station was located. At the southern end of the city there was a long industrial connection. The railway line now runs along the east bank of the Merrimack River and crosses it directly in front of Franklin Junction station, where it joins the Concord – White River Junction 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/Franklin.htm
3. ^ Government page on the bridge
4. ↑ Topographic map of the Geological Service from 1927

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)