Contoocook – Peterborough railway line

Contoocook NH – Peterborough NH, as of 1999
Society:	MBRX
Route length:	54.18 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks:	1
Legend by Concord 0.00 Contoocook NH (formerly Contoocookville) Contoocook River after Claremont 4.84 West Hopkinton NH Contoocook River Manchester – Henniker route Connection curve from Manchester 11.70 Henniker Junction NH 13.04 Henniker NH Contoocook River 15.45 Emerson NH 23.59 Hillsboro NH (formerly Hillsborough Bridge) Contoocook River 28.03 Holton NH 29.56 West Deering NH 34.56 Antrim NH Contoocook River 37.68 Bennington NH Greenfield connection curve 41.10 Elmwood NH Keene connection curve Keene – Greenfield route Connection curve to Greenfield 44.85 Cavender NH 47.32 Nahor NH 49.85 Tarbell NH 54.18 Peterborough NH from Winchendon

The Contoocook – Peterborough railway is a former rail link in New Hampshire ( United States ). It is around 54 kilometers long and connects the cities of Contoocook , Henniker , Hillsboro , Bennington and Peterborough . Most of the line has been closed and dismantled. Only the section from Elmwood to Bennington still exists, but is not served as planned by the owner Milford-Bennington Railroad .

history

Part of the route was planned as early as the 1840s. The Contoocook Valley Railroad wanted to build a branch line from the Concord – Claremont railway line that was also planned along the Contoocook River in order to connect the up-and-coming textile industry in the valley. In Contoocook the route should branch off and lead south to Hillsboro . Just three months after the Concord main line opened, this line went into operation in December 1849. From 1853 the operations management of the Northern Railroad of New Hampshire , which had leased the line as well as the main line Concord – Claremont.

At the end of the 1860s there was a desire to extend the route along the Contoocook to the north end of the planned Monadnock Railroad in Peterborough . The Peterborough and Hillsborough Railroad , founded on July 7, 1869, built the line from 1877. The opening took place on July 5, 1878. At the same time, the Northern also leased this section and operated on it. In 1884 the Boston and Lowell Railroad took over the leases and operations for the line, followed by the Boston and Maine Railroad four years later.

After severe storms destroyed the route south of Elmwood on March 13, 1936, passenger traffic was discontinued on the entire route and goods traffic between Elmwood and Peterborough. All traffic also ended between Emerson and Hillsboro. Both sections were officially closed in 1942, so that there were now two branch lines, from Contoocook to Emerson and from Elmwood to Hillsboro. In 1954 the newly founded Claremont and Concord Railway acquired the Contoocook – Emerson section from Boston & Maine. In 1960 the new owner closed the West Hopkinton – Emerson section and the rest of the section the following year.

The Boston & Maine continued to operate the southern section of the line, where in September 1952 a direct connecting curve from Hillsboro towards Nashua to the Keene – Greenfield railway line was built. 1979 came the end for the Hillsboro – Bennington section, after it was only served when needed. From 1983, Guilford Transportation ran the remaining 3.5 kilometers, but trains only drove here when needed. The owner applied for closure, but the state of New Hampshire acquired the line in 1992 and leased it to the Milford-Bennington Railroad . Freight traffic has been suspended since then.

Route description

The line branches off in Contoocook directly at the bridge over the Contoocook River from the Concord – Claremont railway line and runs south-west on the bank of the river. The entire route lies on this river, which is crossed several times. Of the bridge west of Henniker, only the central pillar is left in the river, the bridge at Bennington is still there, the rest have been torn down. A special construction was necessary in Hillsboro, as the river had to be crossed here at an acute angle.

In Henniker and Elmwood , the railway line crossed other lines at the same level. The junction in Henniker only existed for a few years and was later converted into a junction that existed in Elmwood until the station was rebuilt in 1948.

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/Worcester-Hillsboro.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

• Boston & Maine Historical Society (English)