Dover, NH to Rochester, NH: What line was it?

Was looking at aerial photos of Rochester, NH the other day and notice something different. You have the current Conway branch running through the downtown but I noticed something else as well. There is another ROW that went through the city of Rochester so I fallowed it and noticed one went up to Alton Bay and went a long the south side of Lake Winnipesaukee; which I new about for quite sometime. What caught my attention was that there was anther line that broke of at the south end of down town Rochester and went straight down to Dover. So this is my question. After looking at aerial pictures I fallowed the current Conway Branch north of the Dover rail yard and fallowed it south past the rail yard where the Conway Branch broke away and continued east to Newington and Portsmouth. It was at that area that I noticed that other rail line that broke off up in Rochester. Was this the original alignment of the Conway Branch? I noticed that the current Conway branch makes a detour up to Somersworth, NH before heading to Rochester but the other line went from Dover right to Rochester. Was that section of the line part of the line that went up to Alton Bay? This particular line only connected with the Conway Branch (that if it wasn’t the original Conway branch alignment). From what it looked like the ROW went under the Pan Am main line and I saw no remains of a connection track other than joining up with the Conway branch to the east.
Also where did the WN&P line cross all of this? I couldn’t located it at all. I know most of that line was abandoned in the 1940’s but in most cases it was still visible especially in the Epping, NH area.

To try to answer your question, I pulled out a B&M public timetable from April, 1931, and here's what I saw on the map inside it. There were six branches that radiating from Rochester; clockwise,
1- a line to Portland via Sanford / Westbrook
2- a line to the old Eastern route, crossing the Western Route @ Salmon Falls
3- A line to Portsmouth, crossing the Western route at Dover
4- a line down to Nashua via Lee / Epping /Windham
5- a line to Laconia via Alton Bay
6- a line to Intervale via Ossipee

They ran TRAINS in those days, didn't they?!

The line you saw,is the remants of the original Cocheco Railroad,that ran from Portsmouth,up through Dover and Rochester,to end up at the Lakeport/Laconia area. Through connections ended in 1930's

The segment,Ports to Newington is still there,used by Guilford. Until the late 1980's,a segment was kept from Dover,SOUTH,to serve the Sawyer Mills,and more recently,the Agway store there. Trestle over the river,near Amtrak station still remains.

A shorter segment ran NORTH from the Grove St, area of Dover(where Guilford had their B&B Dept. until quite recently,to serve a couple of consignees,until 1970.

Besides the "Farmington Branch",alongside Rt. 11 outta Rochester,NORTH,to serve Davidson Rubber,another segment SOUTH outta Rochester was kept until the late 80's early 1990s to serve an LPG facility in Gonic,on Railroad Ave. The old freight station remains,or did 5 years ago. This LPG(Columbia?) moved to the Tri City siding behind the Lilac Mall in N. Rochester,where it is served by the NHN.

BOTH the line to Gonic,and part of the old WN&P to serve some brickyards in West Gonic,had to cross the Spaulding Turnpike,and despite stop posts,flagging and flashers,it was dangerous,especially with LPG loads!!!

The Cocheco entered Rochester from the south,using WN&P trackage,the lines merging alongside Rt. 125. Branch to West Gonic torn up in 1970's/

The girder overpass over the Old Dover Road in Rochester was still there a few years ago,and can help you trace the route south to Dover.

With no snow(yet!) and no leaves-NOW is the best time of year to find and explore these old ROWs.

Bud

The bridge over Old Dover Road in Rochester was removed about 1 or 2 years ago. About 1/2 mile north on the road is where the WN&P joined the Cocheco (apartment buildings on right) and the trees on left is the WN&P line. It crossed the Cocheco River about 200 yards south (both abutments are still there). The bed was torn up at the intersection of Rt 125 and the Spaulding turnpike. It went south to the intersection of Oak street, at the traffic light. Look for the ex-West Gonic station. About 100 yards further south you can see where it goes into the woods on the right and can be seen at crossroads all the way to Route 9 in Barrington.
The Cocheco bed can also be seen of Pickering road in Rochester and in two or three places in Dover.

There is an excellent and well detailed post about this branch from Alton to Lakeport at http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/sho ... php?t=1405