New Hampshire Central Railroad (NHCR) Discussion

Very active day in Lancaster. 7324 came south at 0800 thru Lancaster deadheading. They returned north noon with big a cut of cars and after blocking Page Hill RD for sometime they placed all the cars on the siding behind Go Go Gas. The sidings are now both filled with covered hoppers and a couple of boxcars and a tank car. Around 200PM they headed south deadheading towards Hazen. They have not returned north yet.

You beat me to it bigfreight, also I heard on the scanner that a pile of ties we're on fire at cherry pond.

7324 came north around 430PM thru Lancaster with boxcars . They cleared Page Hill RD with 22 of them before stopping again blocking the road again for some time after backing up and pulling a boxcar from the siding behind Go Go Gas they headed north with a total of 26 boxcars all SLR markings. All quiet so far today.

I was able to get up north on the last day of my trip to northern NH, and informative it was. A trip past Go-Go Gas showed a string of covered hoppers, and fewer cars in general than many of my previous runbys. HQ looked busy, with the 7324 surrounded by tanks on all available track space on both sides of the repair facility. I didn't venture too far north, as a sighting of more tanks further north of the yard satisfied my curiosity of other storage cars on the line. Upon an accidental discovery and exploration of the Lyman falls park area, a return trip was made south, where NHCR's sole loco managed to vanish from the yard. A stop at Northwoods Trading Post for a late lunch was succeeded by the sound of the old Geep, which appeared returning north, with an ex-Berlin Mills boxcar in tow. Three tanks were spotted on the siding, but I was gone before further moves were made. Quite the horn on that old machine....

A trip down to Hazens (a first in my 26 years of life), showed a hy-rail excavator at the crossing, with no sign of cars down the line as far as my eyesight allowed.

Here's a picture of the excavator at hazen.

Hello,
Excavator? Or brush hog? That doesn't look like a bucket on the front. It also looks like the line in the background has been cleared recently.
Best,
Fritz

Fritz wrote:Hello,
Excavator? Or brush hog? That doesn't look like a bucket on the front. It also looks like the line in the background has been cleared recently.
Best,
Fritz

Pardon my political incorrectness, I referred to the entire unit as an excavator. Yes indeed, I'd say a brush hogger. That stretch of track was wide open and visible to the corner; the area near the Whitefield Dunks, not so much.

I have a picture of the machine's brush chipper from 2007.

That side of route 116 looked good in early 2014; last week, not so much. I didn't get in to see whether those old clunkers were gone, but I'd imagine something moved if the storage tracks are now clean.

Was the brush clearing done on the line in 2007 from Whitefield to the Vermont line or was it more recently?

And is this just to clear up for storage of railcars?

The brush cutting was recently done in Whitefield, NH. I also remember I read in the news paper that the town of Whitefield hate looking at the freight cars. So I thought that they were going to push the cars into Dalton and bethelhem, NH. But just a thought.

RJDC85 wrote:Was the brush clearing done on the line in 2007 from Whitefield to the Vermont line or was it more recently?

And is this just to clear up for storage of railcars?

I'd say there was a more recent job, probably late 2013ish. I rode through there a few times in early 2014 for work, and you could see almost all the way into the corner with the cars, without having to walk in there one step. Having been through less than two weeks ago on vacation, it looks like it hasn't been touched since.

I'd need inside info on WHY it was done, outside of normal maintenance but I assume with empty storage tracks, and abandonment covering all but the last few miles of existing track, I'd say its to benefit the snowmobiles. Past Whitefield selectman's minutes have indicated a desire to run a trail out to the Bethlehem line, and I doubt they or Littleton would have a problem either, as the tracks already see that re-purposed use within their borders.

I know you can't run heritage railroads everywhere, money and all but its unfortunate a scenic operation could not operate out of Littleton. The last time I was there, I couldn't help but wounder how a scenic operation would fit right in with the town.

b&m 1566 wrote:I know you can't run heritage railroads everywhere, money and all but its unfortunate a scenic operation could not operate out of Littleton. The last time I was there, I couldn't help but wounder how a scenic operation would fit right in with the town.

As a resident of the town for close to 15 years, I'd say not at all. Idea-wise, it'd be a perfect fit for tourists with deep pockets. However, the fact that winter lasts the better part of 4/5 months, gives you a very slim operating window. The functioning income of most of the year-round families in the North Country wouldn't make it a feasible operation rider-wise. The further north you go into NHCR/SLR territory in NH, the more obvious it becomes that local economies are dying off. Conway is less than 50 miles east, and on better heritage tracks with things to actually look at.

NHV 669 wrote:

b&m 1566 wrote:I know you can't run heritage railroads everywhere, money and all but its unfortunate a scenic operation could not operate out of Littleton. The last time I was there, I couldn't help but wounder how a scenic operation would fit right in with the town.

As a resident of the town for close to 15 years, I'd say not at all. Idea-wise, it'd be a perfect fit for tourists with deep pockets. However, the fact that winter lasts the better part of 4/5 months, gives you a very slim operating window. The functioning income of most of the year-round families in the North Country wouldn't make it a feasible operation rider-wise. The further north you go into NHCR/SLR territory in NH, the more obvious it becomes that local economies are dying off. Conway is less than 50 miles east, and on better heritage tracks with things to actually look at.

Interesting enough thought....
Down here, the Valley RR is looking to eventually restore and operate all the way up to Middletown, CT with an eye towards operations "meeting in the middle."
Would there or could there ever be enough patronage to make it worth running trains to the notch from both directions?
Just how far, comparatively, is Littleton from Crawfords?
The tourist traffic is DEFINITELY there.
Would the shorter months of operation be enough for CSRX to sustain a satellite operation based in Littleton?