Curious about Woodsville, NH

I have never been to Woodsville, N.H., but have read about, and seen photos of, all the railroad activity that used to take place there (the junction, for all intents and purposes [along with Wells River] of two B&M branches, two B&M mains, and the CP. I gather, from what I've seen, that the freight yard there was huge. Is anything left at all?? If not, what vestiges of the B&M can be found within the village, east and south of it?
Hard to believe it's all gone, if indeed it is.

The station was still there a few years ago.. Great snowmobile trail to Littleton.

Remains of the yard running South to Plymouth may be still seen as the area is undeveloped and now overgrown as of last year when I drove by. The RR bridge across the CT and the station are still in place as are some industries and a few old box cars. The line to Plymouth can be traced and quite a few stations remain. The one at Wentworth is the Historical Society and worth a stop.

Bob M

I find it very interesting that GRS condemned this very rail bridge and abandoned the route to Littleton, yet the state of NH used this very same bridge a couple of years ago as a temporary bridge to re-route traffic when the main bridge that carries Route 302 across the CT was being re-habbed..

As a child (late 70s, early 80s) I remember looking out the windows of the car on 302 (on our way to Maine) and thinking it was so cool that the rail cars were right near the road. This was just past the Woodsville Station (which is still there.) I also remember the roundhouse, which at that time was in use by the highway department. There is some sort of store there now. The frieght depot is still there, being used, seemingly unchanged from the days when it served the railroad (New Hamphire Vermont RR and Lamoille Valley.) Nothing has really changed, just the removal of the rail and planting of grass.....I can squint my eyes and still see the little yard with railcars in it.

I heard somewhere (maybe here) that there were rumblings in Woodsville about bringing rail back across the bridge and into town. Anyone else heard this?

...Chris

i was up in the area at the begining of august.....i haven't been there since the mid-80's when i was a kid and there actually were still trains there....its to bad because that line follows 302 all the way to littleton right next to the road. on the vermont side the wye is still in place up to the bridge.....couple of questions...was it the river bridge that was condemned or was there another bridge over the road just east of the depot that is no longer there the bad one???

I believe the bridge east of the depot you speak of (the removed one) was not condemned but was removed when the line was abandoned. I could be wrong, but something tells me it was removed for truck clearance with the promise that it could be put back in place if the area saw rails.

I tell you, it was quite a surprise quite a number of years ago (2002?) when I found myself driving on the "condemned" railroad bridge as a detour when the road bridge was being rebuilt......

A man by the name of Karl Kenyon used to maintain a website on railtrails in New Hampshire, and had several good photos of this line in its current state.....gotta google him methinks.......

IMHO the line to Littleton was another unneeded death.

Up until the construction that saw the "condemned" bridge in use again, the yard office was the only building left in recent memory (not counting the pass. depot).

Anyone remember the exact year the cut up that old boxcar that was parked in the yard even after Guilford removed the rails?

I seem to have a faint memory of that boxcar. If I'm correct, the rails were removed in 1997 to Littleton. I believe Littleton receives rail service from the other end of the line. And yes, I agree, it was an unneeded death.

...Chris

the tracks are still in from whitefield to littleton however they are overgrown and there are numerous crossings paved over...i was up there today..the brush had been cut behind the old b&m depot in whitefield and down across rt116 but i not very far past there