B&M Conway branch

[b&m 1566]

Cathedral Ledge Covered Bridge, was that a railroad bridge or a road bridge? It doesn't state if it is or isn't.

[BR4]

The Saco and the Swift River Bridges wer both covered brdges atone time. The Swift was replaced in 1921,
the Saco in 1949.

[eddiebehr]

The chaper in High Green and the Bark Peelers is "Old Sturdy." TRAINS Magazine did an article on the B & M with the title "Diesels and Covered Bridges" and there's a photo of an E-unit powered passenger train coming out of Old Sturdy. The magazine would be a 1948 or 1949 issue, one of the full size ones.

[Reader#108]

Any traction on this bill???

[ihdavis1]

I was going through some random photos on photos.nerail.org and found this photo http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20100 ... omersworth of a B&M local in front of the GE plant in Somersworth, NH. The photo shows the local on what appears to be the mainline with two sidings(?) on either side of it. If memory serves there is only one short siding there today. The photo is dated 8-31-73 which is almost one year after the secton between Conway and West Ossipee was abandoned and I was wondering if anyone knew how long these two sidings in the picture lasted after this photo awas taken?

[Dick H]

Initially, the NH Northcoast Railroad only bought the former B&M Conway Branch
in 1986 between Rochester and Ossipee and operated through Somersworth to
Rollinsford and Dover under trackage rights from Guilford/Springfield Terminal.

Sometime around 1995, the NHN purchased the Rochester to Rollinsford segment.
By that time, General Electric, which had its own switcher which can been seen in
the photo, had stopped using rail service and I think most of the trackage, other
than one passing track had been removed by the time the NHN took over. The NHN
did a complete rebuild job of the main line and retained only a short section of the
passing track, from north of the crossing to the GE plant to a point near the former
B&M station building. This siding is still active today and does see some occasional
use. In fact, the NHN removed nearly all the sidings on the Conway Branch during
their track rebuilds. Besides the Somersworth siding, only the one at "Hayes" on
the North Rochester-Milton line and the one at Burleyville (East Wakefield) remain.

[ihdavis1]

Thanks for the info. The removal of almost all the siding makes sense; I remember seeing a couple photos on nerail photos of equipment sitting on the old siding in Union and having gone past the sight of the old Milton station, around where Ray's Marina now is, it's fairly easy to tell where the siding there used to be, if in fact there was one there. I also just looked at my copy of Lindsell's Rail Lines of Northern New England, I noticed that there was also a South Milton station located 1 mile north of where Hayes Station and its surving siding are. Besides being one mile past Hayes, any idea of where this station was located?

[NHN503]

One bit off oddness I found out yesterday while investigating a possible burglary was that the newly released Ossipee tax maps still show a parcel of land owned by the B&M by the old oil dealer off of Old Rt. 28. Its listed as Boston & Maine Railroad, Billerica, MA - 2010. And these maps were just updated a few months ago.

I believe it may actually be a Cartograph error though.

[Dick H]

Last week (February 26th) was the 41st anniversary of the last snow train on the Conway
Branch to North Conway on February 26, 1972. There was a heavy snow storm that day
and the B&M put the GP 18 1751 and GP9 1720 on the head end, as the Budd RDCs would
never have made it on their own. It was also the last passenger train to run on the Conway
Branch from Rollinsford to North Conway.

Photos here from David Hutchinson and Gil Ford (first five photos)
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/Locopi ... x?id=87188

Photos here by Gil Ford (photos four through seven)
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPi ... x?id=59478

The Conway Scenic Facebook Page has three photos of the last snow train from Alan MacMillian
https://www.facebook.com/ConwayScenicRailroad

[ferroequinarchaeologist]

>>The magazine would be a 1948 or 1949 issue, one of the full size ones.

January 1949, fyi.

PBM

[Dick H]

B&M train D8 at West Ossipee (Mt. Whittier) in 1972
This was the Ossipee Gravel Train that also did local
work north of Rochester after service north of Ossipee ended.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2660352

B&M Train D8 working at Ossipee in 1972
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2660346

B&M Train working at Center Ossipee in 1972
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2660349

Thanks to Gil Ford for the now historic photos.

[B&Mguy]

Great pictures! I especially like the ones taken in Ossipee during the lines final days. It's amazing how much those locations have changed over the years!

[newpylong]

What;'s the track heading off to the right in the middle picture? Any ideas?

[toolmaker]

re: "Thanks to Gil Ford for the now historic photos."

I agree those are great photo's to share with the group. The engines appear to be rust buckets or did the original colors fade to brown by 1972?

[B&Mguy]

What;'s the track heading off to the right in the middle picture? Any ideas?

I believe the track heading off to the right in the overhead shot of Ossipee is a track that served a Gulf Oil warehouse that was located nextdoor to the station. I think the building is still there today, but it is buried behind very heavy foliage. The old station still stands, but it is in very rough shape, and hopefully will receive some attention before it's too late. Some of the old ties from the main line track and the siding can also still be seen, but the rails are long gone. It's a very interesting location to check out if you're ever in the area.