Waumbek Branch, Jefferson, N.H.

I was in the Gorham-Lancaster, N.H., area yesterday and decided to veer off Route 2 and try to find the ROW for the old Waumbek Branch to Jefferson. I could make out where the roadbed comes into the present-day golf course. As I continued down the long hill toward Meadows I wondered two things: what was the grade of the climb from Meadows to Jefferson, and what sort of locomotion did the railroad use to haul trains up there? It's a gradual, but apparently pretty precipitous, ascent. I was surprised they would even try to build a standard railroad up there.

According to the Summer 1976 B&MRRHS Bulletin, the grade was over 3.5% (!). I tried to find the roadbed a couple of years ago; it's easy to find the ends, but in between is mostly a guess, even with a 1900 topo map and a GPS. I have concluded that the surveyors of about 100 years ago weren't too picky about accurate representation of contour lines.

As I understand it, one or two cars at a time were backed uphill to the Waumbek Hotel station in the middle of the golf course.

PBM