B&M 3666 (steam locomotive sunk in Piscataqua River)

I am from Hampton and fish the Piscataqua for Striped Bass almost weekly between June and Sept. The loco is on the Kittery side of the river. If you were driving from Portsmouth into Maine over the bridge, the loco would be on the left side. It was moved over closer to shore, because the railroad tracks that run under the bridge has an automated lift on the Kittery side that stays up the majority of the time to allow boat traffic through at higher tides. I have never been fortunate enough to be on the water in the boat when the tracks slide over and down and the train passes over, cuz I usually fish at night, starting at around 6 or 7. But that loco is still down there, and I have heard mumblings of divers visiting it here and there. The Piscataqua river is very fast, and can be dangerous. It runs 3.5 knots at max, making it the 2nd or 3rd strongest tidal river in the world. It's no joke lol. There have been many a moron in a boat who have tried to anchor in it under or around the General Sullivan Bridge (the span that connects Newington to Dover) and had quite a blunder. It will suck you and your boat right under.

In a similar situation, a Mogul I believe derailed into a lake on the old Abandoned Cheshire Branch out of S Ashburnham, MA. It is still visible.

The late B&MRRHS Historian, Harry Frye, spent years researching these "engine in a lake" stories, and debunked all of them. There is no locomotive on the B&M system which is unaccounted for in that way. These are all old wives tales with no basis in fact. Certainly there is no mogul unaccunted for in the rosters. Do us all a favor and stop circulating this sort of thing without researching it.

My old wife told me there was a UP big boy in the Charles River that derailed off the Grand Junction trestle. relax, just kidding.

This is begining to remind me of the threads on annother group's forum (who'll remain nameless but thier initials are NHRHTA ) whenever a particular someone mentions "the Hawleyville Tunnel" and the treasures supposedly hiding in there. Of course it's all understood to be "sandhouse talk" and a lot of "I wishes" but it's still fun stuff.
Cosmo

STEAM
well maybe you should research this as well
it seems Yoshi was right
Look at this
DO u doubt the town records
http://www.ashburnhamma.org/OurTown/Yes ... /Railroad/
about half way down
never speak to soon

The link won't work for me! Can you maybe post the pertinants here?

Well maybe google images

Train Wreck , South Ashburnham
you should see a pic of a loco on her side and another on top

click on it

Then scroll down

It says parts too large remain hidden in underbrush to this day

Hey, it WORKED!!
Now there's only one thing to do,....someone get busy with a camera! I would myself, but Norwich, CT is a little too far from Ashburnham.
(This DOES remind me of the NHRTHA forum! There are pieces of a NH RS3 in the woods near Walpole, MA that finally got posted thanks to that thread!)
So, who's got a camera that lives out that way....anyone?

There is, per Harry Frye, NO B&M steam locomotive in a lake anywhere.

Possibly there are parts from a wreck scattered here and there, but no complete locomotive. Show us proof of these phantom submersibles.

As I stated before, Harry spent years debunking these "tales". The only B&M engine under water is the 3666 at Portsmouth in the Piscataqua River.

They may only be pieces of a wreck, and they may be scattered in the woods, not under a lake, but I'd still like to see some pictures posted!
I, for one, really dig that sort of thing.

HEy cosmo
do u think u could link us to the NHRTHA pictures

http://s3.phpbbforfree.com/forums/nerg-post-34.html#34

near bottom youll seee a pacific on its side

I'm from Ashburnham originally, and I own copies of both the 1886 Stearns town history and the 1965 Holden history, so I know a little about this. There are three stories here that appear to have gotten confused.
First, the aforementioned wreck was on the Fitchburg main, which loops through South Ashburnham, not the Cheshire, which extended north out of the village. (I hadn't known there were locomotive remains on the site. Next time I'm down that way I'll check 'em out.) Second, there WAS a derailment on the Cheshire during the famous 1936 spring flood. I have a photo of it in a rotogravure from The Boston Globe published at the time. I'd have to dig the paper out of a trunk, but if memory serves,
the locomotive toppled over as well as several passenger cars. The derailment happened near the Ashburnham-Winchendon line. Third, there is a very old rumor to the effect that there is a locomotive resting in a small pond adjacent to what is now Route 140 between Winchendon and Gardner, this from a wreck that allegedly occurred on the old Worcester-to-Peterborough branch (gone since 1959). I first heard this tale some 45 years ago when I was a little boy. I've heard it a number of times since, from a number of people --- most recently a year ago from an uncle of mine in Westminster, as he and I happened to drive by the spot. (He wasn't the person who initially told me.) A few months back, I wrote to Mike Richards, who writes an historical column for The Gardner News, to see whether he could trace the rumor. He wrote me back saying he had never heard the story, but was intrigued by it and would see what he could do. I haven't yet gotten a follow-up response. Given what we know about Harry Frye's extensive investigations, I very much doubt its veracity, but I am curious to know how the tale might have gotten started.

By the way, that 1913 wreck in Ashburnham Centre (where the train went through the back of the freight house and plowed up the hill) has long been said to have been the result of some mischievous Cushing Academy students greasing the track. Whether truth or rumor I don't know, but Dr. Hazel Fosgate Morse, a local history buff (and curator of the Historical Society museum) whom I knew years ago, told me it was the case.
She would have known; she was around when it happened and had a memory like a steel trap. (Retired college English professor.)

Hope this helps clear things up.

I recently got a look at some images of B&M Pacifics in the same class as the one in the Piscataqua River. These were some large locomotives. After 70 years, I've no doubt she's barnacle encrusted and the sheet metal is gone, but much of her heavy shell is likely still in place, albeit rusted solid. I think she'd be a piece worthy of extraction from the riverbed, if only to photo document before demolishing the remains.

Has anyone ever taken pictures of the loco underwater? Are any written reports out there?