B&M Conway branch

The B&M went bankrupt in 1970, after years of deferred maintenance. After McGinnis bought the GP-9s and more than enough RDCs for post-1960 passenger service, diesels that were older or out-of-favor like the Alco road switchers were patched till the equipment trusts expired, then junked. The GP-7s were treated a little better because they had a lot of parts in common with the GP-9s.

Bringing an old thread back to life as this past weekend I finally got a look at the entire Conway Branch from the CSR line to Ossipee and beyond.

I've read the restoration feasibility study from 10+ years ago....so where, if anywhere, do things stand now? As far as 40+ year abandoned lines, I've def. seen much worse.

ihdavis1 wrote: 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?

Whatever it was, it had disappeared from the ETT's before 1922. Could have been a flag stop, I've noticed that in some cases, the railroad doesn't list them, while Lindsell does.

greenwichlirr wrote:Bringing an old thread back to life as this past weekend I finally got a look at the entire Conway Branch from the CSR line to Ossipee and beyond.

I've read the restoration feasibility study from 10+ years ago....so where, if anywhere, do things stand now? As far as 40+ year abandoned lines, I've def. seen much worse.

Nothing is happening for the foreseeable future. A lot of chatter was silenced last year when (based off of the chatter) the state sent out a Request for Expression of Interest for shippers and operators and got nothing at the deadline. So, for now the line with sit quietly.

How many active shippers were north of Ossipee Aggragates, when Guilford purchased the Boston & Maine in 1983? When the line was embargoed north of Rochester in 1985, were any of those customers still using rail at the time? If so, why didn't New Hampshire Northcoast, resume service to those customers when they started operations about year later?

Considering the line was abandoned north of there to Intervale in 1972, zero would be an easy guess and likely answer.

It could also be noted that Conway Scenic RR started operating between North Conway and Conway in the
summer of 1974- I worked there briefly from the end of July until I returned to tech school in September.

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 3:30 pm Considering the line was abandoned north of there to Intervale in 1972, zero would be an easy guess and likely answer.

That's a common miss understanding. Only the line north of Mt. Whittier, was abandoned in 1972, service continued as needed up to Mt. Whittier Station after that.
To answer Who's question, unfortunately very little is known about the level of service between Ossipee Aggregates (the pit) and Mt. Whittier, from 1972 up until Guilford's purchase in 1983. I have no idea when the last trains departed Mount Whittier station, Mountain View station or even Ossipee station, I've been hunting for those answers the past 20 years. I do know, the grade crossings with bells and flashers (routes 28, 16 and 41) we're inspected regularly up until 1983, I assume that stopped when Guilford took ownership.

I read somewhere that there was a furniture factory in West Ossipee/Mt Whittier that had rail service. In Googlemaps, you can see what looks to be the foundation/remains of a building (and a curious 45-ft diameter circular foundation) just west of the old station. If that was indeed a shipper, it looks to have been very small and was supposedly all done by the mid-70s. I don't recall B&M ever providing service north of the gravel pit in the late 70s.

There is an Ossipee Historical Society Facebook page. I bet they could help.

That was the Yield House, they used to receive car loads of lumber. There are pictures floating around Facebook and Nerail, etc that show cars spotted on the siding. That's also the original location where the Snowmobile kits were manufactured, for the Ford Model T.

Page 15 of this has some information about shippers on the line: https://books.google.com/books?id=pBlHA ... 5&lpg=PA15

It's also pretty wild to see the recommendations for "potentially excess rail lines" vs. what was eventually abandoned. My favorite "way off base" estimate was that Londonderry NH would have a population of 90k by 2020.

So, all service north of Ossipee Aggragates was gone before 1980 rolled around but they continued to inspect the crossings until 1983? I assume that means the railroad conducted regular track inspections and preformed minimal maintenance (weed spraying & brush trimming) up until Guilford's purchase? Who were the customers at Ossipee, Mountain View and Mt. Whittier (aside from the Yield House)? I took a look at page 15, but I have no idea where any of those customers were located.

I stand corrected. Other than Davidson Rubber, GE looks to have been the only shipper moving more than a couple cars a month; that property is down in Somersworth, well south of Mt. Whittier.

The feed mill at Mountainview still stood last time I passed by, but I don't know when it was last a rail customer. Dairy farming in that area declined fairly rapidly in the 1970s. Yield House apparently still sells kits to build D-I-Y furniture. I recall their retail store was near where NH 16 met US 302 in (I think) North Conway.

Just saw this. Interesting to be because I used to go to my grandparents' house off Deer Cove Road in W. Ossipee in the late 70s and early 80s and notice the Rte 16 crossing because I liked trains and because my grandmother would point out that you could look up the track and see Mt. Washington. Now I understand why the crossing was still a crossing that whole time, but paved the next time I was on Rte 16, I think in summer 1987. (CSRR and I are almost exactly the same age.)