Boston & Maine lines in New Hampshire-good books?

I was re-reading (for the umpteenth time) Don Ball's book "Portrait of the Rails". Pages 102-103 show two B&M 2-6-0s in Peterboro Village, NH "at the end of Boston and Maine's 52-mile branch from Worcester". I've done a little more research on this linein Ronald Dale Karr's The Rail Lines of Southern New England", which, if I got it right, is referred to as "The Monadnock".

Can anyone recommend any books covering B&M's New Hampshire branch lines? I'm more interested in picture of these lines; less so in heavy-duty text.

There is a book, which I believe is published by Arcadia Publishing (a publisher of American
historical books) which is titled The Boston & Main In New Hampshire, or something similar. I haven't yet
looked at it, but I'd bet (based on my previous experience with Arcadia publications) that this would be a good
reference. I checked Arcadia's website and could not find it; but I think I saw it for sale in the Conway Scenic
gift shop recently. My guess is that if you call them and ask the gift shop manager, they could tell you the
correct title and if they have it in stock.

A classic is "High Green and the Bark Peelers," by RM Neal written in 1950. It touches on much more than NH, but is a very good read about the B&M "back in the day." I'm sure you can find it for sale somewhere on the internet.

Cowford wrote:A classic is "High Green and the Bark Peelers," by RM Neal written in 1950. It touches on much more than NH, but is a very good read about the B&M "back in the day." I'm sure you can find it for sale somewhere on the internet.

One of my all-time favorite books, and probably one of the first I ever read. Unfortunately there are no pictures included.

For the same approach as the Karr book, you can try: Lindsell, Robert M. The Rail Lines of Northern New England: A Handbook of Railroad History. Pepperell, MA: Branchline Press, 2000.

If you're looking for pictures, many years ago, Trains magazine published an article entitled "When Steam ruled the B&M in New Hampshire." Sorry I don't remember the date, but you might be able to check Trains back issue archives and/or the internet.

PBM

The book which merrman refers is probably "A History of the Boston & Maine" by Bruce Heald.
It is subtitled "Exploring New Hampshire's Rugged Heart by Rail." It is not an Arcadia book,
but is grouped with several of Arcadia's other books in the CSR gift shop. Haven't had a chance
to look through it yet, but it looks interesting.

High Green & The Bark Peelers is definitely a must-read, if you haven't read it already. Quite a few of the public libraries in B&M territory have it, so you may not even need to buy a copy; if your local library doesn't have it, they can probably get it from another library that does have it.

Yes, eman, that is the one, thanks. And High Green and the Bark Peelers is a good book, but
very little about NH. There is a section on a trip up the Conway Branch.

I think a lot of you are missing the point of this man's question, he's looking for photo books, not text. Yes, "High Green and the Bark Peelers" is a great book, but it has no photographs. The really best book with photographs of New Hampshire branchline operations is "The Boston & Maine A Photographic Essay", the photography of Phillip Ross Hastings.
It was published in 1989 by Locomotive and Railway Preservation, and at the time it retailed for $70.00, I've seen copies at the Springfield RR Show going for anywhere between $70.00 and $125.00. Its a marvelous book covering the Peterboro Branch, Concord to White River, Hillsboro Branch, White Mountains Division, Conn River Division, Claremont & Concord Branch, and even a little Worcester, Ayer, and Fitchburg thrown in for good measure. Happy hunting, copies are out there, I would hit all the shows this fall and winter, especially Concord,N.H. and The Big E in Springfield,Mass.

You're correct David. The Hastings' book, despite the photos being in black and white, is one of the best B&M photo books hands down. In my opinion no one captured the essence of the railroad the way Mr. Hastings did.

That being said, don't take every photo caption at it's word. Many of them are incorrect in date, location or sometimes both. Since the book was published after Phil's death I believe Frank Kyper, who did the text, probably only had minimal info to work with on each photo. It's too bad he didn't consult some knowledgeable folks in B&M land who could of helped out with some of it. Nonetheless, the photos themselves are among the finest on the subject.

While many other of Mr. Hastings' photos have made it into other publications, it's too bad someone hasn't put out other volumes of his work. All of his photos were donated by his family to the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento. While I haven't had the opportunity to visit it yet, it is a collection I definetly would like to see.

Duane Goodman

Although not as focused on B&M in New Hampshire, I have a book by Ron Johnson called New Hampshire and Vermont Railroads Published in 1986. A quick search to Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/New-Hampshire-Ver ... 601&sr=1-2 found several for sale. This book covers some steam and diesel era, and the only text being describing what is in the photo.
Mike

I just purchased a copy of Trackside Around New Hampshire 1950-1970 with Ben English, Jr by George F. Melvin. It is an excellent collection of color photos covering Conn River, Ashuelot, Claremont & Concord, Northern, Pemi, Wolfeboro, Berlin, Rockingham Junction, etc. It is available from the author at http://www.melvinphotos.com at a substantial discount from list. Great stuff!

Thanks guys, great info! Sorry I didn't reply sooner, as I had taken my family to see the Strasburg RR (they're running their 2-10-0 and 4-8-0 currently). Back to the topic-yup, I'm more interested in photos and less so in text, so thanks for the great suggestions.