Manchester & Keene Branch

On Tuesday of this week a friend and I went to explore the old Manchester & Keene ROW between Marlborough and Hancock (we had begun this safari back last fall, but hadn't been able to complete it). Having never seen much of the ROW before, we were both amazed by what an engineering feat it must have been to build it, not to mention what a nightmare it must have been for the B&M to try to maintain it. It's no wonder that the 1936 flood made the railroad decide to throw in the towel with regard to trying to continue to operate the line. It wound an improbable route around hills, mountains, streams, and ravines, and required the construction of some massive --- and I DO mean MASSIVE --- trestles. There are old abutments in Hancock whose stonework is astonishing, and there was a trestle on the east side of Marlborough that must have been at least 120 feet above a road and stream. Incredible.

I know there are a couple of old B&M Bulletin articles on the M&K, but I'm wondering whether anything else --- or more fulsome --- has ever been written about it. Does anyone out there know? Any pix available?

Here, Matt has this branch on Nashua City Station: http://www.nashuacitystation.org/?railroad=keene

How hard was it to hike to that trestle in Hancock? I've always wanted to see it but had the impression it was a bit of a treck into the woods.

There is a brand new two volume book published this year called "Iron Roads of the Monadnock Region" that gives extensive coverage to the Manchester and Keene Railroad (among others). And yes, much of this amazing route is hike-able/bike-able. Sadly all that remains of the massive trestles are the abutments and pier foundations.

I'm going to throw in these 2 postcards - both of which depict trestles, which I'm guessing, were on the Manchester & Keene Branch. I got them from a collection I bought several years ago. The M&K is high on my list of abandoned railroads to visit.

What I find confusing is I'm not sure what the beginning and end points of the M&K were. You'd think Manchester and Keene, right? But if you look at a B&M map from the early 20th century, sure, you could get from Keene to Manchester but you'd have to do a helluva lot of zigging and zagging. One source states that the M&K went from Keene to Nashua. That doesn't make any sense. If it went from from Keene to Nashua, why wouldn't they call it the Keene and Nashua railroad?

Correct the Manchester & Keene never went to Manchester. The line between Nashua & Keene was built in sections by different railroad companies and one of them was the Manchester & Keene Railroad. When the Boston & Lowell Railroad absorbed the line, it was known as the Nashua & Keene Branch but under the B&M, it was simply known as the Keene Branch. The eastern end of the Keene branch is still in use but it's now call the Hillsboro Branch, after natural disasters forced the B&M to abandoned sections of their Worcester and Hillsboro Branch (aka Worcester and Contoocook Branch) south of Elmwood Junction and north of Hillsboro, in 1936 and the Keene Branch west of Elmwood Junction in 1938. The remaining sections were combined, and it was renamed the Hillsboro Branch. In 1952 Elmwood Junction was abandoned after Magoon's Curve was constructed, to by-pass the junction and eliminate time consuming switch back moves at the junction.

As an analgesic for this period of privation, I strongly suggest getting both volumes of Iron Roads of the Monadnock Region, available from the Historical Society of Cheshire County, WWW.HSCCNH.ORG. If you -- mistakenly, imo -- want to restrict yourself to the M&K plus a few others on the periphery, then get just Vol. 2.

Thanks guys for the clarification. I do find that 2 volume "Iron Roads..." set mighty tempting although I'm more of a fan of the eastern half of NH than the western half as far as railroads go.