Portsmouth Branch Activity

Yup People walk through the railyard all the time in Portsmouth. Its a short cut from Bartlet Street to Maplewood.

Luckily it's a 10mph track so plenty of time to get out of the way I guess. I would love to walk it but wont as I am assuming its not legal even to walk alongside the track?

Am sure you have all seen this but I found this on YouTube yesterday.. fascinating history and insight into the Portsmouth Branch before abandonment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZDtoBh5KlU

Great video for someone with little knowledge of the line. He put in a lot of time to do that.

Yes was very interesting. He had clearly done his homework. Had some great photos in there too showing a nice insight into the past.

Like Keene, Epping looks like another town you would never know 2 rail lines used to serve.

I drove for UPS for 9 years after graduating from UNH, and in the 90's you could easily make out where the Portsmouth and line to Fremont had been. The WN&P was harder since they put Route 125 over the right of way a little north of the Lamprey River. You can still see the bridge abutments over the river, but that's about it.

The Worcester, Nashua & Portland ... A mystery railroad if there ever was one ... Successful initially, superior connections to inland Massachusetts and among the most direct routes to New York City ... And yet ... It failed.

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B&M's monopolistic goals lead it to buy up every line it could lest they fall into the hands
of the competition- an early example being the 20+ year ruinous rate war it conducted with
the Eastern RR before the later capitulated. After WW2 B&M didn't need three more or less
parallel routes from Portland to Massachusetts.

WN&P was gone before WW2.

On a Craigslist jaunt to Fremont I found myself on a road off 125 that had still-extant crossbucks standing, Farm-something road I think? It was darkish so I could not see what ROW remained at the crossing but as far as I know the signs are still there.
[edit]

After availing myself of Gooogle Maps the crossbucks are on Martin Rd at Brookvale Pines Farm. The Rockingham Recreational Trail is the old WN&P ROW...I think.

Yes, that's Martin Rd right by the farm. Which, by the way, is where they hold snowmobile grass drag racing in the fall. Back in the 90's the rails were still in the road, but gone from the right of way.

Are those crossbucks original? Amazing if they are ...

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Yep, and the owners of that farm keep a very close eye on them.

gokeefe wrote: ↑Sat Sep 05, 2020 8:14 pm Are those crossbucks original? Amazing if they are ...

Original as in there when the line was built in the 1800s? No. 1960s/70s maybe?

I don't think the WN&P existed in the 1970s ... ??

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