Loon Mountain Narrow Gauge Railroad

So Loon Mountain Ski Resort has a small railroad on property which I have known about for sometime but keep forgetting about. This video is the first time I have actually seen this train and now I have some questions.
1. How often does this train run and when?
2. How many trains are there?
3. What's the history of the railroad?
4. Where did the steam engine in the video come from or was it built for the resort?
5. How long is this railroad distance and time wise? I know it runs between the resorts two lodges.

The track at Loon is about 1/4 mile long. This train shuttles skiers and other patrons back and forth between two stations where lifts and parking lots are located. The engine is a wood burner. One man runs it, does his own firing. I don't think there is a set schedule, it just seems to go when there are people on board.

I have been unable to locate any history on the locomotive. If I remember correctly, I think someone once told me that
it had been regauaged from 3 ft to 2 ft, but I may be wrong on that.

I believe the locomotive is an Orstien &Koppel from Germany, built in the early 30's. The cars are built on the chasis of the former 2 foot ga Gondolas from the Whitin Machine works, Whitinsville, MA.

Thanks for the information.
Is the train just a ski season operation or do they run it all year?
How long has the train been in operation at the mountain?

They only run during the ski season, although it would be nice to have it run during the summer once in a while. I am not sure how long the have been running the train there, but I'd say alteast 30+ years.

For those of you who may be interested the J.E. Henry Railway, located at Loon Mountain will be offering people the chance to operate the German, built 0-4-0T engine one day each month July – October.

Do you love trains? Are you curious about what it takes to operate a narrow-gauge, wood-fired, steam-powered locomotive? Then Loon's Guest Engineer program is perfectly suited for you.

For more information click here.

I'm pretty foggy on the details, but the line used to be longer. It was "abandoned" in 1970s and ripped up in 1979 by Conway Scenic to salvage the rail.

Wasn't there a short article about this operation in Trains within the last couple years?

So what's the deal with the engine up there as of late? I can't find anything on the line past some pictures in 2015.

It operated all through the 2015-16 ski season, and presumably will this season as well. The engine is typically locked away in the shed when not in use and the cars parked in the station at the Octagon Lodge (i.e. east) end of the track.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/289481810" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; shows the railroad as described. the USGS topo map shows no sign of abandoned tracks at either end. However, if you go up into the hills a bit, you can find some "wilderness trails" which look suspiciously flat with few curves. Or if you go down into Lincoln, there is nothing other than new construction which would impede you from interchanging with the Concord & Montreal (later B&M).

There was never a railroad there. The closest thing would have been on the other side of the river, the East Branch & Lincoln.

So the East Branch & Lincoln stayed on the north bank of the river?

http://www.whitemountainhistory.org/Eas ... ncoln.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The map below shows the route of the EB&L and their connection with the BC&M.
We see that YES, there WAS a bit of railroad logging done at Loon, on the Loon side of the river. However, it appears that the two Loon Mountain locations where the EB&L crossed were east and west of the narrow gauge resptively. The eastern most spur appears to have crossed in the locoation of the 4 person gondola (Octagon Lodge).
http://www.whitemountainhistory.org/upl ... h_1920.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I had forgotten about that spur to the camp. Thanks. But still, there was not a railroad where the current operation is.