The Cocheco Railroad revisited

1892 map of the old Gonic brick yard with the location of the Gonic station off of Railroad Ave.
Gonic station circa 1908.
Not much of a comparison shot but the Gonic depot would have stood just within the green fence.

The Old Dover Rd. crossing in the Gonic section of Rochester, just beyond Gonic station. Bridge is now gone. Photos courtesy of Scott Currier.

Rochester station. There were 3 railroads that traveled through Rochester but I don't if there were 3 stations.

I picked the following 3 photos because the caption mentions the Lakeport Branch so there is a Cocheco connection. The Lakeport Branch side, I'm guessing, is the left side where the boxcars are parked. Photos were taken by Alan Thomas.

Heading north out of Rochester, the Cocheco River crossing.

Just past the Cocheco River bridge, heading to Farmington.

I've been interested in the Cocheco ever since my mother and grandmother first drove me up NH 11 from Rochester past Alton Bay (destination Ellacoya State Park). In the 60s the abandoned RoW along 11 was much less overgrown and past Alton Bay the old highway was close to the water and more of the RR was evident. I can still pick out the former grade crossings through Farmington and New Durham, but I've never stopped in Alton Bay to figure out how the RR got down to the lakeside.

On into Farmington. The Cocheco, which was on the east side of Rt.11 (Farmington Rd. back in the day), crosses over to the west side near Places Cross Lane. Places depot, at the rear of a farmhouse, was not too far from the crossing, also known as Walkers Crossing. The farmhouse was still standing in the 1980s (probably the 90s too) but I couldn't find it when I looked earlier this year.
There was a quote from member "Steam" in another thread about the Cocheco: "As a girl, my mother used to travel with her family to visit relatives up there and they got off the train at Places as the family homestead (Trask) was across the road."

Here's a section of a map of Farmington from 1892 showing the RT. 11 crossing and the location of the Trask house. From the map it can be easily determined where Places was located.

On July 22, 1928, 6 people were killed when a circus train carrying the performers and equipment of “Bernardi Greater Shows” which was a traveling carnival and animal exhibition, derailed near where the tracks crossed Meeting House Hill Road. The twenty-car train was carrying 368 passengers from Lakeport, New Hampshire to Gloucester, Massachusetts when the crash occurred in rainy conditions. All of the men killed were laborers of the traveling carnival troupe and were lying or sitting under and among the wagons and other show equipment to escape the drenching rain.

Junction of Meeting House Hill Road and the Cocheco where the train wreck occurred.

Well, not all rails have been removed from the Cocheco. Here's a short section of track at the Metal Farm just south of the old Davidson Rubber Plant.

The Davidson Rubber Plant used a short section of the Cocheco, from Rochester to Farmington and made automotive instrument panels and other products from the 1960s through 2001 until, under a different name, it filed for bankruptcy in 2005.

At its peak, around 1985-86, the plant employed about 1,200 workers and served the big three auto manufacturers — Chrysler, GM and Ford. At one point, 80 percent of production was shipped to the South and Mid-West by rail from the factory.

From Foster's Daily Democrat, a former employee stated:
"Then they went to Just-in-Time [inventory system], so we converted to 100 percent trucking. Trains involved a lot on manual labor, with trucks, they could just back up to the dock and be loaded by a forklift."

The plant was just south of Paulson Rd. North of Paulson Rd. the ROW is intact for a few miles until it merges with RT. 11 just south of the old Farmington station location. The Davidson Rubber Plant was right behind me in the photo below.

Mile post. Rt. 11 in the background.
In the distance the Cocheco merges briefly with Rt. 11. which you can just see through the trees.

Just past the merge, approaching the Farmington depot with the freight house in the foreground.
Postcard sent in 1907 of the Farmington depot looking north towards Alton.
Postcard of the Farmington depot looking south towards Rochester.

Overlay of a portion of an 1892 map of Farmington over a modern map of Farmington showing the location of the Farmington depot.
Farmington depot and its location today. A point of reference, the white house indicated by the red arrow in both photos. Farmington depot photo courtesy of the Farmington Historical Society.

Just past the Farmington depot, the Cocheco splits off from RT. 11 and heads for the Mad River.

The Cocheco crossed the Mad River north of Farmington town center and I assumed I'd see the usual 2 abutments that would have supported a steel girder bridge. But, again, I was wrong. I walked through a short stretch of woods to get to the river then turned left and followed it for a bit until I saw what looked at first like a giant granite outcrop. As I got closer, I thought, no, not a granite outcrop but a dam? No, not a dam but a huge arch! I had found the Mad River crossing. I was surprised at how tall it was, perhaps 30 -40 feet high. Built around 1848/49 it appeared to be in the middle of the woods even though River Rd. was just south of it and a garden center was just north.
Top of the arch.