Wolfboro Railroad/Cotton Valley Speeders

Is the Cotton Valley speeders still using the Wolfboro Railroad? Or did it become a rail trail? When the Wolfboro ran freight on it, what companies used it? Thanks...

I hope it'll be used again...

They are quite active, running and maintaining the line from Rt. 16 at the Miss Wakefield Diner toward Wolfeboro, at the Fernald engine house at Rt. 109, which is a mile or two short of downtown Wolfeboro. The station at downtown is a visitor center. They are a great group.

see this link:
http://www.cottonvalley.org/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are some links on the web site with the history of the line. I think the railroad last operated around 1985. the steam engine that was there is, last I heard, at Edaville on display. I am not sure if that is still the case

I had posted some photos on NERAIL from the 1970s at the Sanbornville connection, which was the link to the main line. The link has long since been severed. The turntable pit is still there in Sanbornville.

Steve Delaney

Thanks... it looked like that line became a railtrail on a website. I hope that it will become an active line someday.

its a combo its basically a giant railroad crossing.

its a giant railroad crossing not a rail trail

The Speeders maintain the track so I guess they "own" the ROW. I don't know if they let anyone else (speeders, railbikes, etc) use it during non-winter.

The state owns the ROW and I believe the Cotton Valley leases it.

The state owns the ROW and I believe the Cotton Valley leases it.

yeah that is correct

The State owns the ROW. CVRTC does not lease anything. CVRTC has a usage agreement for the engine house and station at Fernald in Wolfeboro. Access to the track is granted to anyone with a motorcar under NHDOT/DRED rules. Rail bikes are only allowed if they display a red light to the rear and a white to the front visible at a distance no less than 300'. This covers several other rail lines in the state open for speeder use.

The Wolfeboro Line is know as "rail with trail". There are segments with the trail along the rail and segments when the trail is between the rails.

> motorcar under NHDOT/DRED rules

Got a link?

>This covers several other rail lines in the state open for speeder use.

Are these published under NHDOT? I'd search but I'm not certain of the phraseology.. I have an interest in building my own railcar.

The Cotton Valley club is now affiliated with NARCOA (for insurance reasons), so you will need to talk with them about whether you railcar has to meet NARCOA standards. Home-made vehicles are frowned on. Peddle cars are not allowed, etc. You would have to join the club to use the track, and then pass their inspection for the car to be allow in the track. Safety is the real issue here, and most home-made contraptions don't meet the NARCOA standards (I only know of one).

Tony

They don't exactly *frown* on homebuilts. They just have a lot of advice for people trying it, which amounts to "Build a Fairmont". You can't reallly cheap out, because you need metal wheels, and they cost like $200 each.

Why do you "NEED" metal wheels? Up at the BM&L they run pedal cars with poly wheels.

It's a NARCOA rule. Don't know why. I expect that somebody had trouble with the poly wheels on an outing and the group said "nope, not again."

That's entirely possible, Russ. It should also be noted that BHS/nee: B&MLRR is not under NARCOA rules. They are their own entity and they own the rental rail-bikes themselves, so it's a case of "whatever works best for them."