New Hampshire Railroads and Railfanning In "The Granite State"

New Hampshire railroads featured classic New England operations with rolling green hills and farmland. At one time the Granite State featured such fabled Northeastern railroads as the Maine Central and Boston & Maine although that is no longer the case today. Currently, New Hampshire railroads include no Class Is, one regional (Class II), and a small handful of shortlines). Additionally, the state has never held a large amount of trackage, just over 1,000 miles during the industry's peak years. While today, the state may only operate a few hundred miles of track it continues to offer some spectacular views of New Englandrailroads at their finest. Please be aware that throughout the article below are included links to other pages here at the site, which relate to New Hampshire railroads. They are included here simply for your enjoyment and interest.

A trio of Boston & Maine GP38-2s and a GP40-2 run light through the yard at East Deerfield, Massachusetts on September 28, 1980.

New Hampshire railroads date back to 1835 when the Nashua & Lowell Railroad was chartered. The N&L was built to continue a line north from Lowell, where a connection with the Boston & Lowell Railroad was obtained (this company dated back to June of 1830, and was a predecessor to the much better known Boston & Maine Railroad), to Nashua. The B&L would grow to become a rather large railroad for its time serving Boston, eastern Massachusetts, and into New Hampshire. In any event, three years after it was created the N&L completed its main line between its namesake cities. By 1860 the B&L and N&L began to merger operations and after 1880 the latter became a full subsidiary of the former.

Following the creation of the Nashua & Lowell, New Hampshire would find a handful of New England's best remembered railroads operating lines across its borders. These included:

Boston & Maine

Maine Central

Central Vermont Railway

The Boston & Maine became New Hampshire's largest provider of rail service, operating all through the state from Berlin in the north to Dover and Portsmouth along the coast. Virtually all of the state's largest and most significant towns and cities were served by the B&M. Today the B&M is still officially on the books (the oldest railroad still on paper in North America), although it survives now mostly in name only and it is unlikely the railroad will ever be spun off from the Pan Am system, which has a significant presence in New Hampshire today. Of course, the B&M has not been an independently operated entity long before it was handed over to Pan Am. In 1983 the railroad was purchased by the Guilford Transportation Industries owned by Timothy Mellon and remained so until Guilford became Pan Am Railways in early 2006.

Three New England Central GP38-2s with #3857 up front power train #610 across the Thames River near Quaker Hill, Connecticut on March 4, 2000.

Aside from the Pan Am's operations other railroads operating in New Hampshire include the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railway (part of the Genesee & Wyoming family of shortlines), the historic Claremont & Concord Railroad, Milford-Bennington Railroad, New England Central Railroad, New England Southern Railroad, and the New Hampshire Northcoast Corporation. To learn a bit more about these railroads please click here. This page is also meant to help those looking for employment in New Hampshire so please disregard this if you are just looking over the operating railroads.

In total, New Hampshire railroads, operate a little over 400 miles of trackage today although at one time the state was home to over 1,200 miles (the state also currently owns some 300 miles of railbanked right-of-way). While the state has never held a significant amount of rail infrastructure it has nevertheless been hit hard by abandonments and cutbacks. Since the 1920s when mileage peaked in the state (and around the country), New Hampshire has seen its rails decline by more than 67% (the average for most states is around 45%-50%). For more information on New Hampshire railroads, in terms of route mileage over the years please refer to the chart below.

While New Hampshire railroads have never known for famous passenger trains like the Super Chief or 20th Century Limited there have been trains like the B&M's Day White Mountains and Maine Central's Mountaineer operated in the Granite State. Today, passenger operations are exclusively the domain of Amtrak and include the daily Vermonter, with stops at Claremont Junction and the Downeaster, with stops at Exeter, Durham and Dover. To learn more about Amtrak's current services to the state please click here to visit their website.

A pair of rebuilt Maine Central GP7s have a transfer freight along Conrail trackage in Buffalo, New York on November 23, 1984.

Aside from passenger and freight trains you may want to also ride one of the state's tourist railroads that can take you through the breathtaking New England countryside or through New Hampshire's gorgeous White Mountains, like on the White Mountain Central Railroad. New Hampshire is also home to the famous Mount Washington Cog Railway, which goes straight up Mount Washington! If, however, you're not into excursion trains be sure and visit one of the state's railroad museums like the Sandown Historical Society and Museum.

Surviving New Hampshire Train Stations

All in all, whether it is a ride up Mount Washington or watching the Pan Am Railway serve the state's coastal regions, New Hampshire railroads are most definitely an interesting and unique experience that will not be forgotten!

In the foreground, a Guilford manifest freight led by GP40 #337 rolls past the former BM tower at Ayer, Massachusetts (a Boston & Maine structure) on June 30, 2001 as a local (led by GP40 #308) awaits for the main to clear in the background.

For more reading about New England's railroad history you might want to consider a copy of Lost Railroads of New England (2nd Edition) by author Ron Karr, which is an update to the original 1989 edition. As the title implies the book explores the history of railroads that once served the region and has been given excellent reviews by readers. Another book of Mr. Carr's covering the subject is The Rail Lines of Southern New England: A Handbook of Railroad History, which has also been given very good reviews. In any event, if you're interested in perhaps purchasing one, or both, of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.