 | |
 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Claremont, New Hampshire |
| Reporting mark | CCRR |
| Locale | New Hampshire |
| Dates of operation | June 24, 1848–1875 |
| Successor | Boston & Maine Railroad |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Concord and Claremont Railroad was an American railroad company during the mid-nineteenth century in New Hampshire spanning from Concord to Claremont.
Chartered on June 24, 1848, the Concord and Claremont Railroad was established and construction had begun on November 19, 1848. Approximately ten months later, on September 21, the railroad was opened from Concord to Warner.
The very first train to travel the line left Warner and had approximately 500 passengers aboard the 9 passenger coaches. On the return trip from Concord, the train carried about 800 passengers on the 18 passenger coaches, which required a second locomotive pushing from the rear. The original railroad line was only 18 miles (29 km) long, but it was soon extended through Bradford, adding 9 miles (14 km) to the line.
In 1852, the railroad filed for bankruptcy; it was merged in 1853 with the New Hampshire Central Railroad, forming what was known as the Merrimac and Connecticut Rivers Railroad Company. In 1874, the Sugar River Railroad, which built and ran its rail line from Newport to Claremont, [1] merged with the Contoocook Valley Railroad and again created the Concord and Claremont Railroad, under the control of the Northern Railroad.
In 1887, the Boston and Maine Railroad absorbed the Concord and Claremont, and the line was now known as the Claremont Branch of the Boston & Maine. [2]
The Claremont and Concord Railway was established in 1954 when shortline railroad operator Samuel Pinsly purchased 55 miles (89 km) of track between Claremont Junction and Concord from the Boston and Maine Railroad. A succession of abandonments between 1960 and 1977 cut the line back to just four miles (6 km) between Claremont and Claremont Junction.
Passenger rail on the line had a surprising rebirth for eight weeks in the summer of 1961. Between July 22 and September 17, the tracks between Bradford and Sunapee were used by F. Nelson Blount and his Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Railroad, a tourist excursion railroad. Blount approached Pinsly when his planned operations on the Boston & Maine's Cheshire Branch did not materialize quickly enough for the 1961 season. The operation utilized a former Canadian National Railway 4-6-4T steam locomotive, #47, and several former Boston & Maine wooden coaches. The steam operation came to an early end on August 25 when the locomotive was removed from service on account of missing maintenance paperwork, which had been disposed of by the Canadian National when they retired #47 in 1958. A diesel replacement was used for an additional seven days, but was not popular. This was the last regularly-scheduled passenger service on the Claremont Branch. [3]
In 1988, the line was sold to a local lumber dealer that renamed the operation Claremont-Concord Railroad. In 2015 the railroad was acquired by Genesee and Wyoming Industries and integrated into its New England Central Railroad.
Difficult economic times and the advancement of the automobile forced many railroads to close rail lines. The Boston & Maine Railroad was to sell off the rights to many of the lines and rights of way it held, including the Claremont Branch, sold to an independent operator in 1954, this time as the Claremont and Concord Railway. [4] [5] Once this had taken place, the Claremont and Concord's abandonments took place from east to west:
The Claremont Concord Railroad now operates 2 miles (3 km) between Claremont Junction on the main line to Claremont as a subsidiary of New England Central Railroad, itself a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Industries.[ citation needed ]
9 miles (14 km) of the line between Claremont and Newport is now the Sugar River Recreational Rail Trail, owned and managed by the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation. [6]
The Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail is currently under construction along portions of the rail line between Concord and Newbury.
Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a mountain in the towns of Jaffrey and Dublin, New Hampshire. It is the most prominent mountain peak in southern New Hampshire and is the highest point in Cheshire County. It lies 38 miles (61 km) southwest of Concord and 62 miles (100 km) northwest of Boston. At 3,165 feet (965 m), Mount Monadnock is nearly 1,000 feet (305 m) higher than any other mountain peak within 30 miles (48 km) and rises 2,000 feet (610 m) above the surrounding landscape. Monadnock's bare, isolated, and rocky summit provides expansive views. It is known for being featured in the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983.
The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Southern Division.
New Hampshire Route 103 is a 48.300-mile-long (77.731 km) east–west highway in west-central New Hampshire, United States. The highway runs from Claremont, at the Vermont border on the Connecticut River, to Hopkinton, west of Concord.
Francis Nelson Blount was an American businessman, railroad enthusiast and president and founder of Blount Seafood Corporation and the founder of Steamtown, USA, the Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Railroad, and the Green Mountain Railroad. A millionaire and a railroad enthusiast, Blount's collection of vintage steam locomotives and rail cars—originally based in New England—was one of the largest ever assembled and still remains the cornerstone of the modern-day Steamtown National Historic Site.
The Green Mountain Railroad is a class III railroad operating in Vermont. GMRC operates on tracks that had been owned by the Rutland Railroad and Boston and Maine Railroad. The railroad operates on a rail line between North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Rutland, Vermont. GMRC's corporate colors are green and yellow.
The New England Central Railroad is a regional railroad in the New England region of the United States. It began operations in 1995, as the successor of the Central Vermont Railway (CV). The company was originally a subsidiary of holding company RailTex before being purchased by RailAmerica in 2000. In 2012, the company was purchased by Genesee & Wyoming, its current owner.
The Sugar River is a 27.0-mile-long (43.5 km) river located in western New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound.
Lovewell Mountain is a 2,473-foot (754 m) mountain associated with the Sunapee Ridge in southwest New Hampshire. The mountain is traversed by the 50-mile (80 km) Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway and offers vistas from several ledges near its summit. Much of the mountain is wooded with species of the northern hardwood forest type; stands of coniferous red spruce are common on the mountain's higher elevations.
Pitcher Mountain is a 2,153 foot monadnock located in southwest New Hampshire. The mountain is traversed by the 50 mile (80 km) Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway and offers 360 degree views from its open summit. Lower elevations are wooded with species of the northern hardwood forest type; small stands of coniferous red spruce cling to the upper slopes. A fire tower stands on the summit and a beef livestock farm occupies the east shoulder of the mountain. Pitcher Mountain is part of an extensive area of heath barrens and blueberry fields that continue north over Hubbard Hill and Jackson Hill.
The Monadnock Railroad was one of many extension line railroads built to help expand the Fitchburg Railroad/Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad into New Hampshire. This line was to serve the New Hampshire towns on the eastern side of Mount Monadnock, mainly Jaffrey and Peterborough.
The Northern Recreational Rail Trail, also known as the Northern Rail Trail, is a 58-mile (93 km) multi-use rail trail in western New Hampshire, USA, running from Lebanon to Boscawen. It uses the right-of-way of the Boston and Maine Railroad's former Northern Line, which was acquired by the State of New Hampshire in 1996. The trail is managed by the New Hampshire Bureau of Trails.
The Canadian National 47 is a preserved class "X-10-a"4-6-4T type tank locomotive located at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of only three preserved CN 4-6-4Ts and is the only Baltic-type suburban tank locomotive remaining in the United States.
The Contoocook Railroad Bridge is a covered bridge on the former Contoocook Valley Railroad line spanning the Contoocook River in the center of the village of Contoocook, New Hampshire, United States. It is referred to in the National Register of Historic Places as the Hopkinton Railroad Covered Bridge, for the town of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, in which the village of Contoocook is located.
Steamtown, U.S.A., was a steam locomotive museum that ran steam excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s to 1983. The museum was founded by millionaire seafood industrialist F. Nelson Blount. The non-profit Steamtown Foundation took over operations following his death in 1967. Because of Vermont's air quality regulations restricting steam excursions, declining visitor attendance, and disputes over the use of track, some pieces of the collection were relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s and the rest were auctioned off. After the move, Steamtown continued to operate in Scranton but failed to attract the expected 200,000–400,000 visitors. Within two years the tourist attraction was facing bankruptcy, and more pieces of the collection were sold to pay off debt.
The Northern Railroad was a U.S. railroad in central New Hampshire. Originally opened from Concord to West Lebanon in 1847, the Northern Railroad become part of the Boston and Maine system by 1890.
The Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts that connected Worcester and Winchendon via Gardner. It was originally chartered as the Barre and Worcester Railroad in 1847, before being renamed the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad in 1849. The company was unable to raise funds for construction until 1869; service between Worcester and Gardner began in 1871. An extension northward to Winchendon was completed in January 1874. The Boston, Barre and Gardner operated independently until it was taken over by the Fitchburg Railroad in 1885. Despite the company's name, it never served Boston or Barre. The line was abandoned between Winchendon and Gardner in 1959 by the Fitchburg's successor, the Boston and Maine Railroad. In the 21st century, freight service on the remainder of the line is operated by the Providence and Worcester Railroad between Worcester and Gardner, and by Pan Am Railways on a short segment in Gardner.
The Contoocook Railroad Depot is located in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, United States, in the village of Contoocook. The depot was completed in 1849 as one of the first substantial railroad passenger stations west of Concord on the Concord and Claremont Railroad. The building is one of the best preserved of a small number of gable-roofed railroad stations surviving from the first decade of rail development in New Hampshire. The station exemplifies the pioneering period of rail development in the state.
The Contoocook River Railroad, or CRR, is a former railway company in New Hampshire. The CRR was first established on June 24, 1848, as Contoocook Valley Railroad founded and built on a standard gauge railway line from Contoocook to Hillsboro which was opened in December 1849. The 14.7 mile long route branched in Contoocook with the Concord and Claremont Railroad. The southern continuation of this path toward Massachusetts was subsequently amended to include the Peterborough and Hillsborough Railroad.
The Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail is a 34-mile (55 km), gravel mixed-use rail trail in central New Hampshire that is currently under construction, under control of the Friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail (FCLSRT). It roughly follows the course of the Concord and Claremont Railroad line, starting in Concord and passing through the towns of Hopkinton, Warner, Sutton, and Bradford, and ending in Newbury at Lake Sunapee. The trail is being designed for use by walkers, cyclists, equestrians, and cross-country skiers.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
