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A History of the Boston & Maine Railroad: Exploring New Hampshire's Rugged Heart by Rail
On June 27, 1835, New Hampshire chartered the Boston & Maine Railroad, and a juggernaut was born. By 1900, the B&M operated some 2,300 miles of track in northern New England, having taken over an astonishing forty-seven different railroads since its inception. The B&M loomed particularly large in the Granite State, where it controlled 96 percent of all tracks and was the primary conveyance through the rugged heart of New England s most formidable mountain range.From the gravity-defying Mount Washington Cog Railway to logging transport trains to the famous Depression-era Snow Train, A History of the Boston & Maine Railroad traces the fascinating history of New England's most renowned railway.
128 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 29, 2026
Railroad histories can be hard to make readable for a non-technically inclined audience. I count myself in that general pool.
There are a lot of details that have to go into such a history: types of engines and the power that drove them; miles of tracks; big dollar figures concerning mergers; and more. It's easy to get lost in a sea of numbers, not to mention the winding routes that pass quickly through various towns and cities. It's a lot to keep track of.
But Bruce Heald is among the best local historians in the country. He understands what we all face when the statistics pile up. He also knew that going into this book he had a wonderful backdrop of natural scenery to use as a hook. The trick was to describe the same things over and over - rivers, mountains, deep forests, spectacular views of all - in different ways to keep the attention of the reader. He does well.
As far as my biggest takeaway from the book, it came late. While we understand what the railroads did for New England, shrinking distances for both commerce and leisure, and we knew that some hidden industries like logging (as in, unseen by most New Englanders at the time) depended heavily on the rails, it was the end of the arc that caught me by surprise. The snow trains of the 1920s and 1930s were a last-ditch effort. Automobiles had taken over the movement of vacationing people, especially in the summertime. With decreased ridership on the trains, the Boston & Maine tried something novel, meeting every Thursday in winter to determine what route to what mountain would produce the best skiing options for Sunday trains. It was a brilliant, if labor intensive, project. By the end of the 1930s, railroads would be dying across New England.
The book is well illustrated with historic photos, maps and other paraphernalia like ads, timetables and more. Trains still run throughout New England, but we can hardly imagine what it must have been like when they ruled the northeast. Bruce Heald helps us remember.
There are a lot of details that have to go into such a history: types of engines and the power that drove them; miles of tracks; big dollar figures concerning mergers; and more. It's easy to get lost in a sea of numbers, not to mention the winding routes that pass quickly through various towns and cities. It's a lot to keep track of.
But Bruce Heald is among the best local historians in the country. He understands what we all face when the statistics pile up. He also knew that going into this book he had a wonderful backdrop of natural scenery to use as a hook. The trick was to describe the same things over and over - rivers, mountains, deep forests, spectacular views of all - in different ways to keep the attention of the reader. He does well.
As far as my biggest takeaway from the book, it came late. While we understand what the railroads did for New England, shrinking distances for both commerce and leisure, and we knew that some hidden industries like logging (as in, unseen by most New Englanders at the time) depended heavily on the rails, it was the end of the arc that caught me by surprise. The snow trains of the 1920s and 1930s were a last-ditch effort. Automobiles had taken over the movement of vacationing people, especially in the summertime. With decreased ridership on the trains, the Boston & Maine tried something novel, meeting every Thursday in winter to determine what route to what mountain would produce the best skiing options for Sunday trains. It was a brilliant, if labor intensive, project. By the end of the 1930s, railroads would be dying across New England.
The book is well illustrated with historic photos, maps and other paraphernalia like ads, timetables and more. Trains still run throughout New England, but we can hardly imagine what it must have been like when they ruled the northeast. Bruce Heald helps us remember.
March 31, 2023
This book is a trip on B&M rails through the little state of New Hampshire. I enjoyed "travelling" over the B&M rails through Crawford Notch and riding a Snow Train north from Boston. I also took a ride on the Mount Washington Cog Railway. It is possible for the reader to use his or her imagination when he or she reads this book!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews