does anyone have any pictures, memories of rochester nh, farmington or gonic new hampshire before Northcoast?
No pictures, just memories. In college I worked as a lifeguard at a summer camp up near Lake Winnipesaukee. Some weekends some of the staff would head down to Hampton Beach on our day off. I remember driving down from Alton through Farmington, Rochester and Dover. I was always wanting to chase trains whenever we came upon tracks but the others were in a hurry to get where we were going. Hard to understand why everyone was not a rail fan. I do remember a few trains but not much about them.
The last time I was up there in October 1992, the line still went north out of Rochester sorta paralleling and to the east of Route 11. The line then crossed Route 11 south of Farmington and ended at the tire plant a mile or so north of the crossing. Interesting thing about the Route 11 crossing...the train had to stop and a crewman went to the crossing guards, activated the lights, and cranked down the gates. Also, the tire plant had 2 or 3 boxcars staged, so I assume the line was still active. Oh, one other thing.....there's a farmhouse in the middle of a field visible from Route 11, about halfway between Farmington and New Durham that looked like the typical B&M rural station. I noticed it because it had what appeared to be a bi-directional order board mast with two semaphores. I assume the line ran in that general vicinity on its way to Alton and Lakeport.
