The Contoocook River Railroad, or CRR, is a former railway company in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. The CRR was first established on June 24, 1848, as ''Contoocook Valley Railroad'' founded and built on a

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

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 Concord and Claremont Railroad was an American railroad company during the mid-nineteenth century in New Hampshire spanning from Concord to Claremont. History Chartered on June 24, 1848, the Concord and Claremont Railroad was established and ...

. The southern continuation of this path toward

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

was subsequently amended to include the

Peterborough and Hillsborough Railroad Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 19 ...

. On October 1, 1857, the reorganization was carried out and the line was renamed to Contoocook River Railroad. The railway company merged on October 31, 1873, with the

Merrimac and Connecticut Rivers Railroad Merrimac may refer to: Place names * Merrimac, Queensland, Australia ** Electoral district of Merrimac United States * Merrimac, California * Merrimac, Illinois * Merrimac, Kentucky * Merrimac, Massachusetts, the original town with the name "Merr ...

, the old Concord & Claremont had taken over, and the

Sugar River Railroad Sugar is the generic name for Sweetness, sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides o ...

was assumed by the Concord and Claremont Railroad. In 1884, the

Boston and Lowell Railroad 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 R ...

leased the rail line and eventually was purchased by the

Boston and Maine Corporation 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 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B ...

in 1890. The track is no longer in operation today.

References

External links

Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society
Boston and Maine Railroad Defunct New Hampshire railroads Rail trails in New Hampshire Railway companies established in 1848 Railway companies disestablished in 1873 American companies established in 1848 American companies disestablished in 1873 {{US-rail-company-stub