The Saco Valley Railroad was a short-lived
logging railroad that followed the
Dry River in
New Hampshire. The short line extended northward from a junction with the
Mountain Division. The slope is a steep one and the railroad had to stay very near, or even between the banks of the Dry River on wooden trestlework. Washouts were a regular occurrence. The Saco Valley Railroad only ran for six years before the area was logged out. Without maintenance, all trace of the line was washed away by 1907.
The railway had only one locomotive, a
Shay locomotive
The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a ''geared st ...
, well suited to steep grades and low-quality tracks. Locomotive #1 was built by
Lima Locomotive Works in March 1892 as their builders number 390. The locomotive was shipped to
Wisconsin after the Saco Valley Railroad was dismantled, and worked on several logging railroads in
Bayfield,
Park Falls,
Washburn, and
Cusson, Minnesota.
References
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Transportation in Carroll County, New Hampshire
Logging railroads in the United States
Defunct New Hampshire railroads
Standard gauge railways in the United States