The Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad is a class III shortline railroad operating on the

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

- Lincoln rail line in central

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 ...

, United States. The railroad consists of two distinct passenger operations, the Hobo Railroad, which offers passenger excursion trains in the White Mountains, and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad, which operates passenger excursion trains along the shore of

Lake Winnipesaukee Lake Winnipesaukee () is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, located in the Lakes Region at the foothills of the White Mountains. It is approximately long (northwest-southeast) and from wide (northeast-southwest), covering & ...

in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. In addition to passenger operations, the railroad owns the Lincoln Shops, a railroad equipment maintenance and repair facility located in Lincoln, New Hampshire.

History

On June 15, 1987, the Plymouth and Lincoln Railroad was formed with the purpose of operating a

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

and railroad out of Lincoln, New Hampshire. Edward Clark and his wife Brenda Reynolds Clark were the owners. Trains have been operating since then between Lincoln and

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, a distance of . After a few years of operating the railroad in Lincoln under the "Hobo Railroad" name, the railroad was invited to bid on the lease for the state-owned trackage from Tilton to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. They won the bid, and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad was formed, with trains running from Meredith to Lakeport, with a stop in Weirs Beach. The railroad now holds the passenger rights on the entire state of New Hampshire-owned track running from Lochmere to Lincoln, a total of . This additional mileage allows the operation of many special excursion trains. The state owns another of track from Lochmere to

, which is used by the New England Southern Railroad for freight customers. Edward Clark, founder of the railroad, died in the summer of 1998. Benjamin, his only son, assumed the post of President and promoted the business heavily.

The Lincoln Shops

From the mid-1990s, the Lincoln Shops have grown to be a major source of off-season revenue through its refurbishing and repair of numerous pieces of customer railroad equipment. Two Russell

snowplow A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to re ...

s and some subway

tamp A tamp is a device used to compact or flatten an aggregate or another powdered or granular material, typically to make it resistant to further compression or simply to increase its density. Examples * Small, handheld tampers are used to compres ...

ers were rebuilt for the

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

. The privately owned ex-

New Haven Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

Roger Williams Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...

'' was in for major restoration to like-new condition, along with four or five

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, damag ...

repaintings. The company's reputation increased the demand for the facility enough to make the business a 12-month operation. 2005 brought the three-car set of the '' Flying Yankee'', under restoration, to the Lincoln Shops for completion. In 2021, 2 major locomotive repaints to PLLX 105 & 1590 were done as well as interior on 105.

Current activities

The railroad has some of the most diverse and scenic fall foliage trains in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, whether lakeside or on a journey along the Pemigewasset River to the mountains. Since 2003 the railroad has promoted heavily this important season for tourism. It also benefits from its -hour travel time from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Bus groups, sometimes eight per day, converge in Meredith in the fall due to the town's location and to the offering of a full roast turkey dinner on the train catered by Hart's Turkey Farm Restaurant, also located in Meredith. In winter 2005, the "Believe in Books Literacy Foundation" contracted with the railroad to provide a "

Polar Express ''The Polar Express'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1985. The book is now widely considered to be a classic Christmas story for young children. It was praised for its detai ...

" out of Lincoln, to supplement the growing demand from the

North Conway North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town ...

operation run by the

Conway Scenic Railroad The Conway Scenic Railroad is a heritage railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire, United States, owned by Profile Mountain Holdings Corp. The railroad operates over two historic railway routes: a line from North Conway to Conway that was for ...

. The

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

movie of the same name was released in the 2004-2005 season, sparking even further interest. In June 2021, Rail Bike Adventures began offering 2-hour tours out of Laconia Station along the shores of Lake Winnisquam. Three ALCO S1

switcher A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...

s (all of them are currently out of service; one switcher is from the

Portland Terminal Company The Portland Terminal Company was a terminal railroad notable for its control of switching (shunting) activity for the Maine Central Railroad (MEC) and Boston & Maine (B&M) railroads in the Maine cities of Portland, South Portland, and Westb ...

and two are from the Maine Central Railroad), an

ALCO S3 The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

switcher from the

Boston and Maine Railroad 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 ...

, 2

EMD SW1000 The EMD SW1000 is a model of 4 axle diesel switcher locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1966 and October 1972. Power was provided by an EMD 645E 8-cylinder engine which generated . This locomotive was built on ...

's, 1

EMD SW1001 The EMD SW1001 is a diesel locomotive for industrial switching service built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between September 1968 and June 1986. A total of 230 were constructed, mainly for North American railroads and industrial o ...

, and a former Rock Island Railroad

EMD GP7 The EMD GP7 is a four-axle ( B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October 1949 and May 1954.Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973) pp. 53 Power was provided by an EMD 567B 1 ...

provide the motive power for the two railroads. Four former Erie Lackawanna Railroad cars and six former Budd RDCs from the

in Boston comprise the railroad cars that they use for operations. PLLMEREDITH

Service stations

The Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad provides passenger service to the following stations:

Locomotive roster

Rolling stock

References

External links

Hobo Scenic Railroad/Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad official website Flying Yankee Restoration GroupClark's Trading PostFoliageTrains.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobo Railroad Heritage railroads in New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Belknap County, New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Grafton County, New Hampshire Transportation in Belknap County, New Hampshire Transportation in Grafton County, New Hampshire Meredith, New Hampshire Lincoln, New Hampshire