Bradford Blodget and Richard Richards Jr softcover
Today, the sounds of steam
whistles and trains are no longer heard among the mountains and valleys
in most of Cheshire County, New Hampshire, though to the west and south
in the Connecticut Valley and in north-central Massachusetts, steel
rails are still very much alive. The two volumes of Iron Roads of the
Monadnock Region bring to life the story of now largely forgotten
railroads that once operated in the area, shining new light on the
roads' stories from their beginnings to the present, tracing high and
low points, glory days, times of struggles, disasters, and wrecks. This
little-known history of the roads is loaded with hard-to-find historical
information, indexed, and copiously illustrated and enriched by rare
and unpublished photos--over 700 images, maps, and tables--it's all
here, an essential reference for the serious rail fan.
Following on the first volume, Volume II describes the construction
and operational histories of railroads built after the Civil War, when
railroad building euphoria swept the Region as communities, left behind
by the earliest roads, desperately sought connection to the rail
network. Chapters 10-16 cover the Worcester and Hillsborough, Manchester
and Keene, Ashburnham, and Ware River roads, as well as street railways
and little-known quarry roads.
