Winni Hobo Railroad

Woodsy · 06-14-2023, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tis

This is a little bit off topic but it's about the railroad so hope it's ok. All these posts made me wonder what is happening in Alton Bay where the railroad right of way was. There was a dispute as to whether the railroad has a right to take the land back. Anybody heard any more? Is it waiting on legal?

I think the issue with Alton is not with the railroad... those tracks are long gone and replacing them would be extremely expensive. However the right of way remains and belongs to the State of NH. Now the fight begins with all those people who over the passage of time encroached on the ROW. Especially if the rail trail people are eyeing it....

Woodsy

tis · 06-14-2023, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodsy

I think the issue with Alton is not with the railroad... those tracks are long gone and replacing them would be extremely expensive. However the right of way remains and belongs to the State of NH. Now the fight begins with all those people who over the passage of time encroached on the ROW. Especially if the rail trail people are eyeing it....

Woodsy

I think you are right, I think it is the State. Do you know the status?

Trail Goer · 06-15-2023, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodsy

I think the issue with Alton is not with the railroad... those tracks are long gone and replacing them would be extremely expensive. However the right of way remains and belongs to the State of NH. Now the fight begins with all those people who over the passage of time encroached on the ROW. Especially if the rail trail people are eyeing it....

Woodsy

It depends on how the charter for the railroad was written, some right of ways are owned outright by the railroad, others are just easements. Now, I have no proof in front of me, so take it for what it's worth but most of the rail lines in NH were owned or are still owned by the railroads. What's the difference, well when a railroad petitions to abandon a rail line, if they own the property, they will continue to own it after abandonment but if it's just and easement, the easement disappears since its purpose is removed and the property reverts back to the previous landowners. In the case of Alton, that particular section was abandoned in the 1920 but it was railroad property, not an easement, the railroad could have retained ownership for years after until someone offered to buy it, in this case it was the state. The question is where the property lines existed for the railroad, a tax map from the late 1800's or early 1900's will tell you and that's the baseline to work off of, because clearly the newer tax maps were incorrect. It is quite possible the railroad owned right to the water's edge in some areas and if the state bought up the property, then it belongs to the state. It sounds like easements were granted by the railroad for homeowners to cross the tracks to access the lake and when the railroad was abandoned, someone somewhere thought the land reverted to the owners, but it never did. So, over the course of time, and unchecked error has snowballed into a major issue of people thinking they owned land along the lake and were paying taxes on, It's a big mess and a major headache for all involved.

BroadHopper · 08-05-2023, 07:28 AM

Back in the 80s, a big push was to extend the sewer lines to Alton to preserve the lake's cleanliness. The project ran out of money and ended up near Dinsmoor Point Road in Gilford. It is not over. It is still open and will continue to Alton in the future.

The project uses the old Lake Shore Railroad bed. Some folks had to move existing structures off the old bed. There weren't many as Gilford knows the state still has a right of way and prevents owners from building on it. Gilford still continues to prevent permanent structures on the right of way.
As for Alton, well I guess, that will be a fine mess along Rte. 11.

There are talks of using Biden's infrastructure bill to finish the project.

ITD · 08-05-2023, 02:22 PM

The railroad looked like it was running today.

Trail Goer · 08-13-2023, 10:45 PM

Last I looked they are operating 4 days a week (Thursday - Sunday) with very limited departures on those days.
I'm sure next year will be either back to normal or drastically different with the new owner.

fatlazyless · 08-14-2023, 06:02 AM

Clark's Bears done hit a new Unobtainium mine deep in them their woods along the Pemi River, and will be choo-chooing hopper freight cars loaded with Unobtainium down to that Portsmouth sea port.

With the Wolfman driving the steam locomotive, and the black bears riding shotgun Unobtanium security, it will be a very busy freight train ....... choo-choo-choo ..... the Unobtainium Express ...... here it come!

jetskier · 08-22-2023, 02:10 PM

https://www.railwayage.com/freight/s...enic-railroad/

08-05-2023, 07:28 AM	#4
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,577 Thanks: 3,220 Thanked 1,103 Times in 794 Posts	Winnipesakee Watershed Project. Back in the 80s, a big push was to extend the sewer lines to Alton to preserve the lake's cleanliness. The project ran out of money and ended up near Dinsmoor Point Road in Gilford. It is not over. It is still open and will continue to Alton in the future. The project uses the old Lake Shore Railroad bed. Some folks had to move existing structures off the old bed. There weren't many as Gilford knows the state still has a right of way and prevents owners from building on it. Gilford still continues to prevent permanent structures on the right of way. As for Alton, well I guess, that will be a fine mess along Rte. 11. There are talks of using Biden's infrastructure bill to finish the project. __________________ Someday may never be an actual day.

08-14-2023, 06:02 AM	#7
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,761 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 300 Thanked 1,014 Times in 739 Posts	... new Unobtainium Express Clark's Bears done hit a new Unobtainium mine deep in them their woods along the Pemi River, and will be choo-chooing hopper freight cars loaded with Unobtainium down to that Portsmouth sea port. With the Wolfman driving the steam locomotive, and the black bears riding shotgun Unobtanium security, it will be a very busy freight train ....... choo-choo-choo ..... the Unobtainium Express ...... here it come! __________________ ... down and out, liv'n that Walmart side of the lake!

08-22-2023, 02:10 PM	#8
jetskier Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Reading, MA and South Down Shores Posts: 851 Thanks: 57 Thanked 183 Times in 114 Posts	Hobo railroad and Winnipesakee Scenic Railroad sold https://www.railwayage.com/freight/s...enic-railroad/

08-05-2023, 02:22 PM	#5
ITD Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moultonboro, NH Posts: 2,929 Thanks: 477 Thanked 691 Times in 387 Posts	The railroad looked like it was running today.

08-13-2023, 10:45 PM	#6
Trail Goer Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: New Durham Posts: 179 Thanks: 123 Thanked 98 Times in 59 Posts	Last I looked they are operating 4 days a week (Thursday - Sunday) with very limited departures on those days. I'm sure next year will be either back to normal or drastically different with the new owner.