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The Silver Lake Railroad is a heritage railway

Heritage railway

thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

 located in Madison

Madison, New Hampshire

Madison is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,502 at the 2010 census. Madison includes the village of Silver Lake.- History :...

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

Founded and owned by Neil Underwood, Silver Lake Railroad opened on July 7, 2007, operating from Madison Station (aka Silver Lake Depot

Silver Lake, New Hampshire

Silver Lake is a village located at the north end of Silver Lake in the town of Madison, New Hampshire, in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. Joy Farm, summer home of E. E. Cummings, is a National Historic Landmark located north of the village....

) in the town of Madison. This station was a stop for the Boston and Maine Railroad

Boston and Maine Railroad

The Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century...

 from 1872 until passenger service ended on the line in 1961. The station has been restored over the period from 2002-2007, and much of its original features are intact. The original order boards and stationmaster office were undisturbed, as well as the interior of the station (now housing the Silver Lake post office), which displays its original varnished woodwork.

Equipment

Silver Lake Railroad's rolling and display stock currently at the station:

• 1917 H. K. Porter, Inc
  H. K. Porter, Inc
  H. K. Porter, Inc. manufactured light-duty railroad locomotives in the USA, starting in 1866. The company became the largest producer of industrial locomotives, and built almost eight thousand of them...
  
   0-4-0
  0-4-0
  Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven...
  
   steam engine
• Plymouth 24-ton locomotive
• Vulcan 10-ton locomotive
• 30 inch gauge
  Rail gauge
  Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
  
   Plymouth locomotive
• Mid size Plymouth locomotive
• Fairmont A8 Gang Car
  Speeder
  A speeder is a maintenance of way motorized vehicle formerly used on railroads around the world by track inspectors and work crews to move quickly to and...
  
  
• Three Fairmont A6 gang cars (used for power cars)
• Fairmont S2 railcar
• Fairmont railcar converted to small trolley
• Three 24 feet (7.3 m) open passenger cars
• Boston and Maine and Union Pacific
  Union Pacific Railroad
  The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
  
   baggage carts
• a 1941 Sterling Diner
  Dining car
  A dining car or restaurant carriage , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant....
  
  

Route

The railroad operates on the historic Conway Branch (abandoned in October 1972), traveling northward past a chain of ponds in Madison, New Hampshire

Madison, New Hampshire

Madison is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,502 at the 2010 census. Madison includes the village of Silver Lake.- History :...

. Rides are approximately 40 minutes, aboard two 24 feet (7.3 m) open-air passenger cars powered by a Fairmont A6 railcar. The line passes a series of lily ponds and beaver ponds which have beaver huts and dams in them. Scenery includes the Mt. Washington Valley and views of the White Mountains

White Mountains (New Hampshire)

The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...

. Wildlife that can be seen along the line include but are not limited to moose, bears, deers and birds.

Silver Lake Railroad is open weekends only, July through October, weather permitting.

External links

• Silver Lake Railroad - official site