Does anyone know how long the turntable in Sanbornville, NH is? It's located on the former B&M conway branch.

Regards,
Trevor H.

When I rolled past on a New Hampshire Northcoast train back in 1990 or so, it appeared to be barely long enough to turn a 50' boxcar.

NHN RR isn't showing up in my Pocket List of RR Officials............. try contacting the RR via Ossipee Aggregates and see if anyone is still railfan-friendly. (And check on GP9 1759, ex-Conrail 7093, while you're at it.....)

I would agree that's about right. I have a photo from 30 years ago of former Canada & Gulf Terminal doodlebug trailer coach #501 sitting on the turntable just after it was delivered to the Wolfeboro Railroad, with what looks like about five feet to spare. Now anybody happen to know just how long the 501 is . . . . ?

Calling Mr. Ron "Turntable" Goldfeder . . . .

Alan Maples

This is what I have on it: 1974-75 – A 60’ Boston & Maine turntable from Keene, NH was moved about 107 miles to Sanbornville, NH by the Wolfeboro Railroad tourist line.

Trevor, I measured the table in Sanbornville (for Ron) a few years ago and it is 60' in length.

The Keene roundhouse and shops still exist, hacked into retail shops in the mid-1980s. Built by the Cheshire RR, the facility was closed for locomotive maintenance by the B&M pretty early. It is said the Cheshire actually built a few new engines there. Part of the original RR's charter stated that the railroad must provide employment in Keene for a specified number of years, so the buildings were used for maintenance of way repairs such as welding up switch frogs and handcar/motorcar repairs. I think they worked on gas-electrics there for a time also. About 1940, B&M leased the facility to a company that made screws, and that business was there until about 1980 or so. The turntable was retained to place boxcars into the plant for loading and a couple of stalls were kept for the B&M switcher and the local engine. The table remained until about 1973/74, when taken to Sanbornville. I don't think it was ever used there after installation, which may not have been completed.

The screw company added some unattractive block structures to the roundhouse and painted everything a drab tan color. These were removed in the makeover and the exterior was sandblasted, not a recommended procedure for brick buildings. An addition was built on the back side for more stores. For a time the filled-in turntable pit had one of the Edaville/Anaconda Copper 30-inch gauge 0-4-0T (minus the tank) sitting among the shrubbery, but last time I was there the pit had been bricked over and had boats on display. I think the engine went back to Edaville.

Although Nelson Blount operated his Steamtown trains out of Keene for a year or two (boarding very near the roundhouse), he apparently never considered attempting to move the screw company elsewhere and utilize the facility for a part of Steamtown. A change in governors put him at odds with New Hampshire and Steamtown moved to Vermont. Thus, expensive ski jackets and sneakers are now displayed in the arched doorways that used to see steam locomotives going in and out, and other than an choo choo mosaic inlaid in the floor, there is not much notice given to the buildings' historic beginnings.


http://www.centeratkeene.com/about.html

Was there ever a wye at Sanbornville ?

Here's a funny story on a related note: My grandfather retired in 1985 from the Boston and Maine after 37 years; the first job he ever went out on as a fireman was a local freight up the Conway Branch. When they got to Sanbornville, they had orders to turn their engine, on the "Armstrong" turntable that used to be there (this was in 1947). The engineer stayed on the engine, which was probably either a K7 or K8 consol or a mogul. So my grandfather got out to turn the engine on one side, and the conductor and the headend brakeman started turning it on the other end. There must have been a pretty close clearance between the turntable and the adjacent tracks in the yard, because shortly after they started turning the engine, my grandfather noticed that the engine was going to get hit by a train that was passing on an adjacent track ! He dove out of the way and yelled for the guys on the other side to stop the engine, but it's a lot more challenging to get an engine stopped once it's turning than it is to get it going. Consequently, the train which was passing just clipped the knuckle, and didn't do any significant damage to the engine, but it did cause it to spin on the turntable at a frightening speed. The funny part really was that the the engineer had just come back from taking some time off for his "nerves" as they used to say.. when he finally got off that engine after it stopped turning, his eyes were about 3 inches in diameter !

Regards,
Trevor H.