Certainly no improvement there. Amazing that the motorcar people have been able to keep the whole thing from becoming a trail. This was a neat little RR that had lots of possibilities for recreating history. What was the building in the back of the older photo? Was that the excelsior mill, that made shredded wooden packing material from tree stumps? I think it burned, and has probably since been taken down. I'd like to see more of these then/now photos, of the Wolfeboro and other locations also.Here's a site that has some historical then/now photos of downtowns in Minnesota, if anyone is interested.http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/i ... fr=slv1-iy

Bob, yes that was the excelsior factory in the background. After taking the picture I went over to where it once stood. There is basically nothing left but the smokestack -- which is sort of odd and only seems to exist to help the "then and now" photos.The machinery and gate house are still there, which were used to control the water level in the river, creating the mill pond in the 1973 photo. I seem to recall that water was still used to power the factory then, 32 years ago. The red mill building in the foreground is another story. Notice the faded vinyl siding...The trail itself is pretty interesting. It runs along next to the track 90% of the time and only uses the ROW to cross the causeways at the lakes. My feeling is if there has to be a trail, this is best way to go as everybody wins. And let's not forget this trail is only 3.5 miles. The rest of the Wolfeboro branch (+/- 9 mi.) is largely intact.

We have the old B&M wooden coaches (as well as the steel Jersey Central cars) from the Wolfeboro out at Roaring Camp. The standard gauge guys have been using them for close to 20 years now, and they fit in quite well, particularly amongst the Victorian homes on Chestnut Street in downtown Santa Cruz. The 250 was even investigated for possible use on the BT&P. The work it required was not something RC Inc. was willing to pay for at that time.

I have noticed here in the south that when they tear the old sugar mills (and perhaps other plants) down, they leave the stack standing. In some cases I think it is because they are made of concrete mixed with asbestos; in the case of brick stacks and stacks from long ago, that is not a good reason either.It is rather interesting to be driving along, and suddenly come upon a smoke stack standing in the middle of nowhere. Often, the name of the plant is still legible on the side; it looks like a giant tombstone of some kind.The example below is even more interesting. It is Meeker Sugar Mill outside of Lecompte, Louisiana. It has been derelict for over thirty years; and is little more than the smokestacks, walls and the remains of the roof you see here. But, the developer could not tear it down because it is a historical landmark; so he is thinking of redeveloping it as office space and a resteraunt. If this building can be redeveloped, why couldn't the Solvay Coke plant compressor house and some of the historic railroad structures that have disappeared in recent years? Some appeared to have more material to work with than this.By the way, none of the steam machinery survives, except for one of the massize gears and shaft from the crushers at the high school in LeCompte. It is my understanding the owner was a former sea captain; hence the "portholes" for windows and other odd features.-James Hefner Hebrews 10:20a Surviving World Steam Project