Service to Suncook

Sept 24, 1924 - June 6, 1936

The Suncook Valley Railroad initiated independent operation on September 24, 1924.  The road began operation over the leased Boston & Maine Railroad Suncook Loop trackage (from the east side of the Merrimack River at Hooksett north to Bow Junction) on June 8, 1936.  This article is intended to discuss B&M rail service to the village of Suncook in between those dates.

Contents on this page: B&M Passenger Service B&M Freight Service Termination of Service Equipment Yard Operations and Signaling Sources

This map depicts the B&M's Suncook Loop and environs from Hooksett at the south, to Bailey's Quarry in the east, and to the Concord depot in the northwest.  It is a composite map created from the 1921 USGS 15' Suncook Quad and the 1927 15' USGS Concord Quad, and is cropped (approximately,) from W 71°25' to W 71°32'30" and from N 43°5' to N 43°12'30".  Click for Full size.

B&M Passenger Service

Some explanation may be instructive so that the chart can be fully understood.  The horizontal axis shows individual train schedules through time from initial SV operation until lease of the Loop by the SV.  Color continuity may reflect a constant train service or may represent a change in B&M train number without a significant accompanying service change.  Two closures of the Hooksett bridges can be noted (light purple highlighting,) first in the winter or spring of 1927, and lasting until Aug 8 of that year, and the final curtailment of service over the Hooksett bridges on January 11, 1935.  The vertical axis is time of day during the period.  Gray areas between the black highlighted SV train times represent the short line's layover at the Suncook Yard, and thus indicate where connections were made between the two railroads.

This section is actively being rewritten. 12/26/22

B&M Freight Service

Freight service to Suncook has proven to be more difficult to pin down, but ongoing research is yielding a clearer picture of the operations.  However, photographic evidence, to date, remains non-existent.  Therefor, this study is critically dependent on the information contained within B&M Freight Train Symbol Books.   Currently, six such books from the period of interest are known and available to much of the B&M community: FTSB #14, dated 12/20/26; FTSB #16, dated 10/31/27; FTSB #22, dated 9/25/32; FTSB #24, dated 9/24/33; FTSB #27, dated 4/28/35; and FTSB #29, dated 4/26/36.  (A group of four additional books from this period, #20, #23, #25, and #26, as well as additional editions before and after the dates indicated above, were located in the fall of 2016, but the collector who possesses them, DBV, has denied access to the information contained within them.)   Each book explicitly calls out how the B&M planned to serve Suncook at that point in time, but the day to day operations could, and did, vary as business, equipment, and weather demanded.  A number of B&M memos exist that also give limited additional information about freight service on the Loop.  B&M Merchandise Car pamphlets also shed limited light on Suncook freight service.  Two from the 1924-36 period are known to exist: 4/1/29 and 5/1/30.  (If you have knowledge of any additional FTSB or Merchandise Car pamphlets from this era, I would greatly appreciate you sharing them with me!)

B&M Suncook Locals, 12/20/26

The Winter 1926 FTSB shows that a pair of local trains was assigned from Concord to Suncook and from Suncook to Concord on a daily except Sunday basis, a continuation of the manner of service that existed prior to independent for some years.  This minimal service also correlated with the frequency of SV mixed trains.  Running south after Train 812 departed Concord, the turn arrived in Suncook to switch customers in the village and to leave cars for Suncook Valley Train 1.  Facilities served at Suncook included the Suncook freight house, the three large Suncook Mills complexes-the China, Pembroke, and Webster cotton mills, Fowler Brothers’ grain mill, Fred Saltmarsh’s coal and wood yard, E. Baker & Co.’s coal pocket, and a wood flour manufacturer (operated under a succession of names,) located just north of the Suncook freight house.  The B&M's Suncook agent was also responsible for two additional, important customers: Bailey's Lumber Co. and the C. A. Bailey granite quarry, despite the fact that the Suncook Valley RR was responsible for the actual switching duties.

Three times weekly, freight service was supplied to Hooksett, and we know the train at least occasionally crossed the Hooksett covered bridges from the note in the Symbol Book regarding running back to Concord via the main.  At Hooksett, the Suncook local would have served the Dundee Mill, where crash, a coarse cloth used for toweling and coats, was woven until about 1928, as well as Head's brickyard and the PSNH hydro facility (formerly Manchester Traction, Light, and Power Co.,) the latter leasing a portion of the shared Cotton Track along with Dundee.  This turn was the sole freight service to the Hooksett depot and freight house, as no other local freights were scheduled to run between Concord and Manchester.

After returning to Concord at around 9:45 AM, the Suncook local then made a trip part way up the Claremont Branch to serve the quarries on Rattlesnake Hill near West Concord, also known as Garrison on the B&M.

No provision for evening service to Suncook can be found, which would have delayed outbound merchandise service until the next morning, keeping in the character with the B&M's drag freight operating scheme still entrenched in the mid 1920's.  The nature of traffic originating from some of the customers served by the B&M's Loop, however, demanded more timely outbound shipments of L.C.L., and the railroad responded to its customers needs.  An August 22, 1927, memo from S. E. Miller, General Superintendent, B&M, states that the local, "runs from Concord to Suncook and return twice and does the so-called Stone Hill work."  This added trip provided much improved service for Suncook and Valley shippers and would be included in the next FTSB operating plan.

B&M Suncook Local, 10/31/27

The Fall 1927 FTSB showed a very similar operating scheme to that of 1926.  The round trip was now officially one local, rather than the previous two, and it was run on the same frequency as the previous year.  It arrived well after Suncook Valley Train 2, which had also met Train 812 earlier.  After its switching duties were completed, the local awaited the 8:30 departure of B&M Train 303 before itself heading north back to Concord.

Again, freight service was supplied to Hooksett three times weekly, and it is believed that this train ventured across the Hooksett bridges in order switch the freight house on the west side of the river.   However, there remains a possibility that the two Boston-Concord locals now published in the Symbol Book, one each direction daily, could have provided service along the NH Division main line through Hooksett.

Arriving back in Concord around 9:00 AM, the Suncook local continued to run to Garrison to work the quarries.  After that work was complete, the local would make a second trip to Suncook to pick up any LCL cars at the freight house or dropped by SV Train 4 at 3:20 PM.  Presumably this train had to make it back to connect with the southbound merchandise train, O-B 2, in order to best serve Suncook and Valley shippers.  O-B 2 arrived at Concord at 7:00 PM and left at 7:50.  Complicating this however is the fact that B&M Train 3604 was due to leave Concord at 3:40 PM and was scheduled to arrive in Suncook at 3:56.  The local surely could not be counted on to pick up merchandise cars and run the distance back to Concord in less than 20 minutes.  We can therefore conclude that the local waited until after the passenger train had left, which would still give it more than enough time to complete the round trip and get the car spotted in Concord to be sent south in O-B 2.

Beginning with FTSB #17, in effect on January 1, 1929, the B&M changed the format of the publication.  This change appears to have been made near the conclusion of many of the changes instituted under management of the railroad by President George Hannauer, such as the opening of the new Mechanicville hump yard on January 14, 1928.  The freight services also were reconfigured in order to achieve operating efficiencies previously unheard of on the B&M.  Undoubtably, these changes must have effected service on the Suncook Loop in some manner, but until further FTSB are located, a few other documents do shed some light on the manner in which the branch was worked.

The April 1929 Minute Man Freight Service Merchandise Car pamphlet shows that a daily Less-Carload-Lot (LCL) car was sent from Nashua to the Suncook Valley RR scheduled to permit next morning delivery.  In addition, a car left Boston’s “A” House (located in East Cambridge,) destined for Suncook as well.  However, this latter service was only guaranteed to deliver merchandise the second morning.  It was not a direct car, so presumably, goods were sent to Concord where they were then transferred to another car at the Concord freight house.  The 1927 FTSB leads one to believe that both of these cars could have come into Concord in Train B-O 1.  This train left Boston with merchandise cars at 9:15 PM, and picked up and dropped similar cars at the major cities enroute.  Nashua was scheduled for 11:45 PM, arrival in Concord was 3:15 AM.

Two daily merchandise cars were also scheduled for Suncook in May 1930.  Very much like the 1929 plan, the first left Boston “A” House in East Cambridge providing somewhat faster, next morning LCL service.  The other left Nashua, NH, providing the same frequency.  Unfortunately, a complete 1930 FTSB is not known to exist at this time, but the originating and terminating times shown in the Merchandise Car pamphlet and a loose FTSB page for O-B 2 dated 11/6/1930 can be compared and contrasted to other information available to begin to shed further light on this service.  More coming here

During this time frame, the B&M had been running another local freight out of Concord that served the Franklin & Tilton Branch, the Belmont Branch, and the Bristol Branch, operating strictly as a freight train south of Franklin and Tilton (Eastside to Northfield,) but as a mixed train on the latter two branches.  However, Belmont Branch service was terminated during 1929, which created an opportunity to change the operating scheme to further save expense to the railroad.  Without further documentation, it cannot be shown conclusivley how these operations were handled from the closure of the Belmont Branch until 1932, but careful study shows that schedules would have allowed the combination of these two services as early 1929.  Hopefully, further documentation will come to light to indicate when and how this may have impacted Suncook freight service.

While it's not the intention to get too far ahead, it may be instructive to add here how these LCL car movements changed as the Depression wore on, and freight service was broadly cut back.  By 1932, the FTSB indicates that any Nashua car would have been picked up by 49’s Extra and dropped in Concord, while B-U 1 would have hauled Boston LCL direct to Concord.  Due to the freight scheduling efficiencies introduced ca. 1930, B-U 1 made it into Concord at 10:10.  The schedule for 49’s Extra is not known, but it did arrive before B-U 1.

Early in 1930, the former Dundee Mill property in Hookset was leased by Emerson & Stillman, later Emerson Manufacturing Company, who manufactured furniture and wooden novelties.  A siding located on the east bank of the Merrimack, known as the Cotton track, was used by this and other off line customers.  (See the Hooksett Sidetrack Chronology for more information.)  By May of that year, the B&M understood that Emerson's growing business was already beginning to be lost to trucks, due largely to the limitations of the tri-weekly morning service they offered to Hooksett.  Moving quickly to stem the tide, the B&M instituted changes to improve the service offered: some minor staffing changes at the Hooksett depot enabled the agent there to better meet Emerson needs, and, effective May 19, 1930, the Suncook local provided daily except Sunday afternoon freight service to Hooksett, allowing the B&M to better expedite all shipments offered by Emerson (provided their L.C.L car was ready not later than 3:00 PM.)

In the next section, the B&M efforts to reduce costs on their operation of the Suncook Loop will be detailed.  However, some of the details shared in B&M memos investigating costs also shed light on the existing operating scheme.  In the spring of 1931, the new District Superintendent A.W. Perkins received statements from his subordinates that confirm that the Concord-Suncook-Stonehill local continued to operate.  Mr. Perkins went on to suggest that perhaps symbol freights W-C 1 or M-O 2 may be available to switch the Hooksett House track if the SV began tending to the Cotton track on the east side of the Merrimack, and that O-M 1 would be able to take over switching responsibilities between Eastside (Concord) and Northfield.  (The associated memo's are also the source of my contention that the Stone Hill switcher was passing over the Hooksett covered bridges to switch the freight house as early as 1927.)

B&M Suncook Locals, 9/25/32

The next full FTSB available to this author is from the fall of 1932, and the scheme reported had been substantially changed from 1927.  The effects of the Depression were taking their toll on most scheduled services, but Suncook still required its minimum 2 trips daily in order to handle regular and LCL traffic.  Reflecting the changes required, the B&M by this time had combined the Bristol & Franklin local that existed in 1927 with the Suncook local.  It now left Concord for Suncook at 7:05 AM.  The earlier departure, however, meant that the local followed the southbound Concord-Portsmouth passenger train, #3600, from Concord, rather than #303.  The Suncook Valley schedule had also changed (effective Sprin 1929,) and it no longer arrived in time to connect to this earlier passenger train.  (No further arrival or departure times are given for the service.)  Additional schedule times are available for this service, as the Bristol trains, 3901 and 3902, appear in Employee timetables due to their being mixed trains.  More needed here...

With the general reduction in service that occurred in response to the ever worsening Depression, the southbound train from Lincoln lost its symbol freight status, was cut back to Concord, and was required to make the evening run to Suncook and Hooksett to provide LCL service on an as needed basis.

B&M Symbol Freight F-C 1 and Suncook Local, 9/24/33

As the Depression wore on, the B&M continued to modify its freight services to accommodate the lower traffic levels.  In Suncook, this meant that there would no longer be a dedicated morning local service.  Instead, the B&M began running Symbol Freight F-C 1 to Suncook on an as needed basis after it otherwise completed its run to Concord.  It was scheduled to arrive in the capital at 8:30 AM, which allowed it to get to Suncook in time for the Valley connection- SV Train 1 was not scheduled to leave Suncook until 10:00 AM.  The variable service nature implied by the B&M’s schedule is a foreboding sign of things to come.  Meanwhile, the Bristol and Franklin local was restored to its previous status without a morning Suncook trip.

In order to make the evening connection for outbound merchandise, the Lincoln to Concord local (at times refered to as Symbol Freight O-C 2,) continued to run to Suncook or Hooksett as required.  However, a time study undertaken by the B&M in the spring of 1934 indicates that the Bristol local shortly resumed a role in Suncook service.  During the third week of May and the first week of June of that year, the time study recorded 2 and 3 trips, respectively, by the Bristol train to either or both Suncook and Hooksett in the early afternoon.  These trips followed symbol freight F-C 1's late morning runs to Suncook and Hooksett, these runs occurring on all but one of the weekdays recorded. (Not unsurprisingly, neither F-C 1 nor the Bristol local made trips over the Loop on Sundays.)

B&M Symbol Freight W-C 1 and Suncook Local, 4/28/35

(Discussion on FTSB 27 to be inserted here.)

B&M Symbol Freight W-C 1, 4/26/36

The April 26, 1936 B&M FTSB gives a look at freight service to Suncook after the Hooksett bridges were closed.  The Worcester to Concord symbol freight, W-C 1, has now assumed the duties.   After arriving in Concord around 8:15, that crew was assigned the job of running to Suncook or Hooksett as required.  The continuing suggestion that the service frequency is variable helps one to understand the situation leading up to the SV leasing the Loop trackage.  No mention is made anywhere of afternoon runs to Suncook, so a distinct possibility exists that afternoon merchandise service from Valley points had been curtailed entirely.

The last B&M freight train to operate over the Suncook Loop prior to its lease to the SVRR was X246, which had run down to the Emerson mill at Hooksett on 6/6/36.

Termination of Service

A Spring/Summer Run Book from 1929 states that Engine 1151 shall be assigned to Trains 3601 and 3604 (Run 114,) however, that locomotive was scrapped in 1927.  Perhaps this was a typographic error; 1161 may very well be correct.  Regardless of the engine number, however, the Run Book lays down that the same power was used on both sides of the Portsmouth-Concord-Portsmouth 3601/3604 run.  Trains 3600 and 3605 did not run via the Loop after the winter of 1926, or north of Manchester at all for most of the period, for that matter, although 3600 returned to serve the Loop after 812 had been annulled on 1/4/32.  However, it may be of interest to note that the 1929 Run Book showed Motor car 170 as being assigned to those other two Portsmouth trains.

There is even more limited information available regarding Train 303.  It is also known that B-15-c 1475 hauled Train 303 north from Boston on 12/29/34, while a B&M company memo expressed that an advantage to relocating Train 303 to the mainline in the event service were to be discontinued via Suncook would be that a heavier locomotive than the B-15 in use at that time would be possible, which could then in turn reduce the need for extra trains to haul additional sleeping cars from Lowell when patronage warranted.  Photos taken after the period of interest discussed here do show that P-4 pacifies were used on this train after WWII, while dieselization introduced GP-7's in 1952.

During the mid 1920’s, the B&M invested in a number of gas cars.  Intended to provide cost effective passenger service on low density routes, it is seems reasonable that the Suncook Loop could have been a candidate for the use of this equipment.  An April 7, 1927 gas car assignment list shows that one of the 180 series cars was assigned to a Concord to Worcester run, of 161 miles roundtrip.  This mileage corresponds to a NH Division routing, and not the “back door” via Henniker.  The April 24, 1927 ETT does not corroborate this, as there is no northbound Worcester to Concord train scheduled as a counterpart to southbound Train 812.  However the January 15, 1928 ETT shows that two additional runs have been added between those points, 8113 and 8122, and that these trains traveled via the Suncook Loop.  However, this service did not last long, as the two trains were annulled between Manchester and Concord by Supplement to the ETT, effective April 2, 1928.  The 1929 Run Book shows that Motor car 171 was assigned to Train 812 and 823 between Nashua and Worcester.  The motor car would leave Nashua at 7:31 AM, arriving in Worcester at 9:14.  Crews would switch, but the car would then depart at 10:35, arriving back in Nashua at 12:21.  No other run had car 171 assigned to it, so certainly there was time enough to operate it all the way back to Concord.  However, since the run book covers Portland Division runs only, no mention is made of those trains running over the Southern Division north to Concord.  By April 26, 1931 (ETT #8,) however, Trains 812 and 823 had schedules that overlapped, making it unlikely that the same equipment would have been used by the two trains, which had a scheduled meet at Clinton Jct.  More research can narrow down how those services changed through this time period.  There is no photographic evidence to support this claim that gas cars once traveled though Suncook; one is left only to weigh the merits of the paper trail.

Interestingly, the B&M briefly considered a request in 1933 by Suncook Valley management to obtain a B&M gas car for use by the line.  While it is known that nothing came of the idea, gas cars 1125 and 1126 were suggested as perhaps being the most appropriate, as they could be turned at both Suncook and Center Barnstead and could accommodate the existing milk traffic.  Further it was noted that the first of these cars served on B&M Trains 8122 and 8113, while the latter was operating between Rochester and Portsmouth.

While the location of this picture is unknown, Engine 246 is running as a local frieght with its white flags. By 1936, other images of the engine show that it had lost the angled flange at the top of its tender sides.

Suncook Yard, looking south, ca. 1930.

Sources:

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