photo from Familysearch Internet site
Engraving by H. B. Hall & Son, New York, 1880
George Van Dike born in 1846, in Stanbridge Station, located in the southern part of Quebec province, just north of Champlain lake. Interestingly, it is a small town originally shaped by the development of the railway system between Montreal and Vermont around 1860, and may explain some of the fascination of Van Dike for the railroad system.
In 1884, the well known George Van Dyke became the general manager and later the president of Connecticut River Lumber CO office building (Branch of Connecticut River Lumber Company, formed in 1879 from the merging of various companies including Mt. Tom Lumber Co., from Northampton, Massachusetts). By 1897, he was the owner of the company. It is one of the reasons he built with some other investors the Upper Coös Railroad presented above; the railroad made easier and much cheaper to move wood and equipment up and down along the Connecticut River.
Van Dyke was not only president of The Connecticut River Lumber Company and the Upper Coös Rail Road, but, from 1889 to his death in 1909, he was also the president and director of the Colebrook National Bank which was organized in 1888 and is still operating. His elaborate farm located south of the village of Canaan, where he kept his racing horses, was also regarded as economically important for the region.
He was raised with six sibling. Tragically, in 1909, at the age of 65, he died in the hospital from general injuries following an automobile accident when his car plunged over as he was watching one of the last river drive. He was single, living at the time in Lancaster with his mother and one of his sister.
In the journal Ellsworth American, Aug. 1894:
A word about George Van Dyke. “Whose recent purchase of “Early Bird” interested so many Maine people, is the lumber king of northern New Hampshire. He spends considerable of his time at West Stewartstown, where he has elegant training barns filled with blooded horses, and a good half-mile track, The people of that section are anxiously awaiting the introduction there of the popular townsman’s new purchase.”
In the Essex County herald, June 1903, news from Berlin, the same horse is still very popular: "Extensive repairs have been made on the track and it is now one of the best found in this section. One of the chief attractions each day will be the exhibition miles trotted by the fastest horses in New England, George Vandyke's famous trotters, early bird, record 2.10, Esperanza 2.101/4, and Frank Bogash 2.031/4, the latter having been purchased by Mr. Vandyke at a cost of $17,500. This may be the chance of a lifetime..."
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https://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/dot/remote-docs/2001-nh-railroad-context-statement.pdf
Copy sections from this document available on line, page 226 to page 237:
Reasons for the impressive expansion of railroad lines in the 1900s in New Hampshire:
''Proximity to ice-free ports along the Atlantic Seaboard also meant that some of New Hampshire’s railroads would be important to commercial interests in Vermont, upstate New York, and the St. Lawrence Valley. Cities like Boston and Portland were not merely transport destinations, however, they were markets. Perishable commodities like dairy products, poultry, fruits, and vegetables could be taken from New Hampshire farms by rail—reaching nearby urban markets before spoiling. Hence, New Hampshire farms gave up on commodities like grains and wool, which could be brought easily from large farms in the Midwest, and concentrated on perishable items destined for nearby urban markets.
Railroads were not only seen as a necessity for manufacturing interests, but as a source of local pride by town and city “boosters."
Hence, when railroads were first chartered in New Hampshire in the 1830s, they were seen in part as a means of bringing raw materials to existing factories and taking finished goods to markets throughout New England and the nation. By mid-century, every mill owner demanded rail access. Throughout the nineteenth century, New Hampshire's persistent localism also led towns and villages to demand their own railroad and passenger depot. Local civic leaders and politicians lobbied to have railroads run through or near their towns...(New Hampshire has always been strongly oriented toward its local governments, and people in the state have long cherished values like "home rule" and "local control.”).
As a result, the state’s rail system became overbuilt. Railroads and branches were built to service individual mills or mill centers with little prospect of making a profit. These lines were quickly absorbed by larger lines, and in some cases, they were abandoned after relatively brief service.
New Hampshire towns were not built around railroads; railroads were built through or around existing towns.
The Boston, Concord & Montreal never really succeeded as a through "route to the lakes," and its lines to and through the White Mountains, although important for the tourist trade, were seasonal and expensive to maintain. Just as these lines had a mixed record at their peak operation, they have suffered a mixed fate in recent years. Portions of all of these lines have been abandoned, and in most cases, the track and even the bridges have been removed. Some passenger and freight depots have been removed or destroyed; many others have been converted to other uses.
Aside from the question of infrastructure, there are other areas of future railroad research needed in New Hampshire. Much has been made about the social and economic impact of railroads on New Hampshire and its communities, but there has been little research on the subject. We have no real data on how the coming the railroad affected population growth, population diversity, commerce, manufacturing, employment, and other forms of transportation. Much more should be done on the subject of railroads and town layout, or for that matter, regional development and planning. Railroads even affected our sense of time and scheduling, but nothing has been written about this in New Hampshire. Also, the environmental impact of railroads has been ignored, even though we can surmise that railroads affected the level of noise, the quality of the air, the level of cutting in the forests, and the drainage of wetlands. Finally, there is no comprehensive narrative of New Hampshire's twentieth century railroad story. The Boston & Maine finally went under, but why? What political decisions kept the management of the Boston & Maine and the political leaders of the New England states from making the decisions that could have averted the collapse of the region's railroads? This and more is open for further investigation. This and more is needed to better understand the full story of New Hampshire's railroads.
Some of the reasons why many railroad lines were abandoned over time: Snow and flooding caused problems for these railroad lines, but not to the extent of problems incurred by railroads operating in the mountains. Lines like the Boston, Concord & Montreal were at a distinct disadvantage. These “up-country” lines tended to be lightly built and generally operated at a loss. Steep grades, for instance, not only reduced the speed and carrying capacity of trains, but required the use of extraordinary amounts of water, coal, and even sand.
The continued use of timber for trestles and bridges reduced the value of New Hampshire railroads in the late nineteenth century. Engineers inspecting lines like the Northern and the Boston, Concord & Montreal in 1884, for instance, discovered dozens of bridges in need of immediate replacement.''
As for West Stewartstown, the covered railroad timber bridge was replaced by a "truss bridges built after the flood (of 1927)... a 220-foot bridge over the Connecticut River between West Stewartstown, New Hampshire, and Canaan, Vermont," the new bridge "was placed on the existing abutments of their flood-damaged predecessors". ".AS written by James L Garvin, see reference below. As for this bridge, riveted bridge steel beams instead of pined joints became typical during the period of 1920s.
Railroad bridge 2024, and railroad path, now used for recreational activities
Photographed by Bruce Nelson, May 7, 1975
http://photos.nerail.org/s/?p=246366
References:
Reasons for the impressive expansion of railroad lines in the 1900s in New Hampshire: https://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/dot/remote-docs/2001-nh-railroad-context-statement.pdf . Copy sections from this document available on line, page 226 to page 237.
Copy sections from this document available on line, page 226 to page 237:
CENTRAL STREET (CENTER) BRIDGE BRIDGE NO. 113/064 BRISTOL-NEW HAMPTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE, JAMES L. GARVIN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN, July 21, 2002, available on line: http://www.james-garvin.com/images/Bristol_Central_Street_Bridge_Report2.pdf .
Very interesting Internet site on Facebook with many pictures and comments:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1086318568141874/posts/from-the-canaan-historical-society-vt-pageshot-in-west-stewartstown-nh-looking-n/9974687755971533/
About railroad bridges:
CENTRAL STREET (CENTER) BRIDGE BRIDGE NO. 113/064 BRISTOL-NEW HAMPTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE
JAMES L. GARVIN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN July 21, 2002
http://www.james-garvin.com/images/Bristol_Central_Street_Bridge_Report2.pdf
A significant alteration made to the horizontal chord Pratt through, which mirrored changes to Pratt ponies, involved curving the upper chord, making possible longer spans, better distribution of stresses in the structure, and other advantages.
https://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/spansoftime/parkerhrough.htm
New Hampshire Railroads: Historical Context Statement, prepared by R. Stuart Wallace, Ph.D. & Lisa B. Mausolf, April 2001.
https://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/dot/remote-docs/2001-nh-railroad-context-statement.pdf
John William Storrs, prepared for McFarland-Johnson, Inc. by Richard M. Casella, Protsmouth, Rhode Island, 2017
https://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/dhr/documents/storrs-monograph.pdf
Rairoad Bridge. Photographed by Bruce Nelson, May 7, 1975
http://photos.nerail.org/s/?p=246366
