In 1998 I spent the week in Dover, NH. My Rail Atlas found that the Guilford Rail System had Dover listed as a station. The traffic moving on the segment was 1-2 million tons of freight annually. I spent sometime on Mapquest planning my routes. The New Hampshire North Coast tied into the GRS main a few miles north at Rollingsford. The Portmouths spur started down in Rockingham. The place sounded like it would really rock and roll.

And it did. FRA Class 2 track pieced together from a former Boston & Maine double track mainline, the trains were all dippin and divin as they went by. When the line was rebuilt from double to single track the "best" side was kept resulting in a single track moving back and forth on a double roadbed. I don't know if six axle power is permitted.

Arriving early sunday at Boston I set out for Dover in a red ford mustang. The scanner got quiet once I got away from the Conrail at Manchester. It rarely speaks again for the rest of the trip. Coming through Portsmouth the temperature drops about 10 degrees close to the ocean. This seems to be a summer playground for the northeast. Once in Dover I obtain a local roadmap with railroads on it and set out to scout the area. Finding a roadmap can sometimes be the most frustrating part of a trip so I have several Mapquest printouts already on hand.

I find the old B&M yard which looks more like a MOW dump. The few tracks remaining look like they are being torn out as time permits. The weather worn B&M shield is barely discernable on one of the buildings. Dover has become a Donut stop for the GRS.

Next door is a glass bottle plant with a string of green GP9s tied down on the siding. The NHNC serves this plant delivering raw materials from a quarry which is the primary reason for the railroads existance. The Ossipee turn, also known as the Sand train, is a daily event leaving Dover about 8:00a. After inspecting the locomotives I head off to find Rollingsford.

The town is easy to find, the junction a little more difficult as there are a limited number of grade crossings. I find access through the graveyard on the south side and a better one on the northwest. An approach lit signal protects the switch to the NHNC track. Most of the signalling system appears to be abandoned making it difficult to tell whether its approach lit or a ghost. Tresspassing doesn't seem to be a problem with these folks.

Having gotten the lay of the land here I follow the NHNC line as far as Sommersworth. The roads are wrapped around a river with the rails on the west bank. I cruise the area going in circles. After passing the same group of teens several times they ask if I'm lost. They really want to know about the mustang. I get some directions and find the tracks again. Confident that I can find my way around here I head back to Dover and then down to Rockingham.

I travel the highways that parallel the track as much as possible, which adds about 15 minutes to the trip. The access road to the station leaves the highway about a 1/4 mile north. The highway crossing is a grade separation which makes for a peaceful setting. As this is a Ghost station this is somewhat appropriate. The station is on the main just north of the Portsmouth spur. This was a junction with a line that ran from Portsmouth to Manchester, leading to Concord the state capital. Now only the turnout for the Portsmouth Spur remains. The station is in considerable disrepair but someone has been fixing it up. MOW has been using the property for storage.

After soaking up the ambiance for about an hour an employee shows up. I get ready to leave but he just inquires as to whether the train has gone through yet. Tresspassing doesn't seem to be a problem with these folks as I found no threatening signs posted or barbed wire borders. Maybe people know how to act around here. The Employee walks on to inspect cars on the sidings that are south of the Portmouth Spur switch. The west siding is where bad orders are set out, the east is for Portsmouth setoff. I stay back at the station.

After a bit, a couple a local railfans show up. They give me a run down on the operations in the area. Apparently a deal has been cut to restore passenger service and rebuild the track. We talk for awhile until the sun is dropping. No trains so far, but I now know the gravel train schedule.

The next morning I get an early start out to Rollingsford. The morning haze is still lingering. I begin to get some radio traffic on the scanner. The NHN Ossippee turn, aka the Sand or Gravel train, is being put together back in Dover. He travels the 3 miles of GRS to Rollingsford and heads north at the turn on NHN. Lurking at the junction becomes my morning routine.

Later that week I get into town too late for the sand train and decide to blow off the fannin that morning. As I get into town a GRS train is leaving town toward Rockingham. I decide to try beating him there, realizing I am at a significant disadvantage as he is already at timetable speed where I haven't even turned around yet. I end up following a police car most of the way going five under the speed limit. It is really starting to look like a lost cause but its a pleasant morning and I've nothing better to do. I get to the station and set up for a shot. After 10 minutes I figure that he must be long gone and get ready to leave. As I am heading back to the car I hear airhorns. The track between here and Dover must be in really bad shape for me to have gained this much time on GRS306. There seems to be as much lateral movement as there is forward with the cars pitching violently from side to side.

Another morning I arrive at Rollingsford in time to see the EOT of the sand train rounding the bend. It looks like another race as I try to beat him into Sommersville. The advance scouting of the area I did sunday pays off as I get a couple of nice shots less than thirty seconds after parking.

An afternoon/evening is spent tracking the Portsmouth spur to the end. This is the only rail service in the city. A single GP apparently switches the whole city from Rockingham on out. With the number of water crossings needed here it becomes increasingly clear that rail infrastructure is very expensive to maintain.

Later in the week I am lusting to see a six axle traveling at better than 30mph so I ventured back toward Boston. Stopping in Lowell,MA I could not get a grip on that scene. There was quite a lot of radio chatter but I couldn't make the shift from tourist to urban setting. The social stratification seemed to divide on the river with the tracks shrouded by sets of formidable barriers. I tried to find a mainline on the outskirts but ran out of time. This was a place that would require time to explore.

Sparse as the rail traffic was, Dover is not a bad place to be in the Portsmouth area for rail fanning. It is the first point in from the coast that you will find any run through trains. It is a very friendly town with a lot of interesting rail history.