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On a hot Sunday, July 10, Mass Bay RRE visited New England's newest railroad, Wilton Scenic, based in Wilton, NH.
In 1988, the state of New Hampshire purchased the embargoed Hillsboro Branch west of Milford, NH from B&M. Milford-Bennington RR owner Peter Leishman restored freight service in July 1992, moving 20 - 30 cars of rock a day from Granite State Concrete's quarry in Lyndeboro to a processing plant in Milford. In 2002, Mr. Leishman and Stuart Draper, a Wilton businessman, began planning the Wilton Scenic to run between Wilton and Otter Lake in Greenfield State Park, and later to Bennington, end of track on the Hillsboro Branch. Mr. Draper found the RDCs in British Columbia, where BC Rail had given up passenger service in early 2002, and moved them to New Hampshire that fall. M-B began clearing brush and trees beyond the quarry. We ran right to where the brush-cutter was working, beyond Russell Station Road.
