The Contoocook River Railroad, or CRR, is a former railway company in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. The CRR was first established on June 24, 1848, as ''Contoocook Valley Railroad'' founded and built on a standard gauge railway line from Contoocook to

Hillsboro Hillsboro may refer to several places: Places United States *Hillsboro, Alabama, in Lawrence County *Hillsboro, Georgia, in Jasper County *Hillsboro, Illinois *Hillsboro, Indiana, in Fountain County *Hillsboro, Henry County, Indiana, a small ...

which was opened in December 1849. The 14.7 mile long route branched in Contoocook with the

Concord and Claremont Railroad The Concord and Claremont Railroad was an American railroad company during the mid-nineteenth century in New Hampshire spanning from Concord to Claremont. History Chartered on June 24, 1848, the Concord and Claremont Railroad was established and ...

. The southern continuation of this path toward

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

was subsequently amended to include the

Peterborough and Hillsborough Railroad Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

. On October 1, 1857, the reorganization was carried out and the line was renamed to Contoocook River Railroad. The railway company merged on October 31, 1873, with the Merrimac and Connecticut Rivers Railroad, the old Concord & Claremont had taken over, and the

Sugar River Railroad Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

was assumed by the Concord and Claremont Railroad. In 1884, the

Boston and Lowell Railroad The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine R ...

leased the rail line and eventually was purchased by the

Boston and Maine Corporation The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970 ...

in 1890. The track is no longer in operation today.

References

External links

Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society
Boston and Maine Railroad Defunct New Hampshire railroads Rail trails in New Hampshire Railway companies established in 1848 Railway companies disestablished in 1873 American companies established in 1848 American companies disestablished in 1873 {{US-rail-company-stub