The story
Chartered on June 24, 1848, the Concord and Claremont Railroad was established and construction had begun on November 19, 1848. Approximately ten months later, on September 21, the railroad was opened from Concord to Warner.
The very first train to travel the line left Warner and had approximately 500 passengers aboard the 9 passenger coaches. On the return trip from Concord, the train carried about 800 passengers on the 18 passenger coaches, which required a second locomotive pushing from the rear. The original railroad line was only 18 miles (29 km) long, but it was soon extended through Bradford, adding 9 miles (14 km) to the line.
In 1852, the railroad filed for bankruptcy; it was merged in 1853 with the New Hampshire Central Railroad, forming what was known as the Merrimac and Connecticut Rivers Railroad Company. In 1874, the Sugar River Railroad, which built and ran its rail line from Newport to Claremont, merged with the Contoocook Valley Railroad and again created the Concord and Claremont Railroad, under the control of the Northern Railroad.
In 1887, the Boston and Maine Railroad absorbed the Concord and Claremont, and the line was now known as the Claremont Branch of the Boston & Maine.
From Wikipedia’s article on Concord and Claremont Railroad, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4