Profile and Franconia Notch Railroad – On July 11, 1878, the state of New Hampshire approved an act to incorporate the Profile and Franconia Notch Railroad. The incorporators were Richard Taft, Charles H. Greenleaf (owners of the Flume House and Profile House), Nathaniel White, Joseph A. Dodge, Josiab T. Vose, John H. George, Walter Aiken, Emmons Raymond, John G. Sinclair, John G. Eaton, and Warren F. Daniell. In operation from 1879-1921, this roughly ten-mile long narrow gauge railroad serviced only the Profile House in Franconia Notch.

The Profile and Franconia Notch Railroad was originally built as a narrow gauge railroad; the cost of building and operating a narrow gauge railroad is cheaper than a normal standard gauge railroad. However, it was decided to convert the railroad to standard gauge. On March 19, 1891, the state of New Hampshire approved an act to change the railroad from narrow gauge to standard gauge. The change took place in 1896/1897.

The Profile and Franconia Notch Railroad began at what would become known as Bethlehem Junction, at Pierce’s Bridge, along the Mount Washington Branch of the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad. It traveled in a southerly direction to the Gale River Settlement, crossed the Gale River, then crossed Lafayette Brook in Franconia, skirted the eastern side of Echo Lake, and ended at the Profile House train depot in Franconia Notch.

– The Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad merged with the Concord Railroad in 1889 to form the Concord & Montreal Railroad. The Boston & Maine Railroad then took over the line in 1895. –

The first three miles, more or less, of the railroad utilized the old railroad bed of the Gale River Logging Railroad. In operation from 1874-1877/1878, this short-lived railroad ended at the Gale River Settlement in Bethlehem (junction of Trudeau Road and Route 3), where there was a sawmill and logging operation. Very little is known about this logging railroad.

John G. Sinclair formed the Gale River Settlement in 1859. The settlement had homes, a school house, a sawmill, and a store. The settlement was abandoned sometime in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Photographs of the Gale River Settlement from around 1906 show the mill in ruins. There is not much factual information on the Gale River Railroad and settlement.

Along the right-of-way of the Profile and Franconia Notch Railroad are remnants of structures; the large spike in the timber pictured above remains at one of the sites along the railroad. Artifacts, such as the stove piece below from an O.G. Thomas stove made in Taunton, Massachusetts, help identify the site of old structures along the railroad. The old Route 3 also traveled in the general area of the railroad, so it’s possible this artifact has ties to the old road and not the railroad.

This stove piece is an artifact from the White Mountains railroad era. The removal of historic artifacts from federal lands without a permit is a violation of federal law. Artifacts should be left the way they are found.

Today’s Route 3 follows much of the railroad right-of-way; a half dozen short sections of the railroad bed remain on the sides of Route 3. The railroad right-of-way just north of the Skookumchuck Trailhead, along Route 3, is easy to identify during the winter months.

The trestle that crossed Lafayette Brook was 300 feet long and 65 feet high. Known as the Great Trestle, the original wooden trestle built in 1879 would be replaced with an iron one. Just above the old Route 3 bridge that crosses Lafayette Brook, near the Hugh J Gallen Monument, are remnants of the trestle.

Built by Hinckley Locomotive Works, two 4-4-0 locomotives, the Echo, No. 1, and the Profile, No. 2, were used on the Profile and Franconia Notch Branch. A three and one half mile long branch, traveling west from Bethlehem Junction, also serviced Bethlehem Village. When the Bethlehem Branch opened in 1881, a third locomotive (0-6-0T), the Bethlehem, No. 3, was added to the roster. After the railroad was converted to standard gauge, these three locomotives were replaced with two Boston and Maine locomotives that could operate on the standard gauge line. The two Boston and Maine locomotives used the names Profile and Bethlehem.

The Profile House train depot and the end of the railroad were located just southeast of today’s Cannon Mountain Tramway Parking lot (seen above). An act to extend the railroad from the Profile House to the Flume House in the southern section of Franconia Notch was approved on August 31, 1883, but for some reason, it never happened. If the railroad had been extended, it would have continued south through Franconia Notch, likely following the path of today's Franconia Notch Parkway, and ended near today's Flume Gorge Visitor Center.

In the early 1900s, automobiles became the preferred means of transportation, which impacted passenger train service throughout the White Mountains. The Profile and Franconia Notch Railroad was abandoned in the 1920s.

More reading:
Franconia Notch History Book (May 2024 publication)
East Branch & Lincoln Railroad, Narrow Gauge Line
Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge

Happy image making..

© Erin Paul Donovan. All rights reserved | Historic Information Disclaimer | White Mountains History
The historic images used on ScenicNH.com are in the public domain and / or used with permission.

Bibliography:
Crouch, H. Bentley. “Narrow Gauge to the Notch.” B & M Bulletin, Volume V, Number 5. Summer 1976, pp. 19-29.

Kilbourne, Frederick Wilkinson. Chronicles of the White Mountains. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916.

Erin Paul Donovan

Owner of ScenicNH Photography LLC

Erin Paul is a professional photographer, writer, and author who specializes in environmental conservation and historic preservation photography mainly in the New Hampshire White Mountains. His work is published worldwide, and publication credits include: Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Backpacker Magazine, and The Wilderness Society.