OCTOBER - VF - All abOARD! Group seeks to restore Bartlett Roundhouse

BARTLETT — “Rome wasn't built in a day. So, we know this will take a bit of time.”

That's what Bartlett Roundhouse Preservation Club member Jim Abbott said about their longterm goals for their hoped for restoration of the 1887-built facility last week, while taking a tour of the wooden structure on the eve of the Conway Scenic Railroad's 37th annual Railfans' Weekend, Sept. 17 and 18. The club had a booth at the railfans event.

The club was formed in March 2008. The building is owned by the state.

“We have an agreement with the state for the building which allows us to do preservation work on the grounds and the building. We're not allowed to haul anything off the grounds, due to environmental concerns so we have used a chipper there to grind up the brush we have cleared,” said Abbott's wife, Sandra, who serves as the club's secretary and treasurer.

During the tour, the Abbotts, residents of Silver Lake, said while it will take a long time to get the structure restored, they are confident that with the help of other rail enthusiasts, they'll reach their goal.

“It's an important part of local history,” said Sandra, who said she has long loved White Mountain history, but only became a rail fan because of her husband's longtime fascination with trains. “I guess you could say I married into it: my husband loves trains, and it goes way back. He and his brother used to set up a lemonade stand on West Main Street in Conway as kids to serve  passengers on the Conway Scenic,” she laughed.

The club's website, bartlettroundhouse.blogspot.com, features shots of the club's cleanup efforts, as well vintage photographs and historical data.

Its mission statement is defined as follows:

“The BRHPC's purpose is to save and facilitate restoration of the former Portland & Ogdensburg/Maine Central roundhouse located on the famed Mountain Division. In August 2008, the BRHPC successfully got the roundhouse listed on the State of New Hampshire State Registry of Historic Places. Currently the group is cleaning up debris and trash around the structure so that it may be made accessible for contractor estimates and further volunteer labor.”

Non-profit status obtained

The Abbotts and club president Scotty Mallett said the club received good news in September from its accountant that it had received official non-profit status as a 501 c3 organization.

In an interview from his home in St. Johnsbury, Vt., Mallett — a former resident of Bartlett whose two grandfathers both once worked for the Maine Central there — said that the club's new tax status will be a great boost in its efforts to raise funds.

“This accomplishment will now allow us to apply for grants and other serious funding that will help to restore the Bartlett Roundhouse for future generations to enjoy,” said Mallett.

Mallett and the Abbotts are hoping that others will join them in their quest, especially now that the fledgling organization has obtained official non-profit status.

In a way, they quipped, they are already a de facto non-profit — asked how much they have in their coffers, Sandra somewhat apologetically said, “One hundred,” as in “$100.”

“We've got a ways to go,” said Jim Abbott.

Asked how much she thinks it would cost to restore the building, Sandra Abbott said she does not know.

“We have not gotten to that point,” she said.

Maintaining property

In the meantime, they are holding up their end of the agreement with the state by helping to clear brush — and they are hoping that other rail and history enthusiasts will hop “on board” their train by joining the club.

The club has held several work sessions, according to its website.

“Our biggest issues are preservation, and vandalism. We've put up plywood to try and close it up, and we're asking people to help us by keeping an eye out for vandals,” said Jim Abbott.

The yard features a Portland Terminal Russell Plow No. 68, constructed in 1923; and a MEC 40-foot wooden brace box car No. 35059, both of which are on loan from the Conway Scenic Railroad for display purposes. Eventually, the club would like to restore both.

Vandals have attacked the snowplow; the box car is kept inside the building.

“It is our hope to restore both of these items to their original appearance, so that future generations of railfans and history buffs can see first hand what type of equipment was used in New Hampshire and New England over the years. This is what we hope to be the modest beginning of a larger collection of railroad memorabilia and documents that will span the better part of a century and a half of railroad history,” says Mallett on the club's website.

He noted he would like to see a model railroad layout at the roundhouse, which, he said, could be part of the state's 100-mile scenic byway.

He recalled a time when everyone in Bartlett worked for the railroad.

“Bartlett was a railroad town, no question,” said Mallett, 42, who followed in his family's Maine Central railroading footsteps by working for the Conway Scenic for 15 years. “Everyone either worked on the railroad, or knew a family who did.”

The roundhouse employed a force of 50 men, who worked three shifts, to keep the engines that went up Crawford Notch running.

“They would service the locomotives that would come down Crawford Notch to Portland, and those that would go up and beyond to St. Johnsbury. My grandfather, Alfred Mallett, was a signal maintainer who took care of the telegraph wires; my other grandfather, Carroll Kelley, was the track foreman who worked on the track,” said Mallett.

He told a story about how Kelley rode a snowplow train whose front was coming off the tracks on the Willey Brook Bridge.

“They were going across the bridge and it hit a chunk of ice. It derailed the front truck of the snowplow. It got across the bridge on the ties, and then hit the guardrail and that got it back on the rails on the other side,” said Mallett — telling just one of many railroading tales handed down by his grandfathers that he would like to see published some day.

He would like to see the facility restored as a symbol of that heritage, when railroad men worked through the winter and all weather to keep the trains running.

“I would like to see it restored because of what the railroad meant for the town I grew up in and my family,” said Mallett.

Roundhouse's history

According to the club's website, the Bartlett Roundhouse was built by the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad between 1887 and 1888.

The all-wood Bartlett Engine House with six stalls was home to helper locomotives that would assist heavy trains over the grade leading to Crawford Notch.

The efficient railroad was instrumental in opening the White Mountains to tourism, logging and freight service. The P&O was acquired through lease by the Maine Central railroad in 1888.

Besides transforming the region's economy, the railroad served a critical role in moving materials and supplies during World War I and World War II.

The roundhouse was built to shelter and service steam locomotives. As steam was replaced by diesel locomotive technology in the early 1950s, the usefulness of the terminals like Bartlett began to fade. Plans were drawn up to replace the structure in 1951. Two stalls were demolished and the 17,500-gallon water tower were removed between 1951 and 1952.

Plans to rebuild and replace the engine terminal were halted as freight and passenger service declined.

In June of 1958, the history of the roundhouse as a locomotive service facility ended and the building was closed and sold to the State of New Hampshire.

“From 1959 through the early 1980s, the State Department of Transportation (DOT) used the building as a sand and salt shed. Many years of salt storage had the unfortunate side-effect of rotting the wallboards of Stall 4. The building fell into disuse,” notes the website.

Meanwhile, the Maine Central became a part of Guilford Transportation Industries and the Mountain Division through Crawford Notch was abandoned in 1983.

While the rails in Bartlett fell silent, the nearby Conway Scenic Railroad began seasonal tourist service on the former Boston & Maine branch out of North Conway in 1974. The seasonal trains returned to Bartlett years later, once again bringing activity to the rails just outside the roundhouse, with the CSRR obtaining the lease from the state to renovate the rails and to operate the Mountain Division in 1995.

“The Bartlett Roundhouse Preservation Club was formed in March 2008 as an all-volunteer grassroots movement to evaluate and help recondition the historic structure for all to enjoy,” notes the website. “The state granted the organization a limited use agreement that allows them to perform cleanup work and invite licensed contractors to evaluate the structure. The future of the historic roundhouse remains uncertain. Critical support beams have weakened under the weight of many New Hampshire winters and the roof as a whole needs to be replaced. The structure is still stable, but needs work if it is to survive. Without work done to the building to halt the decay, it will collapse within the next few years.”

For further information, visit bartlettroundhouse.blogspot.com or e-mail to bartlettroundhouse@yahoo.com. The club's mailing address is: Bartlett Roundhouse Preservation Club. Inc., P.O. Box 16, Bartlett 03812-016.