Tracks Passing By 10 Windham Road

After crossing over the electric car tracks on the trestle behind Burger King in Hudson Center the steam railroad continued its path onward to the rear of the Baptist Church and the street level crossing at Greeley Street and then to the Hudson Depot. The depot was located behind the dwelling at what is now 238 Central Street and Wattannick Hall. From behind the grange hall the railroad passed through Dr. David O. Smith’s garden and close by the porch on the front of his house. The tracks then crossed Windham Road onto wood and farmland on route to West Windham. If you find this difficult to picture remember the home of Donna Boucher at 8 Windham Road was not there at the time as it was in its previous location on Hamblett Avenue. The first photo shows the tracks near the front porch of Dr. Smith’s home now located at 10 Windham Road.

To visualize the remainder of the route to West Windham remember that the current route 111 from Hudson Center to West Windham was not constructed until the early 1960’s and when it was built much of the road bed was placed on or close to the right of way to the railroad. Windham Road was the main road from Hudson Center to West Windham. At the time of the railroad Windham Road included the road of today plus a section which has since been abandoned and a section which today is called Lawrence Road. At that time Windham Road took a sharp left curve near the homestead of Albert Smith; the roadway after this curve has since been renamed Lawrence Road.

                     Crossing Sign at Clement Road

After crossing Windham Road the next crossing was at Clement Road near the site of the present Tip-Top Tree service. The second photo shows the sign at Clement Road giving warning of the railroad crossing. The house in the photo was the old Clement farmhouse which burned in 1935. From here the tracks headed east toward the farm of Albert E. Smith. The tracks departed from Windham Road as they went to the rear of the farmhouse and barn, continued through woods and farmland to return to Windham Road near Lawrence Corner. Lawrence Corner was at the intersection of Windham Road (now Lawrence Road) with Bockes Road, and an extension to Robinson Road (now abandoned).

              Fatal Accicent March 1906

The line through Hudson consisted of a single set of tracks, making the use of proper schedules and signals vitally important. On March 17, 1906 the tracks just east of Lawrence Corner near Beaver Brook was the site of a head on crash which left 3 fatalities and several injuries. On that day at 5:00 am westbound train 341 and eastbound train 372 met in a head-on collision which was so severe that both engines were destroyed and cars were derailed. Each of these were extra freight trains; 341 coming westbound from Rochester and 372 eastbound from Acton. The accident was caused by a mix up in the signals. Newspaper reports indicate that over the next few days over 1,000 people visited the site to view the wreckage.

From this point the rail line continued through rural countryside to the Anderson station at West Windham near the intersection of route 111 with route 128.

These photos are from the collection at the Historical Society or from editions of the Nashua Telegraph.  Written by Ruth Parker.