
North Stratford Railroad Company
On my layout I added a space to feature an interchange with the North Stratford Railroad. This neat shortline operated former MEC trackage at the top of New Hampshire and into Vermont near the Canadian border. The NSRC interchanged with the Grand Trunk (later St. Lawrence & Atlantic) in North Stratford, and operated to the end of the former MEC line to Beecher Falls, VT.On my layout I overlap timelines a little by operating MEC locals YT-1 and TY-2 between North Stratford and St. Johnsbury, and the NSRC will interchange cars and service the Ethan Allen plant in Beecher Falls.
History of the North Stratford Railroad Company
In 1977, the Maine Central ceased operations of its Beecher Falls branch, from North Stratford, NH to the end of the line in Beecher Falls, VT. The State of New Hampshire purchased the rail line for $310,000 and the North Stratford Railroad Company was created by a former owner of the White Mountain Central tourist RR to operate the line.The Maine Central’s Beecher Fall’s branch was an extension off of the Mountain Division. The branch diverted north at Quebec Junction and went north in NH and Vermont to get to North Stratford. From there, Maine Central trackage crossed the Grand Trunk and continued north to Beecher Falls. At one time the line extended as far as Lime Ridge, Quebec, but this was taken out of service in 1925. In 1949, the parallel line between North Stratford and Lancaster was abandoned in favor of trackage rights over the GT and B&M. Throughout the 1970s, the MEC wanted to divest itself of this unprofitable rail line. A washout in 1973 didn’t help matters, and the line did shut down for 17 months. The ICC finally let the MEC cease operations in 1977, when the state of NH and the NSRC took over.
The North Stratford Railroad's main customer was the Ethan Allen Furniture factory in Beecher Falls Vermont. Boxcars of furniture were brought down the line and interchanged with the Grand Trunk. Occasionally, boxcars of furniture sub-assemblies also traveled back to the Beecher Falls plant. An on-line Agway store also received feed in bulk and bagged. Unfortunately, this traffic was diverted to trucks in 1984.
The ex-MEC facilities in Beecher Falls included a single stall roundhouse (reduced from 3) and a turntable. These were used by the railroad to store and service the locomotives. In my photo at the top of the page, the 44-tonner is inside the dark roundhouse if you look closely.

The NSRC, shown with the dark green line on the map here, starts in North Stratford and heads northeast, paralleling the Connecticut River, crossing into Vermont, to reach Beecher Falls.
Locomotives and Fright Cars
Two locomotives served the railroad, an ex-US Army GE 44 tonner, #76, and an ex-MEC Alco S1, #959. Both were painted in a green scheme with a light green stripe and the NSRC logo.Alco S1 #959 was named George Van Dyke for the lumber baron who created the rail line from North Stratford to Beecher Falls in the 1880’s.

I took this photo of Alco S1 959 in 1982 while we were driving through Beecher Falls VT
GE 44 tonner, #76, was named Arch McDonnell for a famous railroad artist from New Hampshire.

NSRC GE 44 Tonner 76, picture from rrpicturearchives.net
The railroad also acquired one hundred 40 foot rebuilt and repainted boxcars, numbered 400-499. These were quite iconic and recognizable from the late 1970s throughout the 1980s across much of the US.

NSRC boxcar 461 sits outside the Ethan Allen plant in Beecher Falls
NSRC operations in 1980
Operations usually occurred 2 days a week. On Wednesday, all of the loaded boxcars were pulled out of the plant and empties were spotted in the enclosed loading track. The boxcars were then taken to the small yard in Beecher Falls. On Thursday, the train departed Beecher Falls for North Stratford and the interchange with the GT. Loaded cars were spotted and the empties were pulled onto the train. After lunch, the train returned to Beecher Falls.Usually the 44 tonner was used because of its greater fuel economy. The Alco was used whenever heavier tonnage dictated.
It is interesting to note that the State of New Hampshire owned the rail line and helped subsidize the railroad, but the main customer and the engine facilities were both located in neighboring Vermont.
NSRC rail line today
The NSRC operated the 25 mile rail line from 1977 until 1989 when the Ethan Allen plant shut down. Since 1993, the New Hampshire Central has leased a portion of the line from North Stratford to Columbia. A new sand and gravel operation, a new fuel facility and a new NHC-operated railcar repair facility generated most of the traffic.The New Hampshire Central started operations using the same NSRC GE 44 tonner, repainting it into a yellow and black scheme and renumbering it 360. Later, a chop nose GP16 (ex-SAL GP9) was added to the roster and painted red with a white stripe, numbered 1732. Interchange still occurs in North Stratford, now with the GT’s successor, the St. Lawrence & Atlantic. The S1 959 is still in service, now on the Hobo Railroad.

I caught the 44-tonner at the freight car repair facility in 1999
For more about the New Hampshire Central, check out my article about the NHC Car Repair Facility that I wrote for the April 2002 issue of the NER Coupler.
Some of the rail line from North Stratford to Beecher Falls is still around although I am not as up to date on what has happened in the last 20 years across the whole line and what corrent operations might be in place. I am pretty sure the track in Beecher Falls is no longer in place.
The North Stratford on my layout
Making full use of my modeler's license (that is why you renew it each year!), I included an interchange between the MEC and the Grand Trunk with the NSRC at North Stratford. From there the NSRC runs to Beecher Falls to serve the Ethan Allen plant in Beecher Falls.Years ago, my friend and I built two 4-foot HO modules depicting North Stratford. I followed the same basic idea for the interchange area in North Stratford. The NSRC main is then compressed for a short run to the Ethan Allen plant in Beecher Falls. This area sits on an L-shaped shelf measuring 8.5' x 10.5' sitting above Groveton and Gilman on the main level of the layout. This "deck" is reached with a switch representing Quebec Jct. off the MEC mainline between Crawford Notch and Whitefield (just like the prototype!)
I recently (winter 2025) completed the scenery in this area after it was successfully operated a few times.

Looking at the NSRC L-shaped shelf area of the layout from left to right, here is where the MEC enters and I have included a MEC freight house here. The boxcars are on the interchange track. The depth here is 14".

Moving to the right you see the L-shape continuing to the right past the GT station. The back track is non-operational representing a GT passing siding.

Finally down the other side of the L-shaped shelf we see the end of the line and the Ethan Allen furniture plant. Here you can see that the narrow shelf sits above the Gilman paper mill below along the MEC line. The depth here is 8".

Here is a small portion of what would represent a much larger furniture plant, simply representing the boxcar loading that takes place inside the building, and an outside overflow track for additional boxcars.
HO locomotive models of a 44-tonner and an S1 are available of course, but require custom painting to accurately model them. The green paint is a match to a Ford metallic green that is available in spray cans. After having all the elements on hand for a few years I finally completed a model of each locomotive in 2023.

This Proto 2000 S1 was carefully painted using the Ford Metallic spray paint, then descaled with Highball Graphics decals. A LokSound 5 decoder with keep alive and a Scale Sound Speaker make this locomotive really fun to operate.

This Bachmann 44 Tonner came equipped with a very basic DCC decoder. Custom painted with the same paint and Highball Graphics decals. It runs OK but doing this with a new Rapido 44 Tonner would be nice. But it is not critical as I do not need 2 operational NSRC locomotives right now.
The many 40' rebuilt boxcars can be modeled with custom painting and also a commercial model from Athearn. These cars came in all varieties, some with roofwalks, some with shortened ladders, some with different door styles. These were painted dark green (not the same as the locomotives).

For operations, I have a crew called to switch the Ethan Allen plant in Beecher Falls and then run to the interchange in North Stratford. Loads and empties for Beecher Falls are swapped from the dual MEC/GT interchange track.The team track is switched and then the train returns back to Beecher Falls.
I have a GT station and mainline track but is not operational. An interchange track is staged with cars from the GT, and the MEC train YT-1 also drops cars for the NSRC here as well.