New Hampshire tourist railroads you must visit include a Victorian Stick-style station to a dinner train and everything in between in the Granite State. Here’s our list of must-see tourist railroads, museums, and displays — for almost every region in New Hampshire.
Ashland Railroad Station Museum
The museum is housed in a depot built by the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad around 1869. It is one of the state’s best-preserved examples of a 19th-century passenger station. The museum contains rail artifacts and photo displays. Occasionally, an excursion train stops at the museum. It is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays during July and August. Admission is free.
Location: 69 Depot Street, Ashland
Phone: 603-968-7716
Website: ashlandnhhistory.org/ashland-railroad-station
Café Lafayette Dinner Train
The Café Lafayette Dinner Train provides a top fine-dining experience while traveling through the lush forest and open fields of the Pemigewasset River Valley, which is surrounded by mountains that bear witness to New Hampshire’s nickname—the Granite State. The 20-mile round trip follows an ex-Boston & Maine right-of-way that once ran into nearby Lincoln. The Café Lafayette Dinner Train operates seasonally, from May through October. Trips occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in May. Then Thursday through Sunday from June to October.
Location: 3 Crossing at River Place, North Woodstock
Phone: 603-745-3500
Website: nhdinnertrain.com
E-mail: ali@nhdinnertrain.com
Gorham Historical Society Museum
The 1907 former Grand Trunk Railroad station houses a museum that exhibits rail and local historical items. It displays a 1911 Baldwin steam locomotive, a 1949 Boston & Maine EMD F7 diesel locomotive, a Russell snowplow, an old caboose, and several boxcars. They also have a model railroad in one of the boxcars and a steam engine exhibit in another boxcar. Operated by the Gorham Historical Society, the museum is open Thursday through Saturday late May into October.
Location: 25 Railroad Street, Gorham
Phone: 603-466-5338
Website: gorhamnewhampshire.com/railroad_museum
E-mail: gorhamhistoricalsociety@gmail.com
Potter Place Railroad Station
The Potter Place station, which was built in 1874, features striking Victorian Stick-style architectural elements. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the station includes a preserved station master’s office and exhibits on local history. This historical site also includes a Central Vermont caboose and freight house, both from the early 1900s, as well as a general store and schoolhouse. It is open on weekends from late May to early October.
Location: 105 Depot Street, Andover
Website: andoverhistory.org/potter-place-railroad-station-and-museum
E-mail: pres@andoverhistory.org
Sandown Depot Museum
Located in a former 1874 Worchester, Nashua & Portland Railroad depot, the museum displays two 1914 Maine Central Railroad flanger cars, an 1880s velocipede, a restored 1958 speeder, and various railroad exhibits. It is open Saturdays from May through September.
Location: 6 Depot Road, Sandown
Website: sandownnhdepot.org/museum/depot/
E-mail: Form on website
