In 1872, the Wolfeboro Branch brought the railroad age to the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, linking Wolfeboro to the wider Boston & Maine system and opening a new era of travel, trade, summer visitors, and local industry. Nearly a century later, the old branch found new life when the Wolfeborough Railroad began carrying passengers again as a tourist railroad.
Its most memorable symbol was steam locomotive No. 250, a Baldwin 2-6-2 Prairie built in 1926. After earlier industrial service in the South, No. 250 came to New Hampshire and made its first trip to Wolfeboro on August 1, 1972, just before the branch’s own 100th anniversary. For many visitors in the 1970s, the sight of No. 250 steaming along the causeways and lakeshore made the past feel alive again.
In 2026, America marks the 250th anniversary of independence, 1776–2026. A July 4th scene with No. 250 decorated in red, white, and blue connects several anniversaries at once: the nation’s founding, the coming of the railroad to Wolfeboro, and the revival of steam on the Wolfeboro Branch. The engine becomes more than a locomotive. It is a moving reminder of how transportation, tourism, community pride, and history all came together on this small New Hampshire railroad.