Railroads run deep in Lebanon's past

I have many memories of Lebanon, but a part of its history that interests me most was the railroads. My interest actually started in Shapleigh, not Lebanon.

That is because my grandfather, Raymond Ricker, bought the Lebanon train station on Sept. 4, 1942. He paid $25 to the Boston and Maine Railroad for it. He had 60 days to remove it. He had to ask for an extension because help was scarce as a lot of men were in the war. When my grandfather found help they took the station apart and moved it to Mousam Lake, Shapleigh. He built a camp and my family had a lot of wonderful years there.

The first train from Portland, Maine, went through Lebanon to Rochester, N.H., in 1871. When the train approached Rochester cannons boomed, bells rang and a large celebration began.

Originally the train was to travel through Little River Falls Village but the route was switched in 1869. The change brought a decline in Little River especially after the hotel, Academy and the store burned in 1878. Soon after the Post Office closed and the area became residential.

East Lebanon became a prosperous business center after the arrival of the train. First a grange central supply store was built in 1876 and later it became a general store. In 1883 it also housed a Post Office. Then a new railroad station, a freight house and a water station were built. Later other buildings were built including a grain store, a blacksmith shop, a clothing store and storage buildings.

In the late 1800s the average train speed was 20 miles per hour and an average fare was 4 cents per mile. The conductors and the enginemen were paid a daily rate of $2.50, while the station agents, the switchmen and the firemen only got a daily rate of $1.50.

The Portland and Rochester Railroad Company had an average of 130 employees in 1888. Four years later there were 196 employees. Also it was not unusual for the operating personnel to work 24 or more hours without a rest. That changed with the enactment of the Hours of Service Law in 1907.

On Jan. 1, 1900, the Portland and Rochester Railroad merged with the Boston and Maine Railroad. In June of that year they changed the East Lebanon station to Eastwood.

In 1910 a new train station was built, and the old station was moved across the road from the country store and made into a home. The railroads busiest years were 1910 to 1920. There were more than 30 trains a day passing through Lebanon; six were passenger trains and the others were freight. Each day a stage traveled from Eastwood station to South Acton.

After the North Lebanon High School closed in 1927 students that wanted to go to Sanford High School took the train to Springvale. The students had to walk to the high school from the station. It cost 26 cents a day to tide the train.

The next 20 years the railroad saw drastic changes and reductions in services. There was only one passenger run by February 1932 from Portland to Rochester in the morning and returning in the afternoon. Then the train made its last passenger trip on June 23, 1932. The freight service continued until 1946.

The Eastwood Station sign sat on top of the camp for many years. My grandmother sold the camp in the 1970s and now the sign is on display in Stokewood Diner in Lebanon.

The Eastwood Station and the trains going through Lebanon are just long ago memories. The Lebanon Historical Society established a wonderful book about the railroad and that is where I got most of the information for this story. If you would like to read more or see pictures of the railroad stations from Portland to Rochester we will be reprinting the book in the near future.

Marilyn Ricker Bolduc, a Lebanon native, has had her articles published in several magazines. She lives in Sanford.