The Peterboro Railroad had its rather modest beginnings on a bright sunny day in 1879. It all began with a knock on Frederick Baier’s office door. Mr Baier was the general manager of the Peterboro Granite Company. He had under  his supervision one of the most extensive granite deposits in all of New England. The company also owned a modest size stone cutting works in Rock Harbor just three miles from the quarries. It was there that the rough cut granite was converted into many finished products such as paving stones, building blocks, curb stones, monuments, memorials, and grave stones. All the products were shipped out via barge and boat from the small dock at Rock Harbor. Rock Harbor was a small seaport on the Atlantic Ocean. Situated on the south side of a small peninsular it was sheltered from the  harsh winter ocean breezes. Rock Harbor remained ice free even in the most severe New England winters which made it the ideal shipping point for Peterboro granite.

 

One would think that with such favorable conditions, Mr Baier would be content with his situation. He was not. He had one huge problem. That problem was how to transport the rough cut quarried granite stones over three miles of single lane dirt road that connected the quarry to the cutting sheds in Rock Harbor. From the very beginning of operations years earlier, wooden sleds pulled by teams of oxen or draft horses had been used to accomplish this task. This method was less than satisfactory. In the winter, snow and ice often made the road passable but treacherous. In the spring and fall frequent rains turned the road into a mud pit. During the summer when the road was most passable the sleds raised so much dust that you see them coming from a mile away. In addition the local populace frequently complained that the sleds took up too much room and often forced travelers off the road and into the surrounding fields and woods.

 

The knock on Mr Baier’s office door came from a locomotive salesman for the Portland Locomotive Works just down the coast. This salesman knew that it took a lot of money to purchase, stable and feed oxen and draft horses not to mention building and maintaining the big sleds. And then there was the hiring of drivers and teamsters. He told Baier that for the same money or less, The Peterboro Granite Company could build a narrow gauge railroad to transport the quarried stone to the cutting sheds day in and day out, night or day, and in all kinds of weather. With those words, the fates of the Peterboro Granite Company and Rock Harbor were forever entwined as the Peterboro Railroad was born.

 

Baier promptly placed an order for two small saddle tank locomotives. It was more than coincidence that Portland just happen to have these locomotives in stock. It seems that a sugar  cane plantation in Louisiana had cancelled an order for the two locomotives just a few days before. They had been  built to a gauge of 30 inches. So now the Peterboro Railroad would be built to a gauge of 30 inches. Baier wasted no time in hiring the famous railroad construction engineer, Martin K. Van Horn of Baltimore, to build the new line. Van Horn was known in railroad circles for his solidly built and smooth flowing track. Van Horn quickly hired a crew of Rock Harbor locals to handle the construction under his supervision. By the time summer had turned to fall, three miles of 30 inch gauge track stretched from the Peterboro Granite quarry to the cutting sheds at Rock Harbor. The trains began to run and for the first since the Peterboro quarry had opened, raw stone material began to flow to the cutting sheds year round. Old man Baier was so happy that he threw a big New Years bash for the entire town of Rock Harbor that year. Many of the town folk rode to the celebration on some of the line’s brand new flatcars and in the line’s caboose.

 

For the next couple of years the Peterboro railroad hummed right along. But it soon became apparent that the two little locomotives could not keep up with the demand for rough quarried stone at the cutting sheds. It seems that the demand for Peterboro granite products was growing now that it was available year round. Baier had dispatched salesmen throughout the country to tout the qualities of Peterboro Granite. The result was that the little Portland locomotives were soon working tirelessly day and night and just about running their wheels off.

 

General Manager Baier decided that he needed new motive power that could pull longer and heavier trains. He had read somewhere that geared steam locomotives might just fit the bill for his little railroad. In spite of doing quite a bit of research, he couldn’t decide whether a shay or climax would best suit his needs. So he bought one of each. Climax number 5 was purchased new from the Climax factory in Corry, PA. Shay #4 was picked up second hand from a logging outfit in Mississippi. The two geared locos proved  to be just what was needed and the Peterboro Railroad once again settled down into a hum drum existence hauling rock, day in and day out, from the quarry to the cutting sheds  

 

In 1904 things began to change. The standard gauge Central Maine Railroad built a line north just a few miles inland from the seacoast to service the increasingly popular summer resorts sprinkled along the bays and harbors of central Maine. The new line passed just seven miles to the west of Rock Harbor and within five miles of the Peterboro Granite Company quarry. In General Manager Baier’s opinion this was an opportunity that was too good to pass up. A connection with the Central Maine would mean that all of the supplies needed for the daily operation of the quarry and the cutting sheds could be hauled in from the standard gauge at a cost that was substantially less than bringing them in by wagon as was now done. And a connection with the Central Maine would give the Peterboro Granite Company as second outlet for the shipment of their products.  It didn’t take the old man long to order a survey for a right of way to connect the Peterboro Railroad to the new standard gauge line at Moose Creek. It was his last official act as General Manager of the Peterboro Granite Company and the Peteboro Railroad. Feeling that he had accomplished all of his goals, Baier announced his retirement. He had bought a modest bed and breakfast hotel situated on a small island  just off  the coast and within sight of Rock Harbor. For 25 years his steady hand had guided the Peterboro Granite Company and the Peterboro Railroad. Now he had set them both on a course that would provide for bigger and better things to come .

 

Baier’s successor was a young firebrand named Shawn Heath. His first official act was to drag Martin K. Van Horn out of a quiet retirement to build the connection to the Central Maine. Van Horn worked his usual magic and in a matter of a few months seven miles of new 30 inch gauge track stretched from Rock Harbor to Moose Creek and the Central Maine’s new coast line. Things began to really hum as daily outbound trains carried cut granite products to the junction. These included curb and paving stones, building blocks and monuments, head stones and gravel. Inbound trains hauled coal to feed the steam boilers that powered the cutting machines at the stone works. Of course, more coal for the railroads locomotives was hauled to the servicing areas at Rock Harbor and the quarry. Special sand used for polishing granite headstones and monuments was carried in gondolas to the cutting works. Tank cars carried lubricating oil for the quarrying machinery and the cutting machinery. Boxcars brought in lumber that was used to make crates for shipping the finished products outbound. Every once in a while, one of the quarries flat cars was dispatched to the junction to pick up a new piece of machinery or a new stationary boiler. The granite business continued to grow.

 

And with the connection to the standard gauge came other new sources of revenue for the railroad. Businesses all along the route soon began to request rail service. Dave Frary, owner of Frary Fresh Fish, was the first to realize that he could get his products to the big city markets in southern New England quickly via the Peterboro’s connection to the standard gauge. He even offered to pay for building the rail spur that would service his wharf side packing plant. Bob Hayden of Hayden’s Hardwood Products wasn’t too far behind either. Bob had visions of his clothespins, brooms and spools being sold throughout the Northeast once he was connected to rail service. Local entrepreneur, Steve Fisher, opened a freight forwarding company. He was the only one in the area that could make sense out of the Peterboro Railroad’s new train schedule. He began to make a tidy sum handling small parcels in and out of town on the railroad. Next to the Peterboro Granite Company, the line’s biggest customer was the Miracle Chair Company. Owner, Jeff Gelner built a new factory right next to the tracks in Rock Harbor to take advantage of the new connection at Moose Creek.

 

However, the line’s most glamorous customer wasn’t in manufacturing. It was Baier’s Bed and Breakfast. Now approaching 70 years of age, old Frederick Baier was never one to let a golden opportunity pass him by. So once the connection to the standard gauge was completed he started to advertise his little hotel in the big city newspapers “downeast”. The results were better than expected and soon Baier’s Bed and Breakfast was sold out every night in season. Of course, Baier’s claim that the ocean breezes buffeting his island resort promoted “healing and good health” may have had something to do with this success. As the years continued to move forward many new rooms and wings were added onto the original 5 bedroom facility. In fact you could hardly call it anything except a “Grand Resort Hotel”. It grew to rival any facility on the coast or up in the mountains near the famous Crawford Notch. All of the guests that came and went had to ride the Peterboro Railroad to and from Rock Harbor and the junction at Moose Creek. All groceries and supplies for the resort also moved over the railroad. Business was so good that Baier was soon managing a small fleet of three ocean ferry boats to handle the daily traffic to and from the island. Of course, the Peterboro Railroad was more than willing to schedule trains to meet each of the arriving and departing ferry boats.

 

Shortly after the connection to the standard gauge was completed in 1904, it became obvious that additional motive power was needed for the railroad. The geared locomotives although great pullers could not move all of the traffic fast enough. Early in 1905 General Manager Heath returned from a business trip inland and announced that he was going to buy three brand new forney style locomotives from the Baldwin works in Philadelphia. He had encountered forneys on some of the Maine two foot gauge railroads during his trip and was so impressed with them that he decided he needed several for the Peterboro Railroad. However, Baldwin couldn’t fill his order for six months. To meet motive power needs in the meantime, Heath had also purchased two used locomotives. One was a small 4-4-0 that had seen service on a tourist hauling road somewhere in central Pennsylvania. The second was an outside frame 2-8-0 from a bankrupt sugar cane hauler in Cuba. Both were due to arrive in a couple of weeks and would be the only road locomotives until the forneys arrived. The shay and Climax would return to duty as granite haulers only.

 

Soon the Peterboro Railroad fell in a very busy routine of hauling freight and passengers to and from Rock Harbor and the junction at

Moose Creek. The geared locos hauled rough cut granite to the cutting sheds at Rock Harbor. They brought the finished stone products back to the quarry yard where trains where assembled for the big 2-8-0 to to the junction. The forneys took turns hauling freight and passengers to and from the junction. Often all three of them were put into service to meet the busy seasonal needs of the railroad. And so it continued into 1928 which is the current date for the railroad.