A&ALCo #4 just after restoration in 1966

The Ace & Acme Lumber Company was formed in 1880 to cut and mill lumber from the Sandwich mountains between Campton and Parsons Vale. By 1890, they had built a logging railroad to deliver raw timber to the Acme mill in Campton and the Termite mill in Parsons Vale. By 1900, the A&ALCo lumber plots were logged off and the railroad was mainly shut down in favor of doing fine milling on rough cut timber from other mills at the Termite mill.

In 1908, the Lincoln & Concord Railway purchased the A&ALCo to provide a route between Campton and Parsons Vale. When the line was electrified, logging operations were restarted north of the Bearcamp River and continued until 1937.

A&ALCo history

1880
Ace & Acme Lumber Company formed.
1881
Logging railroad built from Campton (Acme mill) up towards Waterville Valley.
1890
Railroad branch built through Sandwich Notch and down the Bearcamp river to deliver lumber to the Termite mill in Parsons Vale.
1902
Lumber tracts exhausted; logging railroad shuts down.
1908
Lincoln & Concord buys A&ALCo.

All-time A&ALCo roster

No. Type Builder Built Notes
1-3 0-4-4T Baldwin 1884 scrapped 1936.
4 4-4-0 Amoskeag 1850 ex Northern RR #35, to LW&C #1065, then PV&T #277; Purchased in 1889, Stored 1937, restored 1955-1966, to Steamtown 1975
5 4-4-0 Manchester 1886 abandoned in the woods 1936
  • Copyright © 2023 by David Parsons (orc@pell.portland.or.us) unless otherwise noted
    Wed Feb 08 01:06:57 PST 2023