The White Mountain Central Railroad is an unusual railway collection because it survives inside a family attraction rather than a conventional locomotive museum. Its origins are tied to the Clark family’s roadside business, begun in 1928. The attraction became known for its bears, but the family’s enthusiasm for steam machinery produced another legacy: locomotives rescued when obsolete industrial engines were being cut up. The first track was laid in the 1950s, and the railway’s first public train ran in July 1958.
The most interesting engines here belong to the world of logging and industrial railways. The collection’s history includes Climax, Heisler, Shay and Porter locomotives. A Climax uses geared machinery to transmit power, a different arrangement from the large driving wheels and side rods familiar on mainline passenger engines. That design was suited to demanding industrial work, where pulling power and the ability to negotiate difficult tracks mattered more than high speed.
The operating Climax has a particularly local connection. It was purchased new by the Beebe River Lumber Company at Campton, only a short distance from its present home. Seeing a logging engine carry visitors through the woods therefore connects the railway with the timber economy of the White Mountains, rather than presenting it as an unrelated amusement-park train. The operator schedules both steam and diesel operation, so the locomotive used varies with the calendar.
Another major artifact is the covered railway bridge over the Pemigewasset River. Originally built in 1904 for a Vermont railroad, it was dismantled, its components numbered, and then transported and reassembled by Edward Clark, his sons and a small crew. The structure demonstrates that railway preservation can involve saving an entire piece of infrastructure, not simply a locomotive. Watch how the timber trusses create a sheltered passage around a full-size train.
The ride includes the attraction’s theatrical Wolfman encounter, which should be understood as entertainment rather than historical interpretation. For the heritage story, concentrate on the industrial locomotives, the relocated bridge and the Florence Murray Museum’s railroad material.
Visitor information
Researched November 2026.
Sources
More railroad museums in New Hampshire
- Ashland Railroad Station Museum — Ashland: Depot and railroad history museum
- Gorham Historical Society & Railroad Museum — Gorham: Depot and railroad history museum
- Potter Place Railroad Station Museum — Andover: Depot and railroad heritage museum
- Sandown Depot Museum — Sandown: Depot and local history museum
- All 5 railroad museums and sites in New Hampshire
Keep exploring
- All heritage sites — museums, stations and landmarks
- Northeast — the trains you can ride in the region