Our train waits while the Lakeport drawbridge at the south end of Paugus Bay is lowered.
Photo by Walter Sapolsky

The Capital Limited

We left Meredith on the Winnipesaukee Railroad under a light overcast and drifted south along the Lake Winnipesaukee shore. A look at old maps indicated the extent of lakeside development that had occurred beside this line since B&M's Montreal-bound Alouette and Red Wing highballed through in the 1940s and 1950s. Before Weirs Beach, we slowed for the "tourist zone," where the shop owners were still getting ready for the rush that would begin after Memorial Day.

Beyond Weirs Beach, the pleasureboaters were out, pacing our train as we slowed to a stop at the tiny Lakeport drawbridge. Here, our crew had to lower the bridge so we could pass over Paugus Bay...