Owl's Nest/Wise Owl, Alton, NH

RailroadJoe · 10-19-2010, 04:55 PM

Interesting thing about abandoned railroad tracks. The right of way is the main problem. In some cases the state buys the right of way when the railroad abandons it. In other cases the land reverts back to original owners of the land. Case in point, look at all the new homes built on the Lake Shore Railroad bed in West Alton.
Most are directly on the bed and a lot in Gilford, from Lake Shore Park, have posted signs.
In Massachusetts they have paved over tracks for parking, torn them up at street crossings and let the trees and weeds take over.

peasoupfan · 08-13-2011, 12:43 PM

Though I can't eat shellfish, my husband tells me they have the best lobster rolls for the price. Full of great meat...not yourr average far too much mayo type of lobster roll.

Barndoor Islander · 08-31-2011, 03:21 PM

Did this get resolved? As an islander we're always looking to avoid needing a car.

Jeanzb1 · 09-09-2011, 07:39 AM

Lobster rolls are delicious! And their omellettes are HUMUNGOUS! Wonderful little place!

WinniGirl81 · 04-15-2012, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barndoor Islander

Did this get resolved? As an islander we're always looking to avoid needing a car.

Hi Barndoor Islander!

No this problem has yet to be resolved. We're working our way through the red tape, but we have some way to go. We'll keep you posted.

Mr. V · 07-10-2012, 01:22 AM

How's the breakfast fare at the Owl's Nest this year?

I'll be out in a few weeks, and am looking for a good breakfast spot in that area.

Altonbayicefishingfool · 07-10-2012, 08:14 AM

I use to work at the "nest" back in the 90's with my good friend,Tim Scribner.... Many good times there!
My most memorable was meeting Bobby Carpenter, former Boston Bruin who had a house on the lake in W. Alton.. He would come in for a steak and cheese in the summer months..

BroadHopper · 07-10-2012, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RailroadJoe

Interesting thing about abandoned railroad tracks. The right of way is the main problem. In some cases the state buys the right of way when the railroad abandons it. In other cases the land reverts back to original owners of the land. Case in point, look at all the new homes built on the Lake Shore Railroad bed in West Alton.
Most are directly on the bed and a lot in Gilford, from Lake Shore Park, have posted signs.
In Massachusetts they have paved over tracks for parking, torn them up at street crossings and let the trees and weeds take over.

You will notice no one is altering or building on the railroad bed up to Wise Owl. That's because the sewage line from Laconia is under the railroad bed. I will be posting pictures of the old railroad bed next spring.

The railroad track crosses Irwin Marine parking lot. You will see the tracks up to where Grossman use to be before Lowes Home Improvement.

Mr. V · 07-11-2012, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

You will notice no one is altering or building on the railroad bed up to Wise Owl. That's because the sewage line from Laconia is under the railroad bed.

Hang on, are you saying that a viable, working sanitary sewage line extends from Laconia to the Wise Owl in West Alton, and that it is sited along the old RR right of way?

Whoa, I've never heard that before.

upthesaukee · 07-11-2012, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. V

Hang on, are you saying that a viable, working sanitary sewage line extends from Laconia to the Wise Owl in West Alton, and that it is sited along the old RR right of way?

Whoa, I've never heard that before.

Flush twice, it is a long way to Alton

. I know that the first house on the left heading into Alton from Gilford, had a new septic system put in a few years ago. That house would be right on the RR ROW...A few years back Alton had a Rails to Trails that I was a part of, and we talked about the ROW all the way to the Alton/Gilford town line.
Nor do I think that Gilford would allow a sewer line to transverse their town.

Like to see the source on that one Broadhopper, please.

BroadHopper · 07-12-2012, 07:17 AM

The link below maps the service area of the program. I do know the sewage line serves Terrace Hill Road in Gilford. A decade ago the owner abutting the Wise Owl store set up a fence and No trespassing signs so folks on the RR pass cannot access the store through his property. The owner of Wise Owl store told a number of us that the sewage line stopped at the Wise Owl store. I thought he meant the Winni Basin project, I may be wrong.

http://www.des.state.nh.us/organizat...rvice_area.pdf

I do know that the original intent of the project was to provide sewage hookup around the lake but lacks federal funding.

I'm not aware that the Rail to Trail project include the Lakeshore RR bed. I am looking into extending the WOW trail project to include the Lakeshore Rail from Lakeport to McDonald in Laconia. I have pictures of the bed. The tracks are still there!

lagoon · 07-13-2012, 02:30 PM

There seems to be a number of you who have expressed an interest in "restoring" the access that many of us have always enjoyed from Railroad Ave. to various points of interest including the Wise Owl.

If that is the case please contact the owner Mike, and he can direct you to a group of us that are working hard to open up these rights of ways again. We have put a great deal of research into this and feel we have a very good case to get this taken care of.

Any of you that have a history of use for Railroad Ave. through where it is blocked now by the Wise Owl or farther down towards Alton please let us now the year of usage and some narrative about it.

We look forward to hearing from you either from Mike or through this site.

Lagoon

BroadHopper · 07-13-2012, 03:07 PM

I would strongly suggest all who is interested to get in touch with Alan Beetle who is the chair of the WOW trail committee. He can be found at Patrick's Pub in Gilford. By connecting Alton to the WOW trail, it is possible to bike/walk all the way to Merrimac River in Franklin! That will be a fantastic undertaking!

A few years ago I was able to walk from Glidden Cove to Owl's Nest store. The landowner next to the store on the Alton side put up a fence and posted no traspassing. I had to walk up to the main road to go to the store.

It would be nice to open the old railroad bed for recreational purpose and to preserve the railroad bed as a lot of work was put into it.

Your thoughts?

RailroadJoe · 07-13-2012, 05:14 PM

It only takes one NIMBY to cause problems for all others. They do not care about anything except their own selfish rights, The old rairoad bed should never have been blocked in the first place. Not sure how this person got permission to block a right of way. Like Reagan said "Mr PAIN in the neck, tear down that fence"

Jonas Pilot · 07-13-2012, 06:35 PM

Well said Railroad Joe.

lagoon · 07-15-2012, 08:24 AM

Alan is a good source of information but he could not possibly catch up to what we know about the Railroad Bed in West Alton now. We are hoping to have some news next week regarding this and any experience you or others have had on the Railroad Bed could be important to us particularly if it was from years ago.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I do not want to say more here.

Altonbayicefishingfool · 07-21-2012, 09:37 PM

From some of the comments I have read here, I think there is some great misunderstanding about the old railroad beds and "rights of way"

There is a small section of railbed in Alton Bay that has been in my family since shortly after the rail system shut down. This property abuts the main property but is deeded and tax assessed seperatly from the main piece of land.as the land owner ( as my grandfather as well paid taxes on this property)this is not a "right of way" nor is it public property as some of the town folks think it is!!! Including our fearless (and careless road agent) as one winter decided he was going To dump every square inch of snow from the bay parking onto our property... A little research goes a long way, this being said a lot of that overgrown, sometimes forgotten about railbed is PRIVATE PROPERTY!

Slickcraft · 07-22-2012, 04:58 AM

Much (maybe all) of the rail bed in Alton had originally been taken by the State using eminent domain and then leased to the RR. After the demise of the RR the State deeded the fee interest to the Town. The town then sold the fee interest to many short segments to abutting land owners as noted by fishingfool.

The Town also retained ownership to many segments like the Bay parking area;also near the Police station and near Woodlands Road.

So some segments of the old RR bed are now private property and some are public property.

Resident 2B · 07-22-2012, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RailroadJoe

It only takes one NIMBY to cause problems for all others. They do not care about anything except their own selfish rights, The old rairoad bed should never have been blocked in the first place. Not sure how this person got permission to block a right of way. Like Reagan said "Mr PAIN in the neck, tear down that fence"

Segments of the railroad bed were offered for sale to the abutting property owners when the railroad stopped operating. Most decided to purchase the abutting segment, converting it to private property.

They have every right to fence in what they own. Perhaps short-term thinking on the Town of Alton's part, but the land owners are completely legal with their fences.

R2B

RailroadJoe · 07-22-2012, 03:12 PM

R2B You are correct on that they own the land. Like I said earlier, when abandoned, many of the rights of way went back to the original owners. Many are still owned by the B&M, like in Rochester and Dover on the old Dover and Winnipasaugee Line. Its just too bad that the few can deprive the majority of easy travel. Glad I'm an old man and can remember as a kid of all the private property I went through and the land owners used to wave. Not any more.

lagoon · 08-04-2012, 10:48 PM

Actually several portions of the former B & M Railroad Bed are different however here is the road law for NH. No matter who owns the road it is not for their exclusive use. You and you abutting neighbor may live on opposite sides of the former Railroad bed and own it to the middle of the road but if it is a road it is not exclusive to you meaning others can use it. There are many other aspects to road law and it does matter if it is a road and then also what class of road. If it is not a town road there still can be established usage that would qualify it as a right of way.

So it is not as simple as they bought it and they own it so they can block it, especially when it comes to the former Railroad Bed. There will be a hearing September 6th at 9:00am at the Belknap County Courthouse about this particular case should you be interested to be there. If you have a further interest please respond.

08-13-2011, 12:43 PM	#2
peasoupfan Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Great Food Though I can't eat shellfish, my husband tells me they have the best lobster rolls for the price. Full of great meat...not yourr average far too much mayo type of lobster roll.

08-31-2011, 03:21 PM	#3
Barndoor Islander Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Water Access Did this get resolved? As an islander we're always looking to avoid needing a car.

07-12-2012, 07:17 AM	#11
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,615 Thanks: 3,245 Thanked 1,115 Times in 801 Posts	Winnipesaukee Basin Service Area The link below maps the service area of the program. I do know the sewage line serves Terrace Hill Road in Gilford. A decade ago the owner abutting the Wise Owl store set up a fence and No trespassing signs so folks on the RR pass cannot access the store through his property. The owner of Wise Owl store told a number of us that the sewage line stopped at the Wise Owl store. I thought he meant the Winni Basin project, I may be wrong. http://www.des.state.nh.us/organizat...rvice_area.pdf I do know that the original intent of the project was to provide sewage hookup around the lake but lacks federal funding. I'm not aware that the Rail to Trail project include the Lakeshore RR bed. I am looking into extending the WOW trail project to include the Lakeshore Rail from Lakeport to McDonald in Laconia. I have pictures of the bed. The tracks are still there! __________________ Someday may never be an actual day.

07-13-2012, 02:30 PM	#12
lagoon Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 87 Thanks: 35 Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts	Wise Owl and Railroad Ave. There seems to be a number of you who have expressed an interest in "restoring" the access that many of us have always enjoyed from Railroad Ave. to various points of interest including the Wise Owl. If that is the case please contact the owner Mike, and he can direct you to a group of us that are working hard to open up these rights of ways again. We have put a great deal of research into this and feel we have a very good case to get this taken care of. Any of you that have a history of use for Railroad Ave. through where it is blocked now by the Wise Owl or farther down towards Alton please let us now the year of usage and some narrative about it. We look forward to hearing from you either from Mike or through this site. Lagoon

07-13-2012, 03:07 PM	#13
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,615 Thanks: 3,245 Thanked 1,115 Times in 801 Posts	Lake Shore RR and WOW trail I would strongly suggest all who is interested to get in touch with Alan Beetle who is the chair of the WOW trail committee. He can be found at Patrick's Pub in Gilford. By connecting Alton to the WOW trail, it is possible to bike/walk all the way to Merrimac River in Franklin! That will be a fantastic undertaking! A few years ago I was able to walk from Glidden Cove to Owl's Nest store. The landowner next to the store on the Alton side put up a fence and posted no traspassing. I had to walk up to the main road to go to the store. It would be nice to open the old railroad bed for recreational purpose and to preserve the railroad bed as a lot of work was put into it. Your thoughts? __________________ Someday may never be an actual day.

10-19-2010, 04:55 PM	#1
RailroadJoe Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 620 Thanks: 259 Thanked 158 Times in 100 Posts	Interesting thing about abandoned railroad tracks. The right of way is the main problem. In some cases the state buys the right of way when the railroad abandons it. In other cases the land reverts back to original owners of the land. Case in point, look at all the new homes built on the Lake Shore Railroad bed in West Alton. Most are directly on the bed and a lot in Gilford, from Lake Shore Park, have posted signs. In Massachusetts they have paved over tracks for parking, torn them up at street crossings and let the trees and weeds take over.

The Following User Says Thank You to peasoupfan For This Useful Post:
WinniGirl81 (04-15-2012)

09-09-2011, 07:39 AM	#4
Jeanzb1 Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Gilford Posts: 558 Thanks: 640 Thanked 176 Times in 95 Posts	Lobster rolls are delicious! And their omellettes are HUMUNGOUS! Wonderful little place!

The Following User Says Thank You to Jeanzb1 For This Useful Post:
WinniGirl81 (04-15-2012)

07-10-2012, 01:22 AM	#6
Mr. V Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: the left coast (Portland)and West Alton Posts: 1,432 Thanks: 66 Thanked 261 Times in 179 Posts	How's the breakfast fare at the Owl's Nest this year? I'll be out in a few weeks, and am looking for a good breakfast spot in that area.

07-10-2012, 08:14 AM	#7
Altonbayicefishingfool Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 153 Thanks: 19 Thanked 52 Times in 30 Posts	I use to work at the "nest" back in the 90's with my good friend,Tim Scribner.... Many good times there! My most memorable was meeting Bobby Carpenter, former Boston Bruin who had a house on the lake in W. Alton.. He would come in for a steak and cheese in the summer months..

07-13-2012, 05:14 PM	#14
RailroadJoe Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 620 Thanks: 259 Thanked 158 Times in 100 Posts	It only takes one NIMBY to cause problems for all others. They do not care about anything except their own selfish rights, The old rairoad bed should never have been blocked in the first place. Not sure how this person got permission to block a right of way. Like Reagan said "Mr PAIN in the neck, tear down that fence"

07-13-2012, 06:35 PM	#15
Jonas Pilot Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Wolfeboro, New Hampshire is my home, 24-7-365 Posts: 1,686 Thanks: 1,047 Thanked 336 Times in 189 Posts	Well said Railroad Joe.

07-15-2012, 08:24 AM	#16
lagoon Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 87 Thanks: 35 Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts	Alan is a good source of information but he could not possibly catch up to what we know about the Railroad Bed in West Alton now. We are hoping to have some news next week regarding this and any experience you or others have had on the Railroad Bed could be important to us particularly if it was from years ago. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I do not want to say more here.

07-21-2012, 09:37 PM	#17
Altonbayicefishingfool Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 153 Thanks: 19 Thanked 52 Times in 30 Posts	Note about the old railbed From some of the comments I have read here, I think there is some great misunderstanding about the old railroad beds and "rights of way" There is a small section of railbed in Alton Bay that has been in my family since shortly after the rail system shut down. This property abuts the main property but is deeded and tax assessed seperatly from the main piece of land.as the land owner ( as my grandfather as well paid taxes on this property)this is not a "right of way" nor is it public property as some of the town folks think it is!!! Including our fearless (and careless road agent) as one winter decided he was going To dump every square inch of snow from the bay parking onto our property... A little research goes a long way, this being said a lot of that overgrown, sometimes forgotten about railbed is PRIVATE PROPERTY!

07-22-2012, 04:58 AM	#18
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and The Taylor Community Posts: 3,346 Thanks: 1,250 Thanked 2,121 Times in 970 Posts	Raileoad bed in Alton Much (maybe all) of the rail bed in Alton had originally been taken by the State using eminent domain and then leased to the RR. After the demise of the RR the State deeded the fee interest to the Town. The town then sold the fee interest to many short segments to abutting land owners as noted by fishingfool. The Town also retained ownership to many segments like the Bay parking area;also near the Police station and near Woodlands Road. So some segments of the old RR bed are now private property and some are public property. Last edited by Slickcraft; 07-22-2012 at 12:06 PM.

07-22-2012, 03:12 PM	#20
RailroadJoe Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 620 Thanks: 259 Thanked 158 Times in 100 Posts	R2B You are correct on that they own the land. Like I said earlier, when abandoned, many of the rights of way went back to the original owners. Many are still owned by the B&M, like in Rochester and Dover on the old Dover and Winnipasaugee Line. Its just too bad that the few can deprive the majority of easy travel. Glad I'm an old man and can remember as a kid of all the private property I went through and the land owners used to wave. Not any more.

The Following User Says Thank You to RailroadJoe For This Useful Post:
Jonas Pilot (07-22-2012)

08-04-2012, 10:48 PM	#21
lagoon Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 87 Thanks: 35 Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts	Actually several portions of the former B & M Railroad Bed are different however here is the road law for NH. No matter who owns the road it is not for their exclusive use. You and you abutting neighbor may live on opposite sides of the former Railroad bed and own it to the middle of the road but if it is a road it is not exclusive to you meaning others can use it. There are many other aspects to road law and it does matter if it is a road and then also what class of road. If it is not a town road there still can be established usage that would qualify it as a right of way. So it is not as simple as they bought it and they own it so they can block it, especially when it comes to the former Railroad Bed. There will be a hearing September 6th at 9:00am at the Belknap County Courthouse about this particular case should you be interested to be there. If you have a further interest please respond.

The Following User Says Thank You to lagoon For This Useful Post:
Jonas Pilot (08-05-2012)