All aboard: Another way to ride into Laconia Motorcycle Week

LACONIA — For Collin Sulloway, working the railroad is a dream come true. 

“I’ve always loved trains,” Sulloway, a conductor and stoker aboard the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad said Saturday morning.

While thousands of visitors ride their motorcycles or drive their cars up to Weirs Beach to enjoy Laconia Motorcycle Week each year, dozens of others hop aboard at either the railroad’s downtown Laconia or Meredith stations and make their way to Lakeside Avenue.

Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad operated bike week service this year, shuttling visitors to the Weirs on both weekends. Their last event train service ran Saturday, and took riders on a leisurely journey from downtown to Meredith with a stop at the Weirs in between.

From downtown Laconia to Weirs Beach is about a 45-minute ride. It’s another 30 to the station in Meredith, and the train made four trips on Saturday. 

What’s a fun and novel experience for many is, for Sulloway, all in a day’s work. He said he’s been riding the train since he was a month old, and always asked his parents to do so while growing up. Now, he’s been working on the railroad for six years, and couldn’t see himself doing anything else. 

“Yeah, this is what I’ve always wanted to do,” he said.

Working the railroad is a dynamic and high-stakes career on a good day. During Laconia Motorcycle Week, those aboard the train are responsible for the safety of both their ticketed passengers and the general public, thousands of whom stroll along the boardwalk on Lakeside Avenue for that week in June.

Pulling into the Weirs Beach train station just about noon on Saturday, Sulloway and his fellow railroad workers adeptly navigate the crowds, many of whom linger along the tracks, squatting down to place coins along the rails. As workers prepared to pull out of the station and head toward their stop in Meredith, it was Sulloway standing in the caboose, looking out for hazards and blaring the horn loudly as they made their way.

“Mainly seeing all the smiling faces on the train,” Sulloway said when asked what the best part of his job is. “Live that childhood dream.”

Leaving the Weirs, the environment shifted immediately away from the hustle and bustle of the week’s festivities and became calm, cool and relaxing as the train traveled along the lake. 

Kevin Smith of New York retired after a career on the railroad himself, working as a welder. He traveled up to Laconia to visit its famed motorcycle week, and decided to enjoy a ride along the rails, too. 

“That was dangerous,” Smith said, remembering his time in the business. “Guys got hurt all the time.”

During Laconia Motorcycle Week, particularly in the afternoon, navigating the Lakes Region roadways can be difficult, and at times frustrating, with a level of traffic not seen throughout most of the year. Taking the train down to the Weirs offers an alternative for visitors and locals alike. 

“We tried to get down there last night, but the traffic,” he said. “We ended up getting dinner down here instead.”

Event train service began at 11:15 a.m. in downtown Laconia and ran all day, the last train back from the Weirs leaving at 6 p.m. Saturday morning, a group of about 15 waited for the first train downtown, and joined a group of about 25 riders who were already aboard. 

The train cars offer passengers a pleasant ride around the lake, but the best seats in the house are arguably in the caboose. A short but steep ladder provides access to a hollowed-out section above that car, with large windows on all four sides of the compartment — perfect for taking in the various sights and scenes of the Lakes Region.

Along Pickerel Cove, for example, passengers are treated to a view they likely miss while driving Laconia’s roads. In the water and near the tracks, there’s a loon nest in plain view and, if you’re lucky, you might just catch a glimpse of the diving waterfowl yourself.

For conductor David Haig, originally of Manchester, England, riding the train is old hat, but it never gets old. 

A computer scientist by training, Haig told The Laconia Daily Sun this is his 32nd season on the tracks. He was surprised recently, when assisting passengers aboard, he heard a familiar tone.

“I instantly knew where she was from,” Haig said of a passenger from Liverpool.

Haig’s lived in the United States for nearly 50 years, after taking a job in Massachusetts in a past life. 

Passing through South Down Shores, people lined the docks as a man operating a forklift masterfully transferred a boat into Lake Winnipesaukee. Passengers shared smiles, laughs and waves with those along the railroad. 

The 3:30 p.m. train from Weirs Beach to downtown Laconia was full.

“It’s a beautiful ride,” Haig said.