Hello, I've been trying to learn more about the "Locomotive Repair Shops" which were located in Billerica, MA, this year. As a result of that, I've been learning that trains and train travel were available much earlier in the 1800's than I had thought. Last week I borrowed a book from the local library: "The Up Country Line" (Boston, Concord, and Montreal RR). It is a very small book and it has several old pictures in it along with interesting text. One thing it mentions that around 1850, people in NYC could get on a ship and travel through Long Island Sound to Norwich, CT. When there, they could get on a train and go to -- the White Mountains of NH ! And that would include a stop at Lake Winnipesaukee in NH. As I research my ancestors, I'm always amazed at how far they would travel to get to another destination. Meaning the 1800 to 1850 timeframe. (Always looking for KIDDER families who left Billerica, MA, and moved to other bordering states in the 1700's. I can't think of the names, or the town one family settled in CT in the 1700's - at 5 am. But, the information should be in the archives of the List. There is a lot of missing or incorrect information on that family in the 1941 "KIDDER book.") Betty (near Lowell, MA) (David, I'll mention this book on the "Railroads" List later in the morning.) :o)