Railroad historian Brad Blodget will speak at the Toadstool Bookshop, 12 Depot Street in Peterborough, Saturday, May 27, at 11 a.m.
Blodget will show photos of trains and stations from Peterborough and environs included in the new volume of “Iron Roads of the Monadnock Region,” which brings to life the story of the now largely forgotten railroads that once operated in the mountains and valleys of the Monadnock region.
The first two volumes of “Iron Roads” were seven years in the making and include more than 700 images, maps and tables. They include the histories of all the railroads – including street railways and quarry railroads – that operated in the Monadnock region and north central Massachusetts from the 1840s.
The third volume is intended to complement and supplement the first two volumes. Although it can be read as a standalone, all three volumes are written as an integrated whole.
Blodget is an active member of the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society and the Railroad Locomotive and Historical Society. His first book, “Marium Foster’s Boston & Maine Railroad,” appeared in 2011.
Blodget’s co-author Richard Richards grew up in a railroad family in Greenfield, Mass.; his father was a freight and passenger conductor for the Boston & Maine Railroad. Upon leaving the Air Force, he worked briefly as a trainman and conductor for the Boston & Maine before moving to Keene and embarking on a 30-year career with the Keene Police Department.
A member of the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society and the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, he resides with his wife in Swanzey.