The Wilton Scenic Railroad was a heritage railroad which operated seasonally in southern New Hampshire from spring 2003 through fall 2006. It closed after the death of its owner.
22-534: The railroad ran 13 miles (21 km) from Wilton to Greenfield, New Hampshire , using a state-owned rail line that was once part of the Boston and Maine Railroad 's Hillsboro Branch. The line is still in limited commercial use, but has not been used for regular passenger service since the 1930s. The railroad opened May 17, 2003, running from Wilton to the former Boston & Maine Railroad railyard in Greenfield, covering
44-460: A female householder with no husband present, and 28.4% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59, and the average family size was 3.02. In the town, 23.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.6% were from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 33.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% were 65 years of age or older. The median age
66-593: A workshop. He built up a considerable practice, making busts and monuments, including the memorial to James Wolfe in Westminster Abbey. He made at least two marble busts of Oliver Cromwell , which he showed at the Society of Artists , in 1761 and 1761, basing the likeness on a cast of Cromwell's face. One marble version, and the terracotta model for it, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 1761, he
88-543: Is a town in Hillsborough County , New Hampshire , United States. The population was 3,896 at the 2020 census . Like many small New England towns, it grew up around water-powered textile mills, but is now a rural bedroom community with some manufacturing and service employment. Wilton is home to the High Mowing School , a private preparatory school. The main village in town, where 1,324 people resided at
110-1068: The Charing Cross area of London , where his father had sculpted the ceilings of the Foundling Hospital. His father wished that Joseph should become a civil engineer but instead Joseph strongly desired to be a sculptor. Wilton initially trained under Laurent Delvaux at Nivelles , in present-day Belgium. In 1744 he left Nivelles and went to the Academy in Paris to study under Jean-Baptiste Pigalle . In 1752 he went to Italy with his sculptor friend Louis-François Roubiliac to learn to sculpt in marble, and stayed for seven years, living first in Rome and then in Florence. Whilst in Rome he met and befriended his first patron, William Locke of Norbury , who thereafter accompanied Wilton on his tour of Italy. Like many other artists of
132-503: The 2020 census, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Wilton census-designated place and is located near the junction of New Hampshire Routes 31 and 101 , at the confluence of Stony Brook with the Souhegan River . The town was first part of a township chartered as "Salem-Canada" in 1735 by Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts , which then claimed this area. It
154-513: The Rev. Thomas Beede was pastor. It was held in the Centre schoolhouse. Two women, Phebe Abbot, the mother of Prof. Ezra Abbot of Harvard University , and Sarah White Livermore , the hymnist, were leaders in this enterprise. This school was one of the first, if not the first, in the U.S. to be devoted especially and wholly to religious instruction. Seventy children attended the first season. The only book used
176-522: The Souhegan, the entire town is part of the Merrimack River watershed. The town's highest point is 1,140 feet (350 m) above sea level, where the east slope of Fisk Hill touches the town's western border. As of the census of 2010, there were 3,677 people, 1,418 households, and 1,015 families residing in the town. There were 1,530 housing units, of which 112, or 7.3%, were vacant. The racial makeup of
198-533: The age of 18 and 4.8% of those 65 or older were living in poverty. Joseph Wilton Joseph Wilton RA (16 July 1722 – 25 November 1803) was an English sculptor. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and the academy's third keeper. His works are particularly numerous memorialising the famous Britons in Westminster Abbey . He was born the son of an ornamental plasterer in
220-485: The day, he studied antiquities, and made numerous plaster casts and marble copies of classic works – many of these later formed the collection of Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond at Richmond House in west London. A marble bust of the physician and scholar Antonio Cocchi, carved by Wilton in 1755, his last year in Italy, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Influenced by Wilton's study of antique busts, it
242-487: The entire route of the Peterboro Railroad which built the line from Wilton to Greenfield in the 1860s. Passengers were allowed to get off and stretch their legs in Greenfield before getting back on the train and heading back to Wilton. On August 23, 2003, the railroad began running almost a mile north of Greenfield to Greenfield State Park . The Wilton Scenic Railroad had many plans before it ended service in 2006. One
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#1732844287613264-615: The railroad's founder, died of a heart attack on January 31, 2006. In October 2006, the railroad's two RDCs were sold to the Newport Dinner Train in Rhode Island . In March 2018 it was announced that the owner of the Milford-Bennington Railroad (the current freight operator of the rail line), in cooperation with the towns of Wilton and Greenfield, was looking at bringing back the scenic railroad. In October 2018 it
286-403: The town was 97.1% White , 0.5% African American , 0.2% Native American , 0.5% Asian , 0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.2% some other race, and 1.5% from two or more races. 1.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 1,418 households, 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were headed by married couples living together, 9.2% had
308-416: Was 42.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.2 males. For the period 2011–2015, the estimated median annual income for a household was $ 71,066, and the median income for a family was $ 90,134. The per capita income for the town was $ 33,824. 4.3% of the population and 1.0% of families were below the poverty line. 7.1% of the population under
330-554: Was considered by Margaret Whinney to be one of Wilton's most distinguished works. While in Florence he made the acquaintance of the Florentine painter Giovanni Battista Cipriani . When Wilton and the architect William Chambers returned to England, in August 1755, Cipriani went with them. Once back in London, Wilton was named co-director of Lennox's Richmond House gallery, and established
352-605: Was either named for Wilton in England, or for Sir Joseph Wilton , a famous English sculptor . Sir Wilton's coach design for King George III 's coronation was later used as a model for the Concord coach . The town of Wilton, Maine , would later be named for Wilton, New Hampshire. The first Sunday school was established in May 1816, and was connected with the Congregational church of which
374-704: Was first commissioned to produce a statue of King George III . Similar commissions followed, including one in 1766 from New York City. This massive statue portrayed the king on horseback in Roman garb, and was cast in lead and gilded before being shipped to America and erected at Bowling Green , near the tip of Manhattan in August 1770. It did not last long, being torn down by patriots in July 1776. Wilton's other works include many notable busts, monuments (e.g. Stephen Hales ' memorial in Westminster Abbey , London) and other carvings including fireplaces and tables. In 1768, when Wilton
396-402: Was granted to soldiers from Salem, Massachusetts , who had served in 1690 under Sir William Phips in the war against Canada . "Salem-Canada" was one of the towns on the state's borders intended to provide protection against Indian attack. The area was regranted in 1749 by New Hampshire colonial Governor Benning Wentworth as "Number Two", before being incorporated in 1762 as "Wilton". It
418-489: Was perhaps at the peak of his powers, he was elected a founder member of the Royal Academy. However, that year also saw him inherit his father's fortune and the new wealth diverted him away from sculpture to a life of dissolution. In 1786 he was forced to sell most of his possessions and in 1793 he was officially declared bankrupt. In 1790 he was appointed Keeper of the Royal Academy, a post he kept until his death in 1803. He
440-476: Was reported that the owner of the railroad had entered into a tentative agreement with an owner of passenger equipment. Pan Am Railways, a regional class II freight carrier, has also expressed interest in bringing back the Wilton Scenic in its first ever attempt at a heritage operation. As of 2021, no further announcement have been announced about reinstating the service. Wilton, New Hampshire Wilton
462-590: Was the Bible. The Souhegan River originally provided water power for mills. Today, Wilton is a rural town with orchards , farms and woodlands. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 25.7 square miles (66.6 km ), of which 25.6 square miles (66.3 km ) are land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km ), or 0.35%, is water. Wilton is drained by the Souhegan River and its tributaries, Stony Brook and Blood Brook. Via
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#1732844287613484-638: Was to use the former B&M freight depot in Wilton, built in 1860, as the Wilton Scenic Railroad's depot. Stuart Draper owned the building as a storage unit for his company Draper Energy. It was his dream to renovate the freight depot. The depot never became part of the railroad. Service was provided by a pair of 800 horsepower (600 kW), diesel engine Budd Rail Diesel Cars , previously used by BC Rail in British Columbia , Canada. Stuart Draper,
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