In 2013, the Society launched a photo archive to share our spectacular collection of photographs and negatives with members and friends. Here you will find a sample of the rich variety of B&M photography, from steam to diesel, from North Station to the farthest outposts of empire in New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

Throughout our fifty+ years of preservation the B&MRRHS has been the grateful recipient of countless generous donations to our archives, all of which help to advance the history, legacy and story of the Boston & Maine Railroad.

Here are some of the notable collections of photographs, negatives and images preserved within our archives.

Dana D. Goodwin Collection

Born in 1898, Dana D. Goodwin’s life spanned the majority of the Boston and Maine’s independent existence and, as such, Dana was one of the railroad’s most prominent chroniclers. Dana was a native and resident of Fitchburg, MA, and covered the Fitchburg Division Mainline more extensively than nearly anyone else, capturing timeless images of steam power thundering up Ashburnham Hill and reposing in the East Fitchburg enginehouse. His connections and friendships with other notable enthusiasts such as H. Arnold Wilder took him on trips spanning the B&M system and across the country as a whole. In fact, while much of the Dana D. Goodwin Collection focuses on the B&M and other New England roads, the majority covers other regions and Canadian railroads as well, with which Dana was particularly enamored. A steadfast member of the Railroad Enthusiasts (RRE) from its beginning allowed photographic coverage of excursions and fantrips. As the B&M passed from a titan of the transportation industry into bankruptcy and disrepair, Dana covered the hard times as well; when a wreck happened on the B&M, it was said he would arrive before the railroad officials! Dana D. Goodwin passed away in 1982, ironically the final full year of independence for the Boston & Maine Railroad before its purchase by Guilford Transportation Industries. In the years leading up to and following his death, the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society acquired by donation Dana’s collection, including photographs, negatives, slides, and film.

Henry W. Marrec Collection

Longtime B&MRRHS member Henry W. Marrec’s loves of trains and photography took him all over the country on trips and excursions, many of which were the subject of Society presentations over the years. Henry’s photography on the B&M centered mainly around the greater Boston area, allowing for an exclusive look at the urban Boston & Maine in the gritty, grimy years of the early 1970s. Somerville Hump Yard, North Station, Boston Engine Terminal - all were frequently documented. Access to the B&M’s famous Boston Engine Terminal in East Somerville allowed documentation of shiny Budd RDCs alongside faded maroon or blue freight power. Other locations that appear in Henry’s collection - the Lexington Branch, the Hollis Branch, and the Hillsboro Branch, to name a few - provide alternative takes on the Boston & Maine in the years leading up to, and immediately following, the landmark 1970 bankruptcy. Henry was also an accomplished videographer and took films of many of the same still scenes in his collection. Upon his death in 2019, Henry’s collection was donated to the B&MRRHS.

Preston S. Johnson Collection

The 1940s and early 1950s has always been a popular era for fans of the Boston & Maine. This was the transition period, a time when the final throes of classic steam power intermingled with brand new, shining maroon diesel power. Preston S. Johnson, a Boston & Maine dispatcher and later a great friend and member of the B&MRRHS, was also a noted photographer and railroad enthusiast. Preston tirelessly photographed steam power highballing long distance and commuter passenger runs, heavy and local freights, structures and stations. In addition to still images, Preston also recorded early film footage of this watershed era for the Boston & Maine.

Charles A. Petlick Collection

The latter years of the 1970s and the early years of the 1980s were a time of whirlwind change on the Boston & Maine, which was just beginning to emerge from the dredges of its 1970 bankruptcy. As the Boston & Maine began to change forever with the 1983 purchase by Guilford Transportation Industries, Charles A. Petlick was trackside to document the era. The images of the Charles A. Petlick Collection provide a tireless and thorough look at the Boston & Maine during this time, particularly focused on the locations of Dover, NH; Portsmouth, NH; Rockingham Junction; South Portland, ME; Lowell and Lawrence, MA; and East Deerfield Yard. In the collection’s nearly 3,000 color images, nearly every locomotive active at that time on the Boston & Maine and Maine Central Railroads are accounted for either in roster shots, action shots, or both. Charles’ photos also focus heavily on rolling stock, maintenance-of-way equipment, and the colorful potpourri of motive power and paint schemes which a appeared when the Guilford merger took hold.

Robert E. Chaffin Collection

This excellent image by Robert E. Chaffin is just one out of thousands of negatives of New England railroads taken over a ~30 year period from the mid-1930’s to early 1960’s which were donated to the Boston and Maine Railroad Historical Society Archives in 1999. A resident of Lynn, Mr. Chaffin, worked as a ticket agent for the Boston and Maine Railroad for 45 years. His extensive collection covers transitional era steam and diesel operations on the Boston and Maine and provides extensive information on equipment roster and technical data as well as copious notes of locomotive sightings.

The Robert E. Chaffin Collection is currently being scanned and digitized by Archives Committee volunteers.

Boston & Maine Railroad Company Photos

(MacMillan/Hutchinson Collection)

The MacMillan/Hutchinson Collection, donated to the Society in 2021, comprises a large number of photographic negatives, prints, and albums which once came directly from the Boston & Maine Railroad itself. These images were taken by the railroad for a number of reasons: public relations, employee magazines and advertisements, engineering reference, and construction/damage documentation. The collection includes a large number of photo negatives taken between 1944 and the early 1960s by George H. Hill, who served as the Boston & Maine’s Director of Public Relations. The Hill negatives, stunning black and white images (with some color), cover a wide spread of B&M topics from human interest shots to new rolling stock, buildings, and more. A number of older print albums taken before document subjects including bridges erected between 1928 and 1931, flood damage in 1936 and 1938, construction at East Northfield, Windsor and Claremont, and more.

This collection is currently being sorted and organized by Archives Committee volunteers.

Tom Nelligan Collection

Tom Nelligan (1951-2021), was perhaps one of the most prolific photographers of New England railroads in the 1970s and 1980s. Nelligan attended Boston College and Boston College Law School from 1968 through 1975, and then lived in the Boston area for the rest of his life. As such, he frequented the Boston & Maine, the MBTA, and later Guilford Rail System; often shooting in both stark black and white and vibrant Kodachrome color. Nelligan was also an accomplished author, writing books such as “New England Shortlines” (1982) and “Route of the Minuteman” (1980). Perhaps one of his best known works, “Bluebirds & Minutemen: Boston & Maine 1974-1984,” remains popular among B&M enthusiasts today. In more recent years, Tom Nelligan maintained an active online presence, sharing his images on various railroad image websites.

A large collection of Nelligan’s slides, negatives, and prints relating to the Boston & Maine, the MBTA, and Guilford Rail System were gifted to the B&MRRHS by MaryAnn Nelligan in November 2022.