REO Speed Wagon! The White Mountain Central Railroad's 1929 REO Railbus speeds toward the yard at Clark's Trading Post with a special excursion during the 2018, 60th Anniversary Railroad Days event. Today, people think of REO Speed Wagon as a band, but back in the first half of the 20th century, REO was a company that built light trucks and buses. The present-day rock band took got its name from this line of products.
This rare railbus was originally built as a city bus by the REO Motorcar Company and converted for rail-borne operations in 1930 at the shops of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in Maine. She served several owners over the years before being acquired and restored by Clark's Trading Post for use on the White Mountain Central Railroad. She is typically stored away in the facility's engine house and is brought out for special occasions, the "Railroad Days" event being one of them. The small red building just behind the railbus houses firefighting equipment for the line's covered bridge, which is just out of view to the right....an essential precaution, as all of the White Mountain Central's steam engines are wood-burners. All of the line's engineers take special precautions to reduce power and close firebox damper doors before crossing this bridge.
Beautiful mountain scenery has made this small state a draw for rail buffs to ride the Mount Washington Cog Railway and the Conway Scenic, among others.
