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Nashua City, as the name appears in some timetables, or City Station as its called by locals, was built in 1848 at the corner of Main and Canal Streets at Railroad Square. It was originally part of the Nashua & Lowell Railroad, which was the first steam railroad in the state of New Hampshire. The two story brick passenger station served as the Nashua terminal for the Nashua & Lowell, home of the Franklin Opera House, and the home of the Indian Head Bank. City Station was commonly referred to as 'Nashua' on early timetables of the Boston & Maine Railroad, as City Station was located in the heart of Downtown. The Concord Depot, situated at Nashua Junction, became Nashua Union Station once all the rail lines were under control of the Boston & Maine. Often when mentioned, Union Station was sometimes dropped in casual conversation, and the Concord Depot eventually replaced City Station as 'Nashua'.
In 1931, City Station was gutted by fire and the downtown landmark was lost. The location continued to serve as a rail stop, and when the Boston & Maine Transportation Co. arrived in Nashua, the lot became the bus yard, with the office in the old car shop, which was located across the tracks from the station. Today the site of City Station is occupied by a parking lot and a Dunkin' Donuts. The car shop and the freight station are the only remnants, besides the railroad tracks, of the once bustling railroad center at Railroad Square.
Nashua City Station is a personal website promoting the history of railroading in the Nashua (N.H.) region, and has been on the web in one form or another since April 2001. The website was originally named Trainman's Web Site, which originated as a place to display a small number of photos. In 2002, the website was redesigned and Nashua City Station was born. The name 'Nashua City Station' was chosen because, in French, the name is "la gare centrale de Nashua" (the station in the center of Nashua). The plan was to have the website all about railroading in Nashua, and this name was perfect. Expanding its territory, the website added the Manchester area and eventually southern New Hampshire in 2007. With the expansion, it was decided to formally change the name on the home page to Nashua City Station Railroad History to better represent what the website is about.

The creator of this entire website is a certain railfan named Matt Cosgro. Besides being the creator of Nashua City Station, he's a volunteer at the Seashore Trolley Museum and Connecticut Trolley Museum, frequent guest of the Train Station Inn in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, and webmaster for the New Hampshire Railroad Revitalization Association as well as the Seashore Trolley Museum.
Matt's interest in (or love for) trains began when he was around two years old. His father used to take him to the original Edaville and to the Seashore Trolley Museum during the summer months. At age six, things got a little "worse", the first electric train set. In elementary school, he was given the nickname 'Trainman' by his art teacher and his friends. The year 2001 marked the start of active involvement at the Seashore Trolley Museum, this happening after years of participating in the Be-A-Motorman program. The winter of 2002 was marked with excitement as Matt had heard of two Budd cars coming from Canada headed for Wilton. After contacting the owner, he became a conductor on the new Wilton Scenic Railroad. Serving as conductor for all three years of the railroad's existence, he then went on to write a book about the railroad in 2006.
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Standing in front of #38 as a young boy and as motorman |
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