laconia car company

[daniel sean]

Can anyone tell me about the Laconia Car Company. They made rail cars in the late 1800s early 1900s. There is alot of info about the rail cars they made but ony a brief mention of the boats. They made boats in 1926-1927. I have a chance to buy a 16' in pristine condition. I was a comercial fisherman for 29 years out of Portland Maine and know alot about steel boats but nothing about wooden ones. Whats it worth?

[Dick Ranlet]

I actually have a connection with the Laconia Car Company (it's still there but now in the form of condos). It grew out of a company called "The Ranlet Car Company" founded sometime around 1848. My great-great-grandfather (Charles Ranlet) was one of the original founders (with his brothers). Yes, they made rail cars for decades. I found out about it in the mid '80's while on a backpacking trip in the White Mountains.

We had started our hike at the base station of the Cog Railway, and hiked up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, staying overnight In the "dungeon" at AMC's Lake of the Clouds hut (a basement area for stray hikers). It rained about two inches overnight and we knew it would be dangerous taking the trail back down, so we decided to hike to the summit of Mt Washington and take the Cog Railway down instead. While riding the Cog Railway, I noticed a plaque in the back which stated "This car manufactured by the Ranlet Car Company, Laconis, NH, 1870." That excited me because my last name is quite rare, and my dad had told me that his father had been born in Laconia. One day a windsurfing buddy and I drove to Laconia to check it out (I have a bunch of slides of the place). What a run-down, dirty, junky place it had ended up being (but cool...). It still had an operating foundry at the time. Next time I saw it (probably about 6 years later) they had cleaned the whole area up, grit blasted the brick buildings, and were in the process of converting them into upscale condos. (Believe it or not, this was the short version!)

Sorry I can't help with the boating aspect, but now you've piqued my curiosity; I'll try to do some research there...

[rbgarr]

I wish street car systems were still around to the extent they used to be. What a way to travel. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.an...leyPhotos.html