White Island Railroad To Be Rebuilt
By Sue Clark on Sep 21, 2007 in Restoration 
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White Island Lighthouse in the waters offshore of New Hampshire, is on one of a series of granite rocks called the Isles of Shoals, subjected to wind and waves battering the island and light. Access to this lighthouse, built in 1821, was hazardous at best, and hauling supplies up the treacherous rocks was dangerous. So as often happened in the lighthouse world, a small railway was built to haul the goods up from the tenders that brought supplies to the keepers.
But after becoming automated in 1987, the tower and buildings were left to brave the storms by themselves. Hurricane Bob slammed it hard in 1991 and the Perfect Storm of Halloween 1991 did even more damage, washing away the walkway and the fog signal tower. The Patriot’s Day Northeaster of 2007 demolished the walkway and washed away the solar panels providing electricity. The railway that was so important to the station is long gone.
Now, thanks to a $100,000 donation raised by the Lighthouse Kids, the state has hired Pickering Marine of Portsmouth to rebuild the railway. From the story at Seacoast Online:
“This is really cool,” said Sue Reynolds.
The captain of the Uncle Oscar, Reynolds is the driving force behind the Lighthouse Kids. It was a project she began as a teacher at North Hampton School and it continues today. The Lighthouse Kids made it their mission to restore White Island Light and have made tremendous progress.
“It’s going to be a true marine railway,” Reynolds said. “There will be a winch on top for bringing building materials. You are not going to have to wade in the surf to get on hard land.”
Reynolds said the challenge of getting construction workers and materials on the island became apparent in 2005 during a project to replace the tower and reroof the keeper’s cottage
“This addition will help to protect the future of this historic site,” she said.
The railway is expected to be completed by mid-October, and will make the work on reconstruction much easier. Work can only be done outside of certain seasons as the island is also the site of a tern restoration project by the New Hampshire Fish and Gane Department, and overseen by Shoals Marine Lab.
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