The Gateway - Rhubarb Loop

◀ Westbound to Crawford’s Station | The Gateway | Eastbound to The Great Fill ▶

The Gateway, also known as the Great Cut, is one of the defining landmarks of the former Portland & Ogdensburg (later Maine Central Railroad) Mountain Division through Crawford Notch. Here, the railroad squeezes through a narrow rock cutting blasted from solid granite during the line’s construction in the early 1870s.

Approaching from the east, trains crossed the “Great Fill” before entering the towering walls of the cut beneath Mount Willard. For generations of railroaders, passengers and photographers alike, this dramatic location became one of the most recognisable and frequently photographed scenes anywhere on the Mountain Division.

Although little changed physically over more than a century, operations through the Gateway evolved from Portland & Ogdensburg steam locomotives to Maine Central diesel freights battling the 2.2% westbound grade. It also witnessed the passage of famous passenger trains, including the Boston–Littleton, N.H. Mountaineer, before finally becoming part of today’s Conway Scenic Railroad.

The Great Cut, also known as the Gateway to Crawford Notch, in 1927. Trains passed through this narrow rock cutting on the Maine Central’s Mountain Division with sheer granite walls on either side, making it one of the most dramatic sections of railway in New England. © Robert J. Girouard Collection

A photo run-by at Crawford Notch during the 470 Railroad Club’s “Round the Mountains” excursion on 29 September 1968. The train, headed by Maine Central GP7s 572 and 573 and formed of Canadian National coaches, ran from Portland through Crawford Notch to Coos Junction on Maine Central rails, continued over the Boston & Maine to Groveton, and returned to Portland via the Grand Trunk. © Tom Murray

Maine Central GE U18B no. 403 “General Peleg Wadsworth” leads westbound freight RY-2 through the famous gateway at Crawford Notch State Park, New Hampshire, likely in mid-1975 shortly after the delivery of the new GE-built locomotives. Trailing behind is sister locomotive no. 404 “Kenneth Roberts.” Still exceptionally clean in fresh Harvest Gold paint, the new U18B fleet quickly became synonymous with Mountain Division operations through the White Mountains. © Bob Bennett

Maine Central GP38 No. 261 leads an eastbound freight into Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, on 25 May 1975. Photographed by Gary L. Webster alongside U.S. Route 302 beneath the familiar Crawford Notch State Park sign, the train and a Volkswagen Type 2 enter the heart of the White Mountains on the Mountain Division. The Crawford House hotel, visible in the background, would be destroyed by fire the following year. © Rick Kfoury

Maine Central Railroad derailment at the Great Cut, also known as the Gateway to Crawford Notch, on 14 November 1976. The site, between the Great Fill and the entrance to the Notch, was the scene of several accidents over the years. © Raymond Willard Evans, courtesy of Robert J. Girouard

Maine Central GP38 No. 254 leads a westbound freight approaching the Gateway to Crawford Notch on a bleak winter day. Snow and ice cling to the rock faces as the train climbs through the Great Cut on the Mountain Division, where crews had to stay alert for rock and ice falls along the ledges. © Raymond Willard Evans, courtesy of Robert J. Girouard

Maine Central GE U18B No. 407 *Unity* threads through the Gateway at Crawford Notch, one of ten GE-built U18Bs delivered in 1975 that became synonymous with freight operations over the Mountain Division during its final decade. © Dwight Mitchell

Maine Central freight RY-2 clears the famous Gateway, or Great Cut, at Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, on 26 July 1977. A wide-vision caboose brings up the rear as the train threads through one of the narrowest and most dramatic rock cuttings on the Mountain Division, where towering granite walls hem the railroad in on both sides. Scenes like this, with a caboose marking the end of every freight, were still routine on the Maine Central in the late 1970s but would disappear only a few years later. © Thomas Seiler

Maine Central GP38 no. 257 leads an eastbound freight through Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, in June 1980, running tight against the rock face alongside US Route 302. The train is working upgrade toward Bartlett and Portland, a reminder of the Mountain Division’s demanding profile even in its final years of regular through service. Traffic had already thinned by this point, and within a few years the line would fall silent, ending daily freight operations over one of New England’s most striking railroad routes. © Walter Schopp

Maine Central EMD GP38 no. 256 leads freight YR-1 through Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, on 6 May 1981, followed by no. 260, no. 257 and GE U18B no. 406 *Colonel John Allan*. The 36-car train hugs the mountainside along U.S. Route 302, a hallmark of Mountain Division railroading where highway and railroad run side by side through the White Mountains. © Chuck Schwesinger

Conway Scenic Railroad GP35 No. 216 leads the 470 Railroad Club Special through the Gateway in Crawford Notch on 23 October 2021, returning from Quebec Junction. The deep rock cut is one of the most dramatic and recognisable locations on the former Maine Central Mountain Subdivision, where the line squeezes between towering granite walls high in the White Mountains. © Vincent Colombo

Long-hood-leading Conway Scenic Railroad GP38 No. 255 passes through the Gateway en route to Crawford’s, Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. in October 2025 © Bob Innella

Photographed on 1 November 2025 as the 470 Club excursion passed through the Gateway into Crawford’s station, heading west under GP9 1741’s lead. © Stephen Quill-Schuffels

Acknowledgements

Thanks are extended to Robert J. Girouard, Tom Murray, Bob Bennett, Rick Kfoury, Raymond Willard Evans, Dwight Mitchell, Thomas Seiler, Walter Schopp, Chuck Schwesinger, Vincent Colombo, Bob Innella, Stephen Quill-Schuffels, and others who have generously shared photographs and information from their collections. Their contributions have helped document more than a century of railroad operations through one of the Mountain Division’s most iconic locations.

If you have additional photographs, recollections, or information about the Gateway, the Great Cut, or railroad operations through Crawford Notch, please leave a comment below or get in touch. Every photograph and first-hand account helps build a more complete history of this remarkable stretch of railroad.

◀ Westbound to Crawford’s Station | The Gateway | Eastbound to The Great Fill ▶

Acknowledgements

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