Dwight A. Smith

TILTON, N.H. – Dwight A. Smith, 100, of Tilton, N.H., passed away August 8, 2025, at the New Hampshire Veterans Home with his loving family by his side.

He was born in Baltimore, Md. on Jan. 16, 1925, the son of Capt. Dwight Smith and Beatrice Wilson Smith. He attended Brooklyn, N.Y. public schools, graduating from Mount Hermon School, Mount Hermon, Mass. in 1941, from Green Mountain Jr College, Poultney, Vt. in 1943, and Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. in 1947 with a B.A. degree while part of the Navy V-12 program. He served in U.S. Navy 1943-1946 which included active duty in the South Pacific aboard the battleship “USS South Dakota.”

He married Gertrude Emma Evans in June 1948.

Dwight was employed by the Boston and Maine Railroad from 1947 to 1955 in Boston, Mass. then in Concord, N.H. From 1956 to 1959, he served as General Manager of the Springfield Terminal Railroad and Cheshire Bridge Corp in Springfield, Vt. He returned to the Boston and Maine Railroad as Regional Sales Manager in Portland from 1960 to 1972.

Dwight loved restoring antique automobiles and was a nationally recognized craftsman for his ever-expanding model railroad. Starting in 1968, he combined his love of trains and antique restoration when he bought and began restoring a full-sized antique steam locomotive.

In 1973, Dwight moved his family to Conway, N.H. where he co-founded and managed the Conway Scenic Railroad (CSRR) from its inception in 1974 until his retirement in 1990. Steam locomotive number 7470 was formally named Dwight Smith by the CSRR in August of 2019.

While living in Mount Washington Valley, Dwight was a member of the North Conway Rotary Club, the Conway Village Congregational Church, the Conway Historical Society, the North Conway Model Railroad Club, the 470 Railroad Club, the National Railway Historical Society, and the Mount Washington Valley Old Car Club. He served as treasurer of the Kearsarge Lighting Precinct for several years and was an active volunteer at North Conway’s Gibson Center for Senior Services.

In his retirement years, Dwight followed his interests in travel, photography, railroad history, model railroading, caring for his antique Cadillacs, swimming, cross country skiing, and many visits with his far-flung and loving family. He and “Gee” took many “Elderhostel” trips together focusing on topics such as bird watching, art and history.

He was able to take part in a veterans Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., in 2011 and in 2022 he was one of three alumni to attend the 75th Reunion of the Class of 1947 at Dartmouth College. He loved to tell the story of how he hitchhiked back and forth across the country three times as he was ending his service to the country at the end of WWII.

Dwight started taking photos of trains in his teenage years and thanks to Bill Willis, his amazing collection lives on in the Dwight Smith Photo Collection on Facebook. In 2020, Dwight moved to the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton, N.H. where he was an active and happy resident who was cared for by the amazing and loving staff.

Although known by how much he loved trains, he loved his family the most.

Dwight was predeceased by his daughter, Martha A. Hall; and his wife of 62 years, Gertrude E. Smith.

He is survived by daughter, Laurel J. Smith and husband Kevin Donohoe of Jackson, N.H., sons Dwight E. Smith and wife Rebecca of Bridgton, Eric R. Smith and wife Susan of South Portland, and Ralph W. Smith and wife Corinne of North Conway, N.H. Dwight loved to recall how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren he had, as he is survived by nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

There will be celebration of Dwight’s life sometime this fall in North Conway, N.H.