So, why would removing the tracks on the Lake Winnipesaukee embankment effect the railroad operations, the Hobo and Clarke's, up north in Lincoln? The distance between Laconia and Lincoln is about a one hour automobile, road drive, and maybe 45-miles road distance with separate businesses that are unrelated with no paying passengers traveling on a train on the railroad tracks from Lincoln to Laconia, or vise-versa.
There's a mountain short line railroad in North Conway and Bartlett that is separate from the Winni RR in Laconia, and removing the Winni RR tracks would have zero effect on that railroad, the Conway Scenic, up north. And, ditto that for the Cog Railroad that parallels the Jewell hiking trail on the west side of Mt Washington.
Very little of anything in NH, including people or freight moves by rail. Everything moves by car or by truck.
Removing the shoreline railroad tracks, and replacing it with a walking/bicycle path would be a great, local user improvement for Laconia, Meredith, and Belmont.
Lose the tracks, and build a walking/biking trail on the shoreline railroad embankment along Lake Winnipesaukee.
Peddling a bicycle is a healthy exercise that empowers people, while riding a slow moving train and looking at the scenery is good for some locations, but not so good for Lake Winnipesaukee. Biking and walking beats a train ride along the lake ..... even in a summer rain!
Here's the twelve mile long, sand colored, hard packed sand and small pea gravel
www.cottonvalleyrailtrail.org in Wolfeboro and to the east through Brookfield and Wakefield..... a railroad line where the rr tracks were removed in some spots and left in place in others, along the twelve miles..... and replaced with a walking and bicycling "rail trail" ...... suggest you look at the photos and picture a similar trail running along Paugus Bay, Weirs Bay, and Meredith Bay on the railroad embankment ...... it makes a beautiful picture for what could be, here, on Lake Winnipesaukee.