East Providence Branch

The East Providence Branch is a railroad line in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in the United States. It connects Valley Falls, Rhode Island, to East Providence, Rhode Island, via South Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The branch was originally built by the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1874, connecting its main line to a coal dock in East Providence. The final of the line were formally abandoned in 2006.

Route

The branch begins in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, just south of Valley Falls Yard. It briefly enters Massachusetts in the southwestern corner of South Attleboro, crossing over Interstate 95, before reentering Rhode Island in Pawtucket, after crossing over the Northeast Corridor. The line then parallels the George Bennett Highway for several miles, traveling southward in a nearly straight line. The branch continues past the terminus of the highway and enters East Providence, following the east bank of the Seekonk River and crossing the mouth of the Ten Mile River on the Omega Pond Railroad Bridge. Beyond the bridge, the branch curves eastward and connects to the East Junction Branch, via a new track built by the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 2006.

The original route, now abandoned, continues along the Seekonk River, passing under the Henderson Bridge, past the approaches to the disused Crook Point Bascule Bridge, and then beneath the Washington Bridge which carries Interstate 195. The right-of-way ends at the Wilkesbarre Pier by Bold Point.

History

Design and construction

Initial surveys for a potential branch of the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) to East Providence were completed in December 1867, by prominent Providence civil engineer S. B. Cushing. Cushing subsequently conducted further surveys, though the ultimately chosen route was very similar to that of the first survey.

The East Providence Branch was authorized in 1870 by the Rhode Island General Assembly, via an amendment to the Providence and Worcester Railroad's charter, with corresponding approval from the Massachusetts General Court for a small portion of the branch that entered South Attleboro, Massachusetts. It was to connect the tidewater areas of East Providence (at Bold Point) to the P&W main line in Valley Falls, Rhode Island.

The branch included a trio of bridges - from north to south, a high stone arch bridge over Abbott Run (a Seekonk River tributary), a high bridge crossing the Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) line to Providence (this height chosen to allow brakemen on top of B&P trains to safely pass under the bridge), and the high and long Omega Pond Bridge. Also near Abbott Run was a high fill, the largest on the line; the most significant cut was located at Walker Point (south of the Omega Pond Bridge) and extended with a depth of approximately . The route was relatively flat, with the greatest incline being to the mile, or approximately 0.7 percent, in the vicinity of the Mount Saint Mary's Cemetery in Pawtucket.

While initially single-track, the entire branch was designed and built to allow installation of double-track at a later point. The ''Providence Evening Press'' reported that, "The intention is not to construct a road as cheaply as it can be built, but in ballasting, masonry, track and equipments, to make it ''first-class'' in every respect." P&W president William Smith Slater (of the prominent Slater family) was a key proponent of the construction of the branch.

By the end of May 1874, significant work had been completed on the line. The first revenue train, a unit train of coal from the docks at India Point, traveled over the branch on September 7, 1874, though final construction, including ballasting, continued. The line was substantially completed in October 1874, with coal trains beginning regular use of the branch the following month. In spring of 1875, the branch was fully opened to other freight traffic. Residual work on the branch continued until 1878.

Use

Double-track was installed from Valley Falls to the Darlington neighborhood of Pawtucket in 1892. This was done in part to potentially allow for passenger trains between Woonsocket and Bristol to avoid congestion in Providence entirely, using the East Providence Branch to reach the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad (also a subsidiary of the New Haven). The remainder of the branch was double-tracked by the New Haven between 1894 and 1895, at a cost of approximately $18,000 ($ in 2021).

The bankrupt New Haven Railroad was merged into the Penn Central Transportation Company at the end of 1968. Penn Central assumed operations of the P&W, including the East Providence Branch, as ordered by the Interstate Commerce Commission. The P&W soon began an effort to free itself from Penn Central and return to independence; several years of legal battles ended with a court order in P&W's favor in December 1972. On February 3, 1973, the East Providence Branch and the rest of the P&W system returned to P&W operation.

Operations

Shippers located along the branch are served by a local freight train on weekdays, based out of Valley Falls Yard, just north of the branch's connection to the P&W mainline. This train continues to the East Junction Branch to serve customers there as needed.

Most of the grade crossings on the line are protected only by traffic lights, without the flashing lights, bells, and gates typical of grade crossings. P&W and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation have both identified this as a safety hazard. The branch is single-track and maintained to Class I standards (a maximum speed of .

Station listing

Gallery

File:Providence and Worcester freight train in Pawtucket, June 2008.jpg, Providence and Worcester freight train in Pawtucket, June 2008
File:East Junction Branch South.jpg, Abandoned segment located a few hundred feet south of current line terminus, the track on the left is the Walker Point spur
File:East Junction Branch East Providence.jpg, Barely visible abandoned track located north of Waterman Avenue in East Providence
File:Omega Pond railroad bridge, December 2021.JPG, The Omega Pond Railroad Bridge is still actively used by the P&W

Notes

References

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* {{Cite book , last=Rhode Island Supreme Court , first= , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imcvAQAAMAAJ&newbks=0&hl=en , title=Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Rhode Island , publisher=The Riverside Press , year=1893 , location=Cambridge, Massachusetts , pages=324 - 348

Providence and Worcester Railroad
Rail infrastructure in Rhode Island
Rail infrastructure in Massachusetts