The Hampden Railroad (1910−1925) was an unused railroad built in central

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

on behalf of the

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B ...

(B&M) and

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

(NYNH&H) and intended to be leased to the former.

History

Purpose

The object of the Hampden railroad was to connect the

Central Massachusetts Railroad The Central Massachusetts Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. The eastern terminus of the line was at North Cambridge Junction where it split off from the Middlesex Central Branch of the Boston and Lowell Railroad in North Cambridge and ...

(CMR), a line leased to the B&M, with the NYNH&H at

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

and thus make a through route from that city to the

North Station North Station is a commuter rail and intercity rail terminal station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by four MBTA Commuter Rail lines – the Fitchburg Line, Haverhill Line, Lowell Line, and Newburyport/Rockport Line – and the Amtrak ...

of the B&M in Boston. This would be in competition with the existing route of the

Boston and Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pass ...

(B&A) between Springfield and Boston.

Proposal

The route of the railroad, as prescribed by its charter in 1910, consisted of a main line about long, starting near Bondsville, where a junction was to be made with the CMR, heading west-southwest through

Belchertown Belchertown (previously known as Cold Spring and Belcher's Town) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,350 at the 2020 census ...

and

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

to a junction in Chicopee. From there, one line would run about to connect with the Chicopee Falls branch of the B&M, and another line would about to

Athol Junction Athol Junction is a place in Springfield, Massachusetts, named after the rail line that split off to Athol, Massachusetts, before The Quabbin Reservoir was flooded. It is located next to I-291 and the tracks now are used for the industrial park a ...

in Springfield, connecting with the main line tracks of the B&A, with which arrangements were made so that interchange of traffic could be made with the

New Haven-Springfield Line New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

of the NYNH&H and the passenger station at Springfield be used.

Construction

Because of financial problems suffered by the B&M, it was decided to have the line built by an independently financed company which would be leased to the B&M on completion. The proposal was facilitated by

Charles Sanger Mellen Charles Sanger Mellen (August 16, 1852 – November 17, 1927) was an American railroad man whose career culminated in the presidencies of the Northern Pacific Railway (1897-1903) and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (1903-1913). H ...

, who was then president of the NYNH&H at the time and also served on the executive board of the B&M. He signed an agreement in September 1911 to lease the railroad in his latter capacity, and this was ratified by the Hampden shareholders in October. Construction began immediately. The project was financed by $1 400 000 share capital, and $1 900 000 in

money market The money market is a component of the economy that provides short-term funds. The money market deals in short-term loans, generally for a period of a year or less. As short-term securities became a commodity, the money market became a compon ...

bonds -a total of $3 300 000. By 1912, 90% of the grading of the main line had been finished and of track had been laid. By June 23, 1913, the line was practically completed, except for the junction connection with the CMR at Bondsville. The Chilcopee Falls branch was not begun.

Failure

However, the proposed lease of the line to the B&M was not approved by the Public Service Commission of Massachusetts, which found that over $4 000 000 had been spent on the project. The approval of the PSC was essential to the legality of the lease, and as a result the B&M did not proceed. By this time, Mellen was no longer on the board. This rendered the railroad useless, so it was never opened and no revenue train ever used it. In 1919, the Hampden company sued the B&M for breach of contract in not honouring the proposed lease. This legal action failed, since the validity of the lease depended on PSC approval. In 1921, the bond issue fell due and the money owed, with interest, was more than $2,000,000. The Hampden company had no revenue or liquid funds, and so went into receivership. It was sold for scrap to the ''Roxbury Iron & Metals Company'' for $30,000. This meant that the bondholders got back 1.5 cents for each dollar, and the shareholders were wiped out.

Route

The line was mostly very straight and well engineered. It ran north-east from

at Springfield, before curving eastwards to parallel the Athol branch of the B&M to Three Rivers, and then to the (never connected) junction with the CMR south-east of the latter's Bondsville station. It crossed the CMR to make the junction on the latter's north side. The route shown is erroneous. The maximum curvature was 4 degrees and the steepest grade was 1.23% which was over Minnechoag Mountain in Ludlow. In addition, there was not a single grade crossing. This required 28 bridges over the 15 mile route, in addition to several huge grade fills and cuts. The Minnechoag cut itself was long and deep. The longest bridge was the steel trestle at Bircham Bend over the

Chicopee River The Chicopee River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving water ...

, which was above the river and was long. The bridge over the Swift River at Three Rivers was long, ran above the river and continued over the

Central Vermont Railroad The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, Conne ...

. There were four passenger stations: East Springfield,

, Three Rivers and Thorndike.

References

External links

B&M railroad book errata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampden Railroad Boston and Maine Railroad Defunct Massachusetts railroads Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts Railway companies established in 1910 Railway companies disestablished in 1921 1910 establishments in Massachusetts 1921 disestablishments in Massachusetts American companies disestablished in 1921 American companies established in 1910