The Central Massachusetts Railroad was a
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
in
. The eastern
terminus
Terminus may refer to:
* Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination
* Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination
Geography
*Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...
of the line was at North Cambridge Junction where it split off from the
Middlesex Central Branch of the
Boston and Lowell Railroad
The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine R ...
in
North Cambridge
North Cambridge, also known as "Area 11", is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts bounded by Porter Square and the Fitchburg Line railroad tracks on the south, the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, Somerville on the northeast, Alewife Brook ...
and through which it had access to
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 ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. From there, the route ran 98.77
mile
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
s west through the modern-day towns of
Belmont,
Waltham,
Weston
Weston may refer to:
Places Australia
* Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Weston, New South Wales
* Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra
* Weston Park, Canberra, a park
Canada
* Weston, Nova Scotia
* ...
,
Wayland,
Sudbury,
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
,
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Clinton,
West Boylston,
Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...
,
Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
,
Oakham
Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...
,
Barre
Barre or Barré may refer to:
* Barre (name) or Barré, a surname and given name
Places United States
* Barre, Massachusetts, a New England town
** Barre (CDP), Massachusetts, the central village in the town
* Barre, New York, a town
* Barre (c ...
,
New Braintree
New Braintree is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 996 at the 2020 census.
History
Before being settled by re-located residents of Braintree, Massachusetts, New Braintree was occupied by various Nat ...
,
Hardwick,
Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
*Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
*Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
*Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County, Al ...
,
Palmer
Palmer may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land
* Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...
,
Belchertown,
Amherst, and
Hadley to its western terminal junction at N. O. Tower in
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
with the
Connecticut River Railroad
The Connecticut River Railroad was a railroad located along the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, formed in 1845 from the merger of two unfinished railroads. Its main line from Springfield, Massachusetts, Springfield to Northfield, Massac ...
.
History
Inception (1868–1883)
In the late 1860s
citizen
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
s in the towns of Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston
petitioned
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offic ...
the
General Court of Massachusetts
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
to build a railroad through their
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
s. On February 21, 1868 the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
ed the Wayland and Sudbury Branch Railroad to run 6.75 miles from
Mill Village
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe
Italy
* ''Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World Her ...
in Sudbury through Wayland to a connection with the
Fitchburg Railroad
The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main li ...
at
Stony Brook in Weston.
Later that
year
A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...
another group of citizens submitted a petition requesting that the new railroad extend further
west
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
to Northampton. On May 10, 1869 the General Court chartered the Massachusetts Central Railroad and united it with the Wayland and Sudbury Branch.
![Massachusetts Central Railroad 1871 Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Massachusetts_Central_Railroad_1871_Map.jpg)
The Massachusetts Central Railroad was organized on September 2, 1869 with
James M. Stone of
Charlestown elected as its first
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
.
Construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
began the following fall despite difficulty in raising
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
. The company hired
contractor Norman Munson to build the railroad in April 1871 but two years later the
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Lon ...
forced Munson into bankruptcy and halted construction. The railroad stagnated until June 5, 1878 when new president
Silas Seymour
Silas Seymour (June 20, 1817 – July 15, 1890) was an American civil engineer and politician from New York (state), New York.
Life
He was the son of John Seymour (1792-1876) and Sarah (Montgomery) Seymour (1793-1824). He was born and educa ...
called a stockholders meeting.
The stockholders elected a new
Board of Directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
which appointed
George S. Boutwell president in 1879
and rehired Munson to resume construction.
That same year, the Massachusetts General Court amended the railroad's charter to allow for several new expansions. The most significant was an extension east through Waltham and Belmont, which eliminated the connection with the Fitchburg at Stony Brook.
From to Hill Crossing, the line ran alongside the Fitchburg. Original plans called for the route to briefly parallel the
Lexington Branch
Lexington may refer to:
Places England
* Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington
Canada
* Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario
United States
* Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name
* Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...
cutoff through North Cambridge and terminate at the
Boston and Lowell Railroad
The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine R ...
(B&L) mainline at
Willow Bridge. However, this was later changed to join the cutoff at North Cambridge Junction, west of North Avenue (now Massachusetts Avenue). Other amendments included a branch from Amherst to a connection with the
Troy and Greenfield Railroad
The Troy and Greenfield Railroad, chartered in 1848, ran from Greenfield, Massachusetts, United States, to the Vermont state line. It was leased to the Troy and Boston Railroad in 1856, then consolidated into Fitchburg Railroad 1887 which in turn ...
in
West Deerfield and approval to connect with and build over the route of the never-constructed
Holyoke and Belchertown Railroad through
Granby and
South Hadley
South Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
South Hadley is home to Mount Holyoke Colleg ...
.
With its new connection in the east the stockholders approved a 25-year lease of the Massachusetts Central to the B&L on March 21, 1880 pending its completion within two years.
The first rails were finally laid in October that same year at the junction with the
Framingham and Lowell Railroad
The Framingham and Lowell Railroad was a railroad in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1870 to provide a rail connection between the growing railroad hub of Framingham and the important mill city of Lowell, passing through ...
in South Sudbury. The route from Cambridge to Hudson was complete by August 20, 1881 and inspected by state and company officials on September 21. Satisfied with the work the officials set the railroad's grand opening for October 1, 1881. The company appointed Munson as
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
and purchased five
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s. The first schedule included four
passenger
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...
round trips from Boston to Hudson, four passenger round trips from Boston to Waltham, and a daily
freight
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...
from Boston to Hudson and back.
Meanwhile, westward construction continued with tracks reaching
Oakdale and
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
by June 1882. In 1883 the
selling agents for the company's
bonds, Boston-based Charles A. Sweet and Co., declared bankruptcy. The railroad ceased
operations and construction on May 16 and remained in limbo for the next 29
months.
Resurrection and operation under the Boston & Maine (1883–1902)
![1888 Central Mass](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/1888_Central_Mass.gif)
To restore service to the line the Central Massachusetts Railroad was formed out of the failed Massachusetts Central Railroad Company on November 10, 1883. The directors contracted with the B&L to operate trains over the Central Massachusetts route in the fall of 1885 with service resuming from Boston to Hudson on September 28 and to Jefferson on December 14. The new schedule included seven daily round trips from Boston to Jefferson and another ten to Waltham.
![1897-01-13 Central Massachusetts Branch Oakdale Station Diamond with the WN&P Division](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/1897-01-13_Central_Massachusetts_Branch_Oakdale_Station_Diamond_with_the_WN%26P_Division.jpg)
The B&L formally leased the Central Massachusetts on December 7, 1886,
resuming work on the route to Northampton but abandoning any plans for branches to Holyoke or West Deerfield. Though considerable
grading work had already been done along the original planned route in
Hardwick,
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
, and
Enfield
Enfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Enfield, New South Wales
* Enfield, South Australia
** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb
** Enfield High School (South Australia)
...
the railroad's leadership decided to redirect the route through an easier terrain in the
Ware River
The Ware River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Massachusetts. It has two forks, its West Branch, which begins in Hubbardston, Massa ...
Valley, taking the line into Palmer and reconnecting with the original route in Belchertown. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision given that much of the disused portion of the line was flooded in the 1930s to construct the
Quabbin Reservoir
The Quabbin Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in Massachusetts, and was built between 1930 and 1939. Along with the Wachusett Reservoir, it is the primary water supply for Boston, to the east, and 40 other cities and towns in Greate ...
. Tracks were installed through
Muschopauge in Rutland by November.
![Poughkeepsie Bridge Route](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Poughkeepsie_Bridge_Route.gif)
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) leased the B&L On April 1, 1887, renaming the Central Massachusetts line as the Central Massachusetts Branch.
The tracks reached Ware on June 27, 1887
and before the end of that year construction finished with the completion of the bridge over the
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
.
The first train to traverse the entire route, led by locomotive No. 238, ''Hudson'', left Boston at 8:30 A. M. on December 12 and arrived in Northampton at 12:30 P. M. Revenue service commenced on December 19 with three daily passenger round trips between Boston and Northampton, two between Boston and Hudson, three between Boston and Wayland, and two between Ware and Northampton.
Although the Central Massachusetts Railroad never grew beyond Northampton as its early backers had hoped it nonetheless became an integral link for the B&M to points west and
south
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
. This was primarily due to the fact that no rail bridges spanned the
North River in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, separating
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
from major metropolitan areas such as
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, and
Washington, D. C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
In 1889 construction of the
Poughkeepsie Bridge
The Walkway over the Hudson (also known as the Poughkeepsie Bridge, Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, Poughkeepsie–Highland Railroad Bridge, and High Bridge) is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, ...
over the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
at
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
completed the
Poughkeepsie Bridge Route
The Poughkeepsie Bridge Route was a passenger train route from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts, via Baltimore, Maryland and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The route specifically avoided the Port of New York and New Jersey, Port of New York, ...
, the first all-rail route between New England and points south of New York City. Trains such as the ''
Philadelphia and Washington Express
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
'' and the ''
Harrisburg Express'' traveled over the several railroads that composed the route, including the Central Massachusetts Branch of the B&M.
With the B&M suddenly such an important link into New England
Archibald Angus McLeod
Archibald Angus McLeod (1844-1902) was an American financier and railroad executive.
His first railroad job was as a rodman ( surveyor's assistant) with the Northern Pacific Railroad.
He later worked his way up the ranks of the Philadelphia and R ...
, president of the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail.
Commonly called ...
(P&R), sought to use the line as part of his bid to control the coal mining traffic between eastern
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and New England independent of the
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). In 1892 McLeod took
stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
control of the B&M and of the
New York and New England Railroad
The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was ...
to fulfill his plan, electing himself president of the B&M on October 26. Early in 1893 the P&R went bankrupt and McLeod lost stock control of the B&M, resigning as president on May 23.
With relatively stable local control restored the B&M was able to lease one of its major competitors, the Fitchburg Railroad, in 1900.
Two years later, on February 20, 1902, the B&M outright
purchase
Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between ...
d the Central Massachusetts Railroad and dissolved its
corporate entity
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal ...
.
With the Central Massachusetts Branch now a part of its system the B&M set about improving the connections between the line and the rest of its network. The first change was in Oakdale where on March 30, 1902 the railroad shut down the accident-prone
yard
The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...
where the Central Massachusetts Branch crossed
at grade over the
Worcester, Nashua, and Portland Division (WN&P) main line. The next improvement was at Jefferson where the B&M rehabilitated a connecting track that split off of the Central Massachusetts Branch at Holden Junction and connected with the
Worcester and Hillsboro Branch at Carr Junction to allow passenger service into
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
,
Hubbardston,
Gardner, and
Winchendon. Finally the B&M built a connection in
Gleasondale from Gleason Junction on the Central Massachusetts Branch to C. M. Junction on the
Marlborough Branch
Marlborough railway stations refers to the two railway stations which served Marlborough, Wiltshire, England; the town supported two railway routes and Savernake, the junction station at first, later had a second station.
A branch line was bui ...
to enable passenger service into
Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
. While traffic into Marlborough flourished, traffic along the connection in Jefferson languished, and in 1909 the B&M took up that track.
Wachusett Reservoir Relocation (1902–1907)
![1903-12-11 Central Massachusetts Railroad Clinton Viaduct](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/1903-12-11_Central_Massachusetts_Railroad_Clinton_Viaduct.jpg)
On June 5, 1895 the General Court of Massachusetts authorized the damming of the south branch of the
Nashua River
The Nashua River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 is a tributary of the Merrimack River in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the United States. It i ...
for the construction of the
Wachusett Reservoir
The Wachusett Reservoir is the second largest body of water in the state of Massachusetts. It is located in central Massachusetts, northeast of Worcester. It is part of the water supply system for metropolitan Boston maintained by the Massachuset ...
, flooding roughly of land in the towns of Clinton,
Boylston Boylston may refer to the following communities:
;Canada
* Boylston, Nova Scotia
;United States
* Boylston, Massachusetts
* Boylston, New York
* Boylston, Wisconsin
* Boylston Junction, Wisconsin
It may also refer to:
* Helen Dore Boylston, au ...
, and West Boylston. The Central Massachusetts Branch needed to be rerouted as the new reservoir would cover of track as well as the stations at South Clinton, Boylston, and West Boylston.
Two
proposals
Proposal(s) or The Proposal may refer to:
* Proposal (business)
* Research proposal
* Proposal (marriage)
* Proposition, a proposal in logic and philosophy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''The Proposal'' (album)
Films
* ''The Proposal'' ...
for the new route emerged. The first proposal called for a connection to the defunct
Lancaster Railroad in Hudson that would route traffic through Bolton to a connection with the WN&P Division main line in
South Lancaster and leave Berlin at the end of a four-mile
branch
A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...
.
The second proposal would build a new route through Clinton and connect with the WN&P Division main line there. On April 3, 1902 the
Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board
Sydney Water, formally, Sydney Water Corporation, is a New South Wales Government owned statutory corporation that provides potable drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Greater Metropolitan Sydney, the Illawarra and the ...
reached an agreement with the B&M to reroute the Central Massachusetts Branch according to the latter plan.
The new portion of the Central Massachusetts Branch started just west of West Berlin Junction in Berlin where the Central Massachusetts Branch connected with the
Fitchburg Line
The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across norther ...
of the NYNH&H. From there it ran northwest into Clinton through a -long tunnel. The western
portal
Portal often refers to:
* Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel
Portal may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...
of the tunnel opened onto a 917-foot
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
near the site of the
Wachusett Dam
The Wachusett Dam in Clinton, Massachusetts, impounds the Nashua River, creating the Wachusett Reservoir. Construction started in 1897 and was completed in 1905. It is part of the Nashua River Watershed.
This dam is part of greater Boston's wa ...
that passed over
Route 70 and the Nashua River before connecting with the WN&P Division main line at Clinton Junction. Traffic over the Central Massachusetts Branch followed the WN&P Division main line through
Sterling into Oakdale where a redesigned junction routed it back onto the original Central Massachusetts Branch. Just before Clinton Junction an additional connection branched off at Reservoir Switch leading to East Switch on the WN&P Division to allow traffic to approach the Central Massachusetts Branch from the north or continue from the Central Massachusetts Branch north along the WN&P Division main line. The first train passed over the new route on June 2, 1903 while the old track was officially removed from through service on June 15 but remained in place and used during the remainder of the reservoir construction, some of it being re-gauged to 3' to allow construction trains to utilize it. Under this arrangement the WN&P main line between Oakdale and Sterling Junction became exceptionally busy as it accommodated B&M traffic from the WN&P Division and the Central Massachusetts Branch as well as NYNH&H traffic heading between
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
and
Fitchburg along the tracks of the original
Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad
The Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1840 to provide a rail connection between Fitchburg and Worcester. Service began on February 11, 1850, running 18 miles from Fitchburg through Leominster ...
.
Operation under Charles Mellen (1907–1913)
![Quinapoxet station postcard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Quinapoxet_station_postcard.jpg)
In 1907
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 ...
, the president of the NYNH&H and protégé of
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
, gained control of the B&M to form a near monopoly on all rail traffic in southern New England. Mellen sought to build a direct route through
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 ...
that would funnel traffic into Boston along the Central Massachusetts Branch and away from 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), which was controlled by
William H. Vanderbilt
William Henry Vanderbilt (May 8, 1821 – December 8, 1885) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, an heir to his fortune and a prominent member of the Vanderbilt family. Vanderbi ...
’s
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
(NYC). Legal proceedings brought against Mellen by
Louis D. Brandeis to break up his monopoly meant Mellen could not build the route himself so he befriended a railroad contractor from
Westfield named Ralph D. Gillett and made him president of the
Hampden Railroad with the intent to lease the new route upon its completion.
The Massachusetts General Court incorporated the Hampden in July 1910. It started at Hampden Junction on the Central Massachusetts Branch about two miles east of
Bondsville and continued 14.82 miles
southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
through Belchertown,
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 ...
, and
Chicopee to the B&A main line at Athol Junction about two miles east of Springfield. Construction finished by May 9, 1913 with service between New York and Boston scheduled to commence on June 23. Just days before its grand opening operations were suspended indefinitely as Mellen faced a hearing before the
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
(ICC) regarding his questionable business practices. He abruptly resigned from the presidencies of both the NYNH&H and B&M on July 9 leaving the Hampden a bridge between two suddenly competing railroads. Despite one more tour by B&M officials in November 1914 neither they nor the NYNH&H wished to lease the line, which was shut down for good in 1925.
Severance (1913–1939)
![Bondsville Station circa 1923](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Bondsville_Station_circa_1923.jpg)
The failure of the Hampden and Mellen's empire marked the beginning of the downturn of the Central Massachusetts Branch. Much of the traffic routed through Northampton under Mellen's empire vanished or was rerouted by the B&M along the parallel
Fitchburg Division via
Mechanicville. In August 1917 the B&M discontinued passenger service between Ware and Northampton and downsized the terminal in Ware significantly.
The line enjoyed a brief upswing in traffic between
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the early 1920s but the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and increased competition from
automobiles
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
and
trucks
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
began to take their toll in the latter half of the decade. By 1928 no freights and only one passenger train ran the length of the line from Boston to Northampton.
The struggling economy and reduction in business forced the B&M to take austerity measures and cut back on less profitable lines including the Central Massachusetts Branch. To keep the line open but defray some of the operation and
maintenance
Maintenance may refer to:
Biological science
* Maintenance of an organism
* Maintenance respiration
Non-technical maintenance
* Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English
* Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doctrine ...
costs the B&M obtained
trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
to the
Central Vermont Railway
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, Connect ...
's
Southern Division in 1931, which ran parallel to the Central Massachusetts Branch for several miles between Belchertown and Amherst. Connections at Canal Junction in Belchertown and at Norwottuck Junction in Amherst allowed the B&M to route all of its trains over the Southern Division and
abandon the parallel Central Massachusetts Branch tracks.
The railroad pulled off a similar maneuver in January 1933, obtaining trackage rights to the
Ware River Branch of the B&A. In order to maintain service to
customer
In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for ...
s in
Gilbertville and
Wheelwright
A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkw ...
the B&M build three connections to the Ware River Branch at Barre Junction in Barre, Forest Lake Junction in Palmer, and Creamery in Hardwick. The railroad routed trains on the Central Massachusetts Branch along the Ware River Branch and made the sections from Creamery to Gilbertville and Wheelwright
spurs, taking the tracks south of Gilbertville to Forest Lake and north of Wheelwright to Barre Junction out of service. The ICC approved the abandonments in 1941 and the B&M took up all of the abandoned tracks.
To further cut costs the B&M also reduced service on the Central Massachusetts Branch, discontinuing passenger service to Northampton on April 23, 1932.
In 1943 the B&M abandoned the Marlborough Branch between its original connection with the Fitchburg Division in
South Acton through
Maynard and
Stow
Stow may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Stow, Lincolnshire or Stow-in-Lindsey, a village
* Stow of Wedale or Stow, Scottish Borders, a village
* Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a small town
* Stow, Shropshire or Stowe, a village
* Stow ...
to Gleason Junction, making the Central Massachusetts Branch the exclusive route into Marlborough.
By 1938 most of the traffic on the Central Massachusetts Branch was east of Clinton. The only business on the western end of the line was local freight service between Northampton and Rutland. Since no trains passed over the middle of the route the B&M took the tracks between Oakdale and Muschopauge out of service on June 1, 1938.
Later that year on September 21 the
Hurricane of 1938
The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express Hurricane) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The stor ...
badly damaged the tracks, particularly near the
Quinapoxet, Ware, and
Swift
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIFT, ...
Rivers where
washouts severed the line at Coldbrook and knocked out a bridge in Gilbertville. The B&M could not justify the cost to make repairs to an area it was hardly using and so on January 30, 1939 the railroad formally submitted a request to the ICC to abandon the tracks between Oakdale and Barre Junction, abandon the tracks between Creamery and Gilbertville, and discontinue operations on the Ware River Branch between Creamery and Barre Junction. The ICC approved the abandonments on November 7 and then the discontinuance of service on the Ware River Branch a month later on December 17. With the line officially cloven in two the B&M renamed the line between Northampton and Wheelwright as the Wheelwright Branch and retained the Central Massachusetts Branch
moniker
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
for the eastern half of the line between Boston and Oakdale.
Abandonment of the Wheelwright Branch
On the Wheelwright Branch freight service continued between Northampton and Wheelwright at least three times per week until 1973 when the
paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
in Wheelwright closed. In April 1974 the B&M cut freight service to once per week, took the tracks between Creamery and Wheelwright out of service, and embargoed all traffic on the line east of Bondsville. With only one customer in Bondsville the railroad petitioned the ICC to abandon the remainder of the Wheelwright Branch in June 1979, reasoning that that business could be better served by the new
Massachusetts Central Railroad
The Massachusetts Central Railroad is a short line railroad in western Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1975 to provide railroad transportation services on portions of the Boston & Maine Wheelwright Branch in and around their ...
which the General Court had chartered on October 16, 1975 to run along the
Ware River Secondary of the bankrupt
Penn Central Railroad
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...
after that line was to be excluded from the government's reorganization of the northeast railroads into
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
. The ICC approved the plan and operations east of Amherst ceased by August and on the rest of the line by November.
On February 14, 1980 the B&M officially took line from Northampton to Norwottuck out of service. Later that month the Massachusetts Central assumed responsibility for the customer in Bondsville but had to stop after about a year due to the poor condition of the tracks. The ICC finally approved the abandonment of the Wheelwright Branch in 1982 and the B&M took up the tracks between Northampton and Norwottuck later that year. This left only two sections of B&M-owned track on the Wheelwright Branch: between Canal Junction and Bondsville and between Creamery and Wheelwright. The Massachusetts Central could not afford to acquire either property and so in 1983 the B&M took up both. As of 2006 the last remaining portion of the Central Massachusetts Railroad still in revenue service is in Ware where the Massachusetts Central uses what remains of the yard in that town as well as a small section that provides access to a paper plant customer.
Decline in the east (1939–2006)
In 1939 the B&M ended passenger service to Marlborough leaving the four daily trains between Boston and Clinton the last of the passenger service on the Central Massachusetts Branch. Freight service, however, continued to all three communities and saw a major uptick as
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
intensified. In 1942 the
United States Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
built the
Fort Devens-Sudbury Training Annex
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
which connected to the Central Massachusetts Branch at Mirror Lake Junction just east of Ordway station in Hudson. B&M trains transported huge quantities of ammunition to and from the bunker with inbound ammunition from Boston being dropped in a yard just north of Mirror Lake Junction and outbound ammunition being brought to the NYNH&H in South Sudbury. This business ended with the war as the government repurposed the facility and removed the yard and connection to the Central Massachusetts Branch.
Further east the B&M worked with the state and other railroads to modernize and streamline the rail infrastructure in and around Boston between 1951 and 1952. Rather than have the Central Massachusetts Branch and Fitchburg Division run parallel to one another from Clematis Brook to their connection at Fens in Cambridge, the B&M decided to connect the two lines at Clematis Brook and route all Central Massachusetts Branch traffic onto the Fitchburg Division. After upgrading the Fitchburg Division to handle the increase in traffic the railroad took up the tracks of the Central Massachusetts Branch tracks between Clematis Brook and Hill Crossing. The remaining track between Hill Crossing and North Cambridge Junction became a part of the Freight Cutoff to the yards in Boston.
Around the same time the B&M also modernized its motive power, adopting
diesel locomotives
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...
throughout its system. The last of the
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
operations for scheduled
passenger revenue service on the B&M took place between Boston and Clinton on the Central Massachusetts Branch. On May 5, 1956 the last steam-powered train on the line departed Clinton for Boston and shortly thereafter the railroad closed the engine house in Clinton and began using
Budd self-propelled railcars for passenger service along the route.
By 1958, freight and passenger business between Clinton and Boston dwindled to nearly nothing. The B&M cut all service west of Berlin early that year with only two weekday passenger trains running as far as Hudson on the Marlborough Branch. On August 11 the railroad removed all track between Berlin and Clinton Junction, including East Switch, from service. The viaduct in Clinton remained in place until 1974 when the
Metropolitan District Commission removed it. On June 14, 1959, the B&M further cut passenger service to Hudson back to one daily round trip, after attempting to abandon all service on the line.
MBTA purchase and abandonment
In 1959, the NYNH&H discontinued passenger service on its lines in the former
Old Colony Railroad
The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...
network, triggering calls for state intervention. In response, the
Mass Transportation Commission tested fare and service levels throughout the NYNH&H and B&M systems, concluding that
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
service was important enough to warrant continued operation, but was unlikely to be financially self-sustaining. Based on this conclusion, the state created the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(MBTA) on August 3, 1964 and merged it with the existing
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...
to serve a larger part of the state and
subsidize commuter rail service. The MBTA immediately set to work optimizing the commuter rail networks of the NYNH&H, NYC, and B&M. On the Central Massachusetts Branch, this included cutting passenger service back to South Sudbury starting on January 18, 1965.
In spite of the subsidies, ridership continued to decline on the Central Massachusetts Branch, and by 1969 the MBTA recommended an end to all service on the line. Devoted riders managed to briefly delay the decision, but in December 1970 the B&M filed for bankruptcy. On July 30, 1971, the state renewed the B&M's annual subsidy but without funding for the Central Massachusetts Branch. A group of citizens from Wayland argued that the single train along the route was too inconvenient for commuters and so on October 1 the MBTA announced that it would temporarily schedule more trains to determine whether the line was still viable. After two months, the MBTA concluded that the modest increase in ridership was not sufficient to warrant continued funding; on November 26, all passenger service ended on the Central Massachusetts Branch.
The MBTA examined the possibility of restoring passenger service to the line in 1972 and again in 1975, but nothing came of either study.
Despite the end of passenger service on the Central Massachusetts Branch freight service continued well into the 1970s. Trains ran to South Sudbury 3–4 times each week and traveled as far as Hudson when needed, usually 1–2 times per week. With no business in Marlborough the B&M took the last section of the Marlborough Branch out of service in 1974. On December 27, 1976 the B&M sold the Central Massachusetts Branch as well as its Budd RDC fleet and several other lines to the MBTA
but retained the rights to freight service. Business continued to decline however, and by 1977 the B&M had to reduce service to runs as needed. That same year the railroad removed the track between Berlin and Hudson from service as it had deteriorated to the point of being unsafe. In August 1979 the B&M petitioned the ICC to abandon the Central Massachusetts Branch between Berlin and Waltham North Station and the remaining segment of the Marlborough Branch. The last train to Hudson ran on June 19, 1980 and the last train west of Waltham about a month later on August 14. The B&M officially took the track west of Bacon Street in Waltham out of service on September 11 and the
United States District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
overseeing the B&M's bankruptcy approved the abandonment in October.
Around the same time the B&M and MBTA increased vertical height clearances along the
New Hampshire Route main line. This made the Hill Crossing Freight Cutoff obsolete and in 1980 the B&M and MBTA took up the Central Massachusetts Branch track between Hill Crossing and North Cambridge Junction to make room for the MBTA's
Red Line.
In 1983
Guilford Rail System
Guildford is a town in Surrey, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Guildford, the Diocese of Guildford and the Parliamentary constituency of Guildford.
Guildford, Guilford, or Gildford may also refer to:
Places
Australia
* Guildfor ...
purchased the B&M and began to transfer all operations to the B&M subsidiary
Springfield Terminal Railway. The Springfield Terminal took over operations on the last piece of the Central Massachusetts Branch between Clematis Brook and Bacon Street in Waltham in 1987 and continued them until the last customer shut down in 1994.
In 1996 State Representative Nancy Evans of Wayland proposed restoring commuter service on the Central Massachusetts Branch between
Interstate 495 in Berlin and Boston to alleviate traffic on
Route 20 but was met with substantial backlash from residents of new homes built along the dormant line in the time since its operations had ceased. The
Executive Office of Transportation carried out a feasibility study anyway estimating that restoring service to the route as far as Berlin would cost in excess of $103 million and that any benefit gained was unlikely to outweigh the costs. In 1999 Evans, now the Director of Planning for the MBTA, proposed converting the Central Massachusetts
right of way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
into a
busway but the state rejected this proposal as well.
As of 2006 the grade crossings and bridges between Clematis Brook and Berlin have been mostly removed but the tracks remain mostly intact if encroached upon and badly overgrown.
Rail trail plans
![Former Massachusetts Central Railroad Station, Weston MA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Former_Massachusetts_Central_Railroad_Station%2C_Weston_MA.jpg)
In 1996 the towns along the eastern portion of the Central Massachusetts Branch requested permission to convert the route between Clematis Brook and Berlin into the Wayside Rail Trail. The MBTA agreed to lease the property for the project with the stipulation that it would retain the right to revert it to a commuter rail line and that the trail would be policed and maintained by the communities themselves. Every town along the route except for Weston accepted the terms but without unanimous approval the trail took a while to come to fruition. Waltham moved ahead to convert the property in their city anyway reasoning that even if service were restored it would start from a new connection at Stony Brook west of their city limits.
As of Spring 2021, Weston and Wayland have moved forward and have opened a 5 mile paved section of the trail from the bridge over the MBTA Fitchburg line at the Waltham-Weston border as far west as Wayland Station near the intersection of Route 126 and US 20. A crushed stone continuation connects the fully paved portion with the shopping center at the intersection of US 20 and Andrew Ave in Wayland.
Efforts to convert the property to recreational trails found more success elsewhere along the route. The portion of the Marlborough Branch between Gleason Junction and Marlborough became the
Assabet River Rail Trail
The Assabet River Rail Trail (ARRT) is a partially-completed multi-use rail trail running through the cities and towns of Marlborough, Hudson, Stow, Maynard, and Acton, Massachusetts, United States. It is a conversion of the abandoned Marl ...
. In Boston the former Central Massachusetts Branch section of the Hill Crossing Freight Cutoff between Hill Crossing and North Cambridge Junction became the
Fitchburg Cutoff Path
The Fitchburg Cutoff (also called the Freight Cutoff) was a rail line running from Brighton Street (Hills Crossing station) in Belmont, Massachusetts, to Somerville Junction in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was constructed in two segments in ...
.
![IMG 3819-Norwottuck-Rail-Trail-bridge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/IMG_3819-Norwottuck-Rail-Trail-bridge.jpg)
The towns along the former Wheelwright Branch exhibited similar enthusiasm for recreational trails along the property. In March 1985 with support from the local governments and regional planning agency the state purchased 10 miles of the line between the west end of the Connecticut River Bridge in Northampton and Amherst with the intent to convert it into a rail trail. Work began in 1992 and on July 29, 1993 the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission i ...
officially opened the
Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail. By 1997 the trail extended as far as Belchertown where progress halted due to a concerted effort from private landowners who had taken over the long-abandoned property. In 2006 the western end of the trail was extended to N. O. Tower. In West Boylston, Holden, and Rutland a volunteer organization called Wachusett Greenways began to convert the roughly 30 miles of property between Oakdale and Rutland to the
Mass Central Rail Trail
The Mass Central Rail Trail is a partially-completed rail trail from Northampton, Massachusetts to Boston along the former right of way of the Massachusetts Central Railroad. When complete, it will run through Central Massachusetts and Greater Bo ...
. The Mass Central Rail Trail currently includes a portion of the former Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad in Sterling between Sterling Junction and Sterling Center; however this route was never a part of the Central Massachusetts Branch and does not connect with the rest of the trail since the former WN&P Division main line tracks remain in service as the Worcester Main Line of
Pan Am Railways
Pan Am Railways, Inc. (PAR) is a subsidiary of CSX Corporation that operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Rotterdam Junction, New York. Pan Am Railways is primarily made up of former Clas ...
.
Locomotives
![1903-06-17 Central Massachusetts Railroad East Tunnel Portal Clinton MA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/1903-06-17_Central_Massachusetts_Railroad_East_Tunnel_Portal_Clinton_MA.jpg)
The Massachusetts Central Railroad operated five locomotives between 1881 and 1883. These were the only five locomotives that the company ever owned with other railroads providing motive power later in the line's history.
![1903-06-27 Central Massachusetts Railroad Oakdale MA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/1903-06-27_Central_Massachusetts_Railroad_Oakdale_MA.jpg)
*No. 1
** Model:
4-4-0
4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...
** Manufacturer:
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the ...
** Manufacturer Number: 2308
**
Cylinders: 15 x 24
** Date Manufactured: 1873
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works built locomotive No. 1 for the
Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway
The Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway was a railroad that once operated in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
Its immediate predecessor, the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railway, was formed on July 20, 1869, from the merger of the India ...
(IB&W) as their No. 70. In 1880 the IB&W returned the locomotive to Rogers which sold it to the
Housatonic Railroad
The Housatonic Railroad ( ) is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England and eastern New York. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and ...
as their No. 21. The Massachusetts Central Railroad purchased the locomotive in 1881 then sold it to the
St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad (SJ&LC) in 1883 where it became No. 11, ''Col. Jewett''. The locomotive became a part of the B&L following its merger with the SJ&LC in 1885. The B&L renumbered it as No. 163, ''Highgate''. The locomotive returned to the SJ&LC 1887 when the B&M leased the B&L and became No. 8, ''Highgate''. The SJ&LC scrapped the locomotive in May 1892.
![1903-07-01 Central Massachusetts Railroad Clinton Viaduct from the east](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/1903-07-01_Central_Massachusetts_Railroad_Clinton_Viaduct_from_the_east.jpg)
*No. 2
** Model: 4-4-0
** Manufacturer: Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
** Manufacturer Number: 2310
** Cylinders: 15 x 24
** Date Manufactured: July 26, 1873
Rogers built locomotive No. 2 for the IB&W as their No. 71. In 1880 the IB&W returned the locomotive to Rogers which sold it to the Housatonic as their No. 22. The Massachusetts Central Railroad purchased the locomotive in 1881 then sold it to the SJ&LC in 1883 where it became No. 12, ''Col. Fairbanks''. The locomotive became a part of the B&L in 1887, which renumbered it as No. 164, ''Col. Fairbanks''. The B&M took possession of the locomotive in 1895, renumbering it as No. 629 and then No. 555 on February 29, 1904. The B&M scrapped the locomotive on March 20, 1907.
![1903-09-28 Central Massachusetts Railroad Clinton Viaduct](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/1903-09-28_Central_Massachusetts_Railroad_Clinton_Viaduct.jpg)
*No. 3
** Model: 4-4-0
** Manufacturer:
Schenectady Locomotive Works
The Schenectady Locomotive Works built railroad locomotives from its founding in 1848 through its merger into American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901.
After the 1901 merger, ALCO made the Schenectady plant its headquarters in Schenectady, New ...
** Manufacturer Number: 1443
** Cylinders: 17 x 24
** Date Manufactured: October 1881
Schenectady Locomotive Works built locomotive No. 3 for the Massachusetts Central Railroad. In 1887 the locomotive became B&L No. 10, ''Woburn'', and later that year it became B&M No. 310, ''Woburn''. The B&M rebuilt the locomotive in 1898 and renumbered it No. 680 in 1911 before scrapping it in August 1920.
![1908-04-01 Central Massachusetts Railroad Waste Weir Wachusett Dam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/1908-04-01_Central_Massachusetts_Railroad_Waste_Weir_Wachusett_Dam.jpg)
*No. 4
** Model: 4-4-0
** Manufacturer: Schenectady Locomotive Works
** Manufacturer Number: 1444
** Cylinders: 17 x 24
** Date Manufactured: October 1881
Schenectady built locomotive No. 4 for the Massachusetts Central Railroad. In 1887 the locomotive became B&L No. 65, ''Marlboro'', and later that year it became B&M No. 365, ''Marlboro''.
Manchester Locomotive Works
Manchester Locomotive Works was a manufacturing company located in Manchester, New Hampshire, that built steam locomotives and fire engines in the 19th century. The first locomotive the company built was for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railr ...
rebuilt the locomotive in 1904 and the B&M renumbered it No. 683 in 1911, scrapping it before 1923.
![Bondsville Trestle over Swift River 1910](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Bondsville_Trestle_over_Swift_River_1910.jpg)
*No. 5
** Model: 4-4-0
** Manufacturer:
Hinkley & Williams
** Manufacturer Number: 809
** Cylinders: Unknown
** Date Manufactured: October 1867
Prior to its time with the Massachusetts Central Railroad Locomotive No. 5 was No. 11, ''N. C. Munson'', of the N. C. Munson Construction Company (incidentally the original contractor for the Massachusetts Central Railroad). It was sold to the Massachusetts Central around 1882 and sold at auction in 1886.
Other Power
In addition to the above locomotives the Massachusetts Central Railroad would on occasion lease power from the B&L. Small 4-4-0,
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...
, and
0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...
locomotives predominated through 1900 partially due to weight restrictions over the line's bridges. After 1900 the 4-4-0 locomotives continued to provide the bulk of the power for passenger service with class B-14 and B-15
2-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...
, class L-1
4-8-0, and class A-41-f 4-4-0 locomotives mixed in for longer and freight trips. During WWII K-8-b and K-8-c class
2-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...
locomotives worked the larger ammunition trains on the eastern end of the line. J-1 class
4-4-2 locomotives generally handled passenger service during the war and into the 1950s. Diesel power arrived in the mid-1950s with
EMD SW9
The EMD SW9 is a model of diesel switcher locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between November 1950 and December 1953. Additional SW9s were built by General Motors Diesel in Ontario Canada from December 1950 to March 19 ...
switchers regularly assigned to the Marlborough local freight starting in June 1953.
Road switcher
A road switcher is a type of railroad locomotive
designed to both haul railcars in mainline service and shunt them in railroad yards. Both type and term are North American in origin, although similar types have been used elsewhere.
A road s ...
s equipped with
steam generators
A steam generator is a form of low water-content boiler, similar to a flash steam boiler. The usual construction is as a spiral coil of water-tube, arranged as a single, or monotube, coil. Circulation is once-through and pumped under pressure, ...
took over passenger service on the Central Massachusetts Branch starting in 1956. Budd Rail Diesel Cars quickly replaced the road switchers for passenger service beginning in the late 1950s and continued service in that capacity until passenger service ceased in 1971.
Stations and junctions
![1896-07-11 Central Massachusetts Railroad West Boylston Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/1896-07-11_Central_Massachusetts_Railroad_West_Boylston_Station.jpg)
The Central Massachusetts Railroad built its
stations in the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
-inspired
Victorian style of architecture popular during the 1870s. The name of the architect responsible for their design has been lost to time. Cost restrictions played heavily into the station designs though the railroad added decorations such as painted
wainscot
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
ting and
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
s for aesthetics. All of the stations were wooden and based on one of two basic plans for smaller or larger communities. Individual stations were often tailored to their location, including additions such as attached or separate freight houses and milk sheds which were similarly decorated to appear presentable to the public. Other structures such as
engine houses
__NOTOC__
An engine house is a building or other structure that holds one or more engines. It is often practical to bring engines together for common maintenance, as when train locomotives are brought together.
Types of engine houses include:
* m ...
, water towers,
section houses, and crossing shanties were not decorated. To create the illusion of variety the railroad never used the same design on two consecutive stations except at Waverly and Belmont where the consistent design helped passengers distinguish the Central Massachusetts Railroad stations from those of the parallel Fitchburg Railroad.
The station listing on the Central Massachusetts Railroad changed many times over the line's history thanks to leases, ownership changes, and rerouting. The list below is from the 1920 Boston and Maine Southern Division employees' timetable. The listings with grayed-out backgrounds are the stations between West Berlin Junction and Oakdale that the railroad abandoned during the construction of the Wachusett Reservoir. The italicized mileage numbers for these stations indicate their position on the line in the 1892 employees' timetable.
See also
*
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
*
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
*
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
*
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
References
External links
The Boston and Maine Railroad Historical SocietyThe Mass Central Rail-TrailThe Boston end of the Mass Central Rail-TrailInteractive map of the Central Massachusetts Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Massachusetts Railroad
Defunct Massachusetts railroads
History of Hampshire County, Massachusetts
MBTA Commuter Rail
Predecessors of the Boston and Maine Railroad
Rail trails in Massachusetts
Railway companies disestablished in 1902
Railway companies established in 1883
1971 disestablishments in Massachusetts