The Newburyport Railroad (later known as the Newburyport Branch 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 ...

) was a railroad that came about from the merger of three small rail companies into one rail line to compete with the

Eastern Railroad The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the compe ...

for service between

Newburyport Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...

and

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 ...

, Massachusetts. The Newburyport Railroad ran from Newburyport to

Wakefield, Massachusetts Wakefield is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, incorporated in 1812 and located about north-northwest of Downtown Boston. Wakefield's population was 27,090 at the 2020 census. Wakefield offers ...

, where it connected with the Boston and Maine (B&M) for service into Boston.

History

The first company that would later become part of the Newburyport Railroad was the Newburyport and Bradford Railroad, incorporated on March 11, 1846. It opened a line from Newburyport on the Eastern to Georgetown in 1849 and extended it west to the B&M at

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

(now part of Haverhill) in 1851. The second company, the Danvers and Georgetown Railroad, was organized on May 7, 1851 and began work in April 1853 on a line running from the Newburyport Railroad at Georgetown south to Danvers on the

Essex Railroad The Essex Railroad (later known as the Lawrence Branch of the Eastern Railroad) was a independent railroad in Essex County, Massachusetts in the US that connected Salem to North Andover. The railroad received its charter in 1846, with some bac ...

. The third company, the Danvers Railroad, was incorporated on March 15, 1852, and began construction in August 1853 on a line from Danvers southwest to the

South Reading Branch Railroad The South Reading Branch Railroad or just South Reading Railroad (later Wakefield Branch) was a short line railroad that ran from Wakefield, Massachusetts to Peabody, Massachusetts. It's origins began sometime in 1850 when the railroad was name ...

and the B&M in Wakefield. On October 23, 1854, the entire line from Newburyport to Wakefield was complete. On February 22, 1855, the first two companies merged to form the Newburyport Railroad, which operated the section from Newburyport to Danvers. The B&M operated the section from Danvers to Wakefield, and in 1860, it leased the Newburyport Railroad, taking over operations on the entire line and running it as its Newburyport Branch. On October 30, 1906, the B&M bought the line outright. After

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 ...

, the Newburyport Branch experienced a decline in ridership, and in 1924, the B&M tried to end service, but passenger and industry protest kept it open. Reduced service, with some stations closed, began in 1925. In 1940, the B&M successfully applied to close the line between Newburyport and Topsfield, and service ended there in December 1941. The following year it abandoned the line between Georgetown and the paper mill in Bradford, servicing the paper mill from the B&M main line instead. In 1950, passenger travel ceased between Topsfield and Danvers, and in 1959, all passenger travel on the line came to an end. In 1976, the B&M sold the section from Wakefield Junction to Topsfield to 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 ...

. In 1981, the section between Topsfield and Danvers was abandoned. Freight service continued on the section between Wakefield and Danvers until about 2001. The line served freight customers on the former Essex Railroad until a fire destroyed the Waters River Bridge, preventing freight traffic from continuing to

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

. The portion of the abandoned right-of-way from Peabody to Newburyport is being converted to rail trails, which are part of the Border to Boston Trail. $122,000 in state funds for design of the Boxford section was awarded in 2022. A trail in Wakefield and Lynnfield is also planned.

References

* * * {{Attached KML, display=inline, title Defunct Massachusetts railroads Newburyport, Massachusetts Railway companies established in 1855 Railway companies disestablished in 1860 American companies disestablished in 1860 1855 establishments in Massachusetts American companies established in 1855 1860 disestablishments in Massachusetts