Streetcar 10 at Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, September 2018

The Shelburne Falls and Colrain Street Railway was a rural trolley line that operated in the

western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

towns of Buckland, Shelburne and Colrain from late 1896 to late 1927. Interchange was with 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 ...

and 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 ...

at the south end of the line at the Boston and Maine's Shelburne Falls station, which was on the Buckland side of the village. In 1927, faced with mounting debt, the SF&C ceased operation and was sold at foreclosure. The line was scrapped in 1928. The only surviving equipment of the SF&C is the 32'9" eight-wheel Combination Baggage-Passenger car #10, manufactured by the Wason company of Springfield, MA in 1896. The car has been fully restored to operating condition and today resides at the

Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum is a small railroad museum in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, United States. The museum (SFTM) is dedicated to preserving and operating car number 10 of the former Shelburne Falls and Colrain Street Railway. Thi ...

at the site of the old Shelburne Falls depot. Brass models of this specific car were made by Fomras of Japan and imported to the US. The SF&C bridge across the

Deerfield River Deerfield River is a river that runs for from southern Vermont through northwestern Massachusetts to the Connecticut River. The Deerfield River was historically influential in the settlement of western Franklin County, Massachusetts, and its n ...

was not scrapped (as it carried a water main) and was instead restored and turned into a garden. Known as the Bridge of Flowers, it is a local tourist attraction.

References

External links

Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelburne Falls Colrain Street Railway Defunct Massachusetts railroads Interurban railways in Massachusetts