The Boston and Albany Railroad was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

connecting

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, later becoming part of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

system,

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 busine ...

, and

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

. The mainline is currently used by CSX for freight as the

Berkshire Subdivision The Berkshire Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and New York. The line runs from near Springfield, Massachusetts west to Schodack, New York, (near Albany) along a former New York Cent ...

and

Boston Subdivision The Boston Subdivision is a railroad line in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The line runs from Back Bay Station in Boston west to Wilbraham, just east of Springfield. along a former New York Central Railroad line. The line connects with the N ...

. Passenger service is provided on the line by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, as part of their ''

Lake Shore Limited The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an Amtrak Long Distance, overnight passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the Northeastern United States, with sections to New York City and Boston. The central segment of the route runs along the s ...

'' service, and by the

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track on 12 lines to 142 stations. It ...

system, which owns the section east of

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, Engl ...

and operates it as its

Framingham/Worcester Line The Framingham/Worcester Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system runs west from Boston, Massachusetts, to Worcester, Massachusetts, through the MetroWest region, serving 18 station stops in Boston, Newton, Wellesley, Natick, Framingham, Ashland, ...

History

When the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

opened in 1825,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's advantageous water connection through the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

threatened Boston's historical dominance as a trade center. Since

the Berkshires The Berkshires () are highlands located in western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut in the United States. Generally, "Berkshires" may refer to the range of hills in Massachusetts that lie between the Housatonic and Connecticut River ...

made construction of a canal infeasible, Boston turned to the emerging railroad technology for a share of the freight to and from the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. The Boston and Worcester Railroad was chartered June 23, 1831 and construction began in August 1832. The line opened in sections: to West Newton on April 16, 1834; to Wellesley on July 3; to Ashland on September 20; to

Westborough Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...

in November 1834; and the full length to

on July 4, 1835. The original single-track line was double-tracked from Boston to Framingham in 1839, and on to Worcester by 1843. In 1843 the B&W introduced season passes to West Newton for $60, effectively introducing the concept of

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

. The ''Western Railroad'' was chartered February 15, 1833 and incorporated March 15, 1833 to connect the B&W to the

Hudson and Berkshire Railroad The Hudson and Boston Railroad was a railroad that spanned across Southern and Central Columbia County, New York. It was chartered in 1855 and acquired by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1870, only to face its gradual demise beginning in 1959. ...

at the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

state line. Construction began in 1837, and the Eastern Division to 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 into Long Isl ...

in Springfield opened on October 1, 1839. The summit of Charlton Hill drainage divide between the Atlantic coast and the Connecticut River is a rock cut west of Boston. The Western Division, through the

Berkshire Hills The Berkshires () are highlands located in western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut in the United States. Generally, "Berkshires" may refer to the range of hills in Massachusetts that lie between the Housatonic and Connecticut River ...

, opened in sections from both ends from the state line to

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsf ...

May 4, 1841, West Springfield to

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

May 24, 1841, Springfield to West Springfield (across the Connecticut River) July 4, 1841, Pittsfield to "Summit" August 9, 1841, and Chester to Summit September 13, 1841. The summit through the Berkshires is known as Washington Hill. Eastbound trains climb of 1.4% grade while westbound trains climb of slightly steeper grade to reach the of fairly level track across the drainage divide between the Connecticut and Hudson Rivers. On October 4, 1841, the first train ran along the full route. The only true tunnel on the B&A is State Line Tunnel in Canaan, New York, about west of the Massachusetts state line. The original bore was augmented by an improved-alignment second tunnel in 1912, and the original bore was abandoned in the late 20th century. The ''Castleton and West Stockbridge Railroad'' was incorporated in

in 1834 as the New York part of the Western Railroad, and changed its name to the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad (chartered May 5, 1836, organized May 20). Construction began in December 1840 and the line opened from Greenbush (east of Albany) to Chatham on December 21, 1841, and to the

state line on September 12, 1842. It was leased to the Western Railroad for 50 years from November 11, 1841. This railroad replaced the Hudson and Berkshire Railroad east of Chatham, which was abandoned around 1860. The connection from Boston to Albany formed the longest and most expensive point-to-point railroad yet constructed in the United States. Two mergers, on September 4, 1867, and December 28, 1870, brought the three companies, along with the Hudson and Boston Railroad, together into one company, known as the Boston and Albany Railroad. The

New York Central and Hudson River 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 Mid ...

leased the B&A for 99 years from July 1, 1900. This lease passed to the

in 1914; throughout this, the B&A kept its own branding in the public eye. The NYC merged into

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

on February 1, 1968. New York Central began a major modernization program in 1924. The Castleton Cut-Off with a very large hi-level bridge over the Hudson River was built from the B&A at Post Road to a new rail yard at

Selkirk, New York Selkirk is a hamlet in the town of Bethlehem, Albany County, New York, United States. It is located south of the city of Albany and is a suburb of that city. A major freight railyard operated by the Selkirk Subdivision of CSX Transportatio ...

, to avoid the steep NYC grade from the Hudson River up West Albany Hill.

Berkshire locomotive Under the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has two unpowered leading wheels, followed by eight coupled and powered driving wheels, and four trailing wheels. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, though ...

s were designed to provide faster freight service over the B&A. In 1883, the B&A acquired track then owned by 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 ...

as far as Newton Highlands, and, in 1884, began the construction of a line northwest to the B&A mainline, creating a commuter loop. "The Circuit," as this route was called, officially opened in May 1886, providing double-track operation from downtown Boston through

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri, a village * Brookline, New Hampshire, a town * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookl ...

to Newton Highlands, then north into Riverside, and four tracks on the mainline from Riverside back to downtown so that commuter and mainline operations did not conflict. By 1889, as many as 35 trains traveled the Circuit daily, providing commuter service. In 1899, the new

South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan I ...

union station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

opened in Boston, a few blocks northeast of the old terminal. That terminal had been located on the west side of Utica Street (Boston, from Kneeland Street south to Harvard Street, now part of the

South Bay Interchange The South Bay Interchange is a massive interchange in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, in the US. The interchange consists of Interstate 90, the Mass Pike Extension, and the Interstate 93 concurrency with US 1 and MA 3 south of the Thomas P. ...

. Even earlier, the terminal was in the block bounded by Kneeland Street, Beach Street, Albany Street (now

Surface Artery A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is t ...

), and Lincoln Street. By the early part of the 20th century,

service was provided east of

, with

intercity rail Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...

continuing on west. During the 1940s period of peak passenger volume, the

New Haven 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 principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

(with the cooperation of the New York Central) ran several Boston-New York City trains along the route to Worcester and Springfield and then south. The service included an overnight train with sleeping car service. The last passenger service on the line on April 30, 1971, before the creation of Amtrak was an unnamed Chicago-bound successor to the New York Central's ''

New England States The ''New England States'' was a passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad and its successor Penn Central over the Water Level Route (predominantly alongside rivers and lake shores) between Chicago and Boston. It was launched in ...

.'' The intercity trips were taken over by

on May 1, 1971, and, on January 27, 1973, the

MBTA 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 ...

acquired the line east of

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popula ...

. Service beyond Framingham was discontinued October 27, 1975, as the state did not subsidize it.

took over Penn Central on April 1, 1976. On September 26, 1994, some

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

trains started to serve

on Conrail trackage (which became

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

trackage on June 1, 1999), extending to other times beginning on December 14, 1996. The MBTA acquired the rest of the line from Framingham to Worcester as part of an agreement announced in 2009. As part of the deal, clearances on the line west of Interstate 495 were improved, permitting full double stack service from

Selkirk Yard Selkirk Yard is a large freight railroad yard located in Selkirk, New York, about south of Albany. The yard is owned by CSX Transportation and is its major classification yard for the northeastern United States and the gateway to points east ...

in New York to an expanded CSX

intermodal freight Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (e.g., rail, ship, aircraft, and truck), without any handling of the freight itself when changing m ...

facility in Worcester and a

transload Transloading, also known as cross-docking, is the process of transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another. It is most commonly employed when one mode cannot be used for the entire trip, such as when goods must be shipped in ...

facility near I-495. The deal was closed on June 17, 2010. CSX's

retains the right to use certain MBTA-owned track. Since 1959, the former "Circuit" line, later called the Highland branch, has been used as the grade-separated right-of-way of the MBTA's

Green Line D branch The Green Line D branch (also referred to as the Highland branch or Riverside Line) is a light rail line in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Newton, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authorit ...

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

line.

Named trains

The Boston & Albany hosted many named long-distance trains of the New York Central system. Below is a list of named trains effective as of November 12, 1939.

Westbound

Empire State Express The ''Empire State Express'' was one of the List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger trains and onetime flagship of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (a predecessor of the later New York Central Railroad). On September ...

, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland-Indianapolis-St. Louis * The Mohawk, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland-Chicago with connection at Cleveland for Indianapolis and St. Louis *

Ohio State Limited The ''Ohio State Limited'' was a United States named passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad (NYC) between New York City and Cincinnati, Ohio, via Buffalo and Cleveland, Ohio. Service began in 1924 and continued until 1967, wi ...

, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland-Indianapolis-St. Louis with connection at Cleveland for Cincinnati *

, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Chicago with connection at Buffalo for Ashtabula, Youngstown, thence via Pittsburgh & Lake Erie to Pittsburgh * The Wolverine, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Niagara Falls-London (Ont.)-Detroit-Ann Arbor-Chicago *

, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland-Chicago * Southwestern Limited, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland-Indianapolis-St. Louis with connection at Cleveland for Cincinnati * Cleveland Limited, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland * The Niagara, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Niagara Falls-London (Ont.)-Detroit-Ann Arbor-Chicago with connection to Cleveland and Cincinnati at Buffalo *

The Iroquois ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland-Chicago * South Shore Express, Boston-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland-Chicago with connection to Chicago via Detroit at Buffalo and to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and St. Louis at Cleveland

Eastbound

, Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston * World's Fairliner, Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston with connection from Detroit at Buffalo * New York Special, Chicago-Ann Arbor-Detroit-London (Ont.)-Niagara Falls-Buffalo-Albany-Boston * Fifth Avenue Special, Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston * Southwestern Limited * The Wolverine * Ohio State Limited * New England States *

The Knickerbocker ''The Knickerbocker'', or ''New-York Monthly Magazine'', was a literary magazine of New York City, founded by Charles Fenno Hoffman in 1833, and published until 1865. Its long-term editor and publisher was Lewis Gaylord Clark, whose "Editor' ...

, Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston *

The Water Level Limited ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

, Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston * Henry Hudson, Toledo-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston with connection from Grand Rapids and Niagara Falls at Buffalo *

* North Shore Limited, Chicago-Ann Arbor-Detroit-London (Ont.)-Niagara Falls-Buffalo-Albany-Boston * Maumee-Missourian, Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston * The Forest City, Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston * The De Witt Clinton, Chicago-Ann Arbor-Detroit-London (Ont.)-Niagara Falls-Buffalo-Albany-Boston * Boston Express, Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston

Southbound

New York Express The New York Express was a soccer team based out of Uniondale, New York that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They played only part of the 1986–87 MISL season before folding just after the league's midseason All-Star Break. Their home ...

, North Adams-Pittsfield-Chatham-New York City

Branches

Grand Junction

The

Grand Junction Railroad The Grand Junction Railroad was an long railroad in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, connecting the railroads heading west and north from Boston. The western portion between Beacon Park Yard in Boston and the Inner Belt District in Somervill ...

was chartered in 1847 as a reincorporation of the 1846 Chelsea Branch Railroad, meant to connect the lines north and west of

. The first section, from

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...

Somerville Somerville may refer to: Places Australia *Somerville, Victoria, a town **Somerville railway station * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia New Zealand * Somerville, New Zealand, a suburb of Manukau City, New Zea ...

, opened in 1849, and the extension to the B&W in

Allston Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part, Allston is ...

opened in 1856. 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 competi ...

leased the line from 1852 to 1866, using part of it as their new main line. In 1866 the B&W bought the line (keeping

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 c ...

for the Eastern).

Brookline/Highland

The

Brookline branch The Highland branch, also known as the Newton Highlands branch, was a suburban railway line in Boston, Massachusetts. It was opened by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1886 to serve the growing community of Newton, Massachusetts. The line was c ...

split from the main line in the west part of

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...

, running southwest for 1.55 mi (2.5 km) to

(the current location of

Brookline Village Brookline Village is one of the major commercial and retail centers of the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, United States. Located just north of Massachusetts Route 9 and west of the Muddy River (Massachusetts), Muddy River, it is the historic ...

station). It opened in 1847. In Summer 1852 the

Charles River Branch Railroad The Charles River Railroad was a railroad in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It ran from a connection with the end of the Charles River Branch Railroad in Dover, Massachusetts, Dover to Bellingham, Massachusetts, Bellingham through the current-da ...

extended the line to

Newton Upper Falls Newton Upper Falls is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Massachusetts, United States. The village is listed as the Newton Upper Falls Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Geography The area ...

; this would eventually become part of the

New England Railroad New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

, an alternate route to

. In 1882 the B&A bought part of the Charles River Branch, and in 1884 they built a line from Riverside to the branch, forming the

Highland branch The Highland branch, also known as the Newton Highlands branch, was a suburban railway line in Boston, Massachusetts. It was opened by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1886 to serve the growing community of Newton, Massachusetts. The line was c ...

, Newton Highlands branch, or "''Newton circuit''". Service ended in 1958, and the

line started using the tracks in 1959.

Newton Lower Falls

The short

Newton Lower Falls Branch The Newton Lower Falls Branch was a short branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad in Massachusetts, United States. The approximately line ran between Riverside station (MBTA)#History, Riverside station in Newton, Massachusetts, Newton and New ...

opened in 1847, splitting from the main line just west of Riverside to

Newton Lower Falls Newton Lower Falls is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The commercial area extends across the Charles River into Wellesley, where it is known as Wellesley Lower Falls, whe ...

Saxonville

The Saxonville Branch opened in 1846, running 3.87 miles (6.2 km) from

Natick Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

Saxonville Saxonville is a village located in northern Framingham, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The village was originally settled by John Stone in 1647. Saxonville was named after the Saxon Factory Company. Geography Saxonville is ...

. It hase been converted into the

Cochituate Rail Trail The Cochituate Rail Trail (CRT) is a rail trail in Framingham and Natick, Massachusetts. The CRT is a , wide paved multi-use trail, available for walking, running, biking, rollerblading, and other non-motorized uses. It follows the right-of-way ...

Framingham

The

branch opened in 1849, running 2.06 miles (3.3 km) from

to Framingham Centre. The

Agricultural Branch Railroad The Agricultural Branch Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated by the Legislature of Massachusetts on April 26, 1847, to provide a rail connection between Framingham and Northborough through the town of Southborough an ...

was incorporated in 1847 and opened in 1855, continuing the branch to Northborough, and to Pratts Junction in 1866. It was leased by the B&W in 1853, but consolidated into the

Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad The Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was formed on June 1, 1876, when the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad merged with the New Bedford Railroad. The Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Rail ...

in 1876 and leased to the

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, ...

in 1879 after changing its name to the

Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad The Agricultural Branch Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated by the Massachusetts General Court, Legislature of Massachusetts on April 26, 1847, to provide a rail connection between Framingham, Massachusetts, Framingham ...

in 1867. This company also used the Framingham branch as part of its main line.

Milford

In 1847, the 11.97 mile (19.3 km) Milford Branch, splitting at

, opened. A connection was later made at

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

to the Milford and Woonsocket Railroad and Hopkinton Railway. Most of the right-of-way (except for the short active section in Framingham) has been converted to part of the Upper Charles Rail Trail.

Millbury

The 3.07 mile (4.9 km)

Millbury Branch Millbury may refer to: * Millbury, Massachusetts ** Millbury High School * Millbury, Ohio {{disambig, geodis ...

opened in 1846 from a split at

Millbury Junction Millbury may refer to: * Millbury, Massachusetts ** Millbury High School * Millbury, Ohio Millbury is a village in Wood County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,193 at the 2020 census. History Previously, the site of Millbury was know ...

on the Grafton/Millbury line to Millbury.

Webster

The Providence, Webster and Springfield Railroad was chartered in 1882, opened in 1884, and always leased to and operated by the B&A. The line formed a branch of the B&A from Webster Junction in Auburn to the Worcester and Norwich Railroad in Webster, with a short branch (East Village branch) in Webster to East Village.

Spencer

The

Spencer Railroad Spencer may refer to: People *Spencer (surname) **Spencer family, British aristocratic family **List of people with surname Spencer * Spencer (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia *Spencer, New S ...

opened and was leased to the B&A in 1879, as a short branch from South Spencer to Spencer. The B&A outright bought it in 1889.

North Brookfield

The North Brookfield Railroad was chartered in 1874, incorporated in 1875 and opened in 1876, branching from the B&A in East Brookfield and running to North Brookfield. It was leased to the B&A from opening.

Ware River

The Ware River Railroad was chartered in 1868, running from Palmer (MA), Palmer to the Cheshire Railroad in Winchendon (MA), Winchendon. The first section, from Palmer to Gilbertville, Massachusetts, Gilbertville, opened in 1870, and the rest in 1873. Until 1873 it was leased to and operated by the New London Northern Railroad; at that time the lease was transferred to the B&A, as a reorganization of the earlier company.

Athol

The Athol and Enfield Railroad and Springfield and North-Eastern Railroad were chartered in 1869, and succeeded by the Springfield, Athol and North-eastern Railroad in 1872, opening in 1873 as a branch from Athol Junction in Springfield (MA), Springfield to the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad in Athol (MA), Athol. The B&A bought the line in 1880. The majority of the line was closed in the 1930s due to the formation of the Quabbin Reservoir.

Chester and Becket

The Chester and Becket Railroad was chartered in 1896 and opened in 1897 from Chester (MA), Chester west to quarries in Becket (MA), Becket. It was always operated by the B&A.

North Adams

The Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad was incorporated in 1842 and opened in 1846, having been already leased to the Western Railroad. It ran from North Adams Junction in

to North Adams, Massachusetts, North Adams, where it connected to the Troy and Greenfield Railroad. Surviving structures along this branch include the Pittsfield & North Adams Passenger Station and Baggage & Express House in Adams, Massachusetts. Most of this line has been turned into the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, but tourist passenger trains now (2021) operate between North Adams and Adams.

Hudson

The

was chartered in 1828 to build a line from Hudson, New York to the

state line. Construction began in 1835 and was completed in 1838. The company was leased to the Berkshire Railroad, along with the connecting West Stockbridge Railroad, in 1844, but was bought by the Western Railroad in 1854. The name was changed to the Hudson and Boston Railroad in 1855, and the part east of Chatham (NY), Chatham was abandoned around 1860, as it duplicated the newer Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad (part of the B&A main line). The rest of the line formed a cutoff between the

towards

and the B&A.

Post Road/Selkirk

The Post Road branch or Selkirk branch was originally built as part of the Hudson River Connecting Railroad, a southern bypass of the Albany (NY), Albany area. It opened in 1924, and the part of it from the B&A at Post Road Crossing (the crossing of the Albany Post Road) to Schodack Junction on the east side of the

became the B&A Post Road branch. The rest became the

's Castleton Cut-off.

Station and landscape design program

The B&A undertook a significant program of improvement and beautification in the 1880s and 1890s. The B&A hired architect Alexander Rice Esty who designed the Boston passenger station which was completed in 1881, the year of Esty's death.
Richardson, H., & Estey, A.. Boston and Albany Railroad Station (Boston, Mass.). That same year, the B&A hired architect Henry Hobson Richardson to design a series of passenger stations. Over the next five years, Richardson was responsible for nine B&A stations (Auburndale, Chestnut Hill, Elliot, Waban, and Woodland (Newton, MA), Wellesley Hills, Brighton, South Framingham, and Palmer), as well as a dairy building; he also provided designs for passenger cars. At the same time, the B&A hired landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds of several stations and to work with the railroad to establish a landscape beautification program for other stations. After Richardson's death, the B&A commissioned his successors, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, to design 23 additional stations between 1886 and 1894. The B&A's innovative program of well-designed stations and landscape served as a model for several other railroads around the turn of the 20th century.

Main line station listing

Mileposts noted here reflect the 1899 opening of South Station, which extended the line about from the previous Kneeland Street terminal.

References

Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district
(PDF) * *Mileposts fro
B&A Track Charts
*Industrial history of the United States, Albert Sidney Bolles, 1889. p. 648 ff, available online at books.google.com

External links

Boston and Albany Railroad Company Records at Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business SchoolBoston Athenæum: Boston and Albany Railroad Company and South Station. Digital Collection. Photographs.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boston Albany Railroad Boston and Albany Railroad, Defunct Massachusetts railroads Defunct New York (state) railroads Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad Railway companies established in 1867 Railway companies disestablished in 1961 Standard-gauge railways in the United States American companies disestablished in 1961 American companies established in 1867