Back Bay – Harrisville Railway

Back Bay MA-Harrisville RI
Needham Center train station
Route length:	74.3 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	Brookline – Cook Street Junction
Society:	Brookline – Cook Street Junction: MBTA Cabot – Needham Heights: Bay Colony, Needham Heights – Medfield Junction: MBTA Medfield Junction – Millis: Bay Colony near Bellingham: CSXT Woonsocket – Slatersville: P&W
Legend -4.2 Back Bay MA (loading station, only 1858–1863) by Yawkey 0.0 Brookline Village MA (formerly Bf.) 0.9 Brookline Hills (formerly Cypress Street) 2.1 Beaconsfield Connection to Green Line C 2.8 Cleveland Circle Reservoir (formerly Reservoir) 4.4 Chestnut Hill 6.8 Newton Center MA MBS (Center Street) 8.1 Newton Highlands MA MBS (Walnut Street) B&W (Boylston Street) MBS (Ramsdell Street) 8.5 to Riverside (Cook Street Junction) Connection Needham Industrial Park Cabot (freight yard) 9.9 Newton Upper Falls MA Charles River Interstate 95 12.2 Needham Heights MA (formerly Highlandville) MBS (West Street) 13.6 Needham Center MA (formerly Needham) MBS (Great Plain Avenue) to West Roxbury (Needham Junction) MBS (Charles River Street) 17.0 Charles River MA to Ridge Hill Charles River 19.3 Dover MA Farm Street Connection to Framingham 25.6 Medfield Junction MA Framingham – Mansfield route Connections from Framingham and Mansfield Charles River Clicquot MA 30.5 Millis MA 34.2 Medway MA M&D (Village Street) 36.8 West Medway MA 38.8 Caryville MA MAW (Maple Street) 40.2 North Bellingham MA Interstate 495 from Ashland 43.9 Midland (formerly Bellingham Junction) after Franklin Industrial connection MAW (Mendon Street) East Blackstone MA Harris Pond 51.6 Woonsocket Junction MA Dedham – Willimantic route Connection from Dedham Harris Pond Massachusetts / Rhode Island Winter Street RIC (Prospect Street) 54.4 Woonsocket RI Providence – Worcester line Blackstone River Alice Avenue RIC (Great Road) Union Village Forestdale 59.7 Slatersville RI Trout Brook Slatersville Reservoirs RIC (Victory Boulevard, 2 ×) 63.5 Nasonville RI Branch River Glendale RI Branch River RIC (Victory Boulevard) Oakland Center RI 68.5 Whipple Avenue RIC (Whipple Avenue) Branch River from Providence 70.1 Harrisville RI to Douglas Junction

The Back Bay – Harrisville railway is a partially disused railway line in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ( United States ). It is 74 kilometers long and connects the cities of Boston , Brookline , Newton , Needham , Millis , Woonsocket , Slatersville and Harrisville , among others . The standard-gauge line belongs in sections to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority , the Bay Colony Railroad and the Providence and Worcester Railroad , some sections of the line are closed.

The MBTA operates the passenger traffic between Brookline and Newton Highlands as part of the Green Line D , a double-track light rail line. In addition, MBTA passenger trains run between Needham Heights and Needham Junction and run via Roxbury to Boston. Only freight traffic is operated on the remaining existing sections of the route.

history

construction

The Charles River Branch Railroad Company was founded in the late 1840s to extend the existing Yawkey – Brookline railway south to Dover . In November 1852, the first section to Newton Upper Falls went into operation. The railway company had since been absorbed by the Charles River Railroad , which, however, did not operate on the route itself. This was initially taken over by the Boston and Worcester Railroad , which also operated the route to Brookline. In June 1853, the line was extended to Needham (now Needham Center). For financial reasons, the construction was not continued and the New York and Boston Railroad took over the route and, from 1858, also the management.

Also in 1858 the railway company built a siding from Brookline parallel to Boston & Worcester to Back Bay , which the company Goss & Munson was supposed to fill with gravel that was mined in Needham. These gravel transports to the Back Bay developed until the completion of this work in 1863 to become the main source of income for the railway company, which was able to pursue its goal of building a new main line from Boston to New York. Medway was reached in November 1861, West Medway in September 1862, and Woonsocket in October 1863. In 1863 the siding to the Back Bay was dismantled.

The operator of the line changed more frequently in the sequence, from 1865 this was the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad , from 1873 the New York and New England Railroad . This company sold the section from Brookline to Cook Street Junction to the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1883 , which then continued its suburban trains from Brookline to Newton and later to Riverside. The NY&NE passenger trains continued to run to Boston, but the cars were usually coupled to the Boston & Albany trains in Newton Highlands.

In 1889 the Woonsocket and Pascoag Railroad Company was founded, which in March 1891 extended the line to Harrisville, where it merged with the Providence – Douglas Junction railway . The NY&NE took over the route from its opening and operated it as an extension of the route to Woonsocket. From this point on, the passenger trains drove via Harrisville to Pascoag.

Decline in passenger traffic

In 1898, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad took over NY&NE and thus the Cook Street Junction – Harrisville route. From November 1906 all local trains from Woonsocket ran from Needham Junction via Roxbury to Boston. In addition, ring trains ran from Boston via Roxbury, Needham and Brookline back to Boston and also in the opposite direction. As before, these were coupled to the Boston & Albany trains in Newton Highlands.

After the First World War , the transport numbers dwindled and around 1924 or 1925 passenger services between Woonsocket and Harrisville were suspended. In 1926 the trains from Woonsocket no longer drove through to Boston, but ended in Needham Junction, where they had to change trains. The ring trains were also discontinued in 1927, instead suburban trains ran from Boston via Roxbury and Needham to Newton Upper Falls. From there to Newton Highlands there was no longer any passenger traffic. This ended in 1930 between Bellingham Junction and Woonsocket and in 1932 between Needham Heights and Newton Upper Falls. In 1934 the line was interrupted when the section from Bellingham Junction to Woonsocket Junction was closed. 1937 came the end for the section from Slatersville to Harrisville, which was then dismantled. In 1938 the line from Woonsocket Junction to Woonsocket suffered the same fate.

1941 ended the passenger traffic between West Medway and Bellingham Junction, south of Caryville also the freight traffic, so that this section could also be closed. In 1949 the section from West Medway to Caryville was also closed. On June 1, 1958, Boston & Albany shut down the section from Brookline to Cook Street Junction, which had been operated by passenger traffic until the end, and sold it to the Metropolitan Transit Authority , which built the Green Line D , a double-track light rail, on this route and on July 4th Opened in 1959. At around the same time, freight traffic from Cook Street Junction to Cabot was discontinued and the track dismantled. In 1966, passenger traffic between Millis and West Medway ended. In the following year, this section was closed and passenger traffic between Needham Junction and Millis was also discontinued.

Division of the route

In 1969 Penn Central took over the remaining sections of the route from Cabot to Millis and from Woonsocket to Slatersville. In 1973 the railway company sold the line from Needham Heights to Medfield Junction to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which now operated the suburban trains to Needham Heights and was considering reopening passenger services to Medfield Junction. In 1976, Conrail took over freight traffic on the two remaining sections. Due to extensive reconstruction work on the main line to Boston, passenger traffic to Needham Heights had to be suspended from October 1979 to October 1987. Around 1982 the company sold the Woonsocket to Slatersville route to the Providence and Worcester Railroad . Two years later, the Bay Colony Railroad took over freight traffic between Cabot and Medfield Junction, and in 1987 also between Medfield Junction and Millis. The sections that did not already belong to the MBTA were sold to the Bay Colony Railroad at the same time.

Route description

The route begins in the former Brookline Village station and is the southern extension of the Brookline Branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad. It initially runs west through Brookline. The junction to the depot and the connecting track to Green Line C are now located between the Beaconsfield and Reservoir stations . The railway line continues west and crosses the city of Newton. Here, at the former Cook Street Junction, the light rail line turns onto the Riverside – Newton Highlands line to Riverside.

The railway line, which now runs in a south-westerly direction, has been closed from here to the Cabot freight station, which is about one kilometer away. From Cabot there are tracks that are used by the Bay Colony Railroad. Shortly thereafter, the line reaches Needham, where the endpoint of the MBTA's Needham Line is located. The suburban trains on this line run from Needham Heights to Needham Junction on the route and from there to Boston. In Needham Junction there is a generous track triangle, but the station of the same name is located east of the track triangle on the branching line between Needham Junction and West Roxbury .

The railway line to Harrisville now runs parallel to the Charles River , through the town of the same name and on via Dover to Medfield . In Medfield the Framingham – Mansfield railway line crosses , but the track crossing itself no longer exists. Only the two connecting curves from Framingham into the railway line are still in use. Although the line from Needham Junction to this point belongs to the MBTA, this section is only served by freight trains on the Bay Colony Railroad. A resumption of passenger traffic, which was planned in the 1970s, is currently not planned.

From Medfield Junction the tracks of the Bay Colony Railroad are still to Millis, where there are some freight connections. In the further course the line is closed and dismantled. The route crosses Medway and Bellingham. The Franklin – Ashland railway, which is still used today, crosses in Bellingham . A freight connection that branches off from this railway is on the route of the former line to Harrisville. It is operated by CSX Transportation. The disused route continues through a large wooded area to East Blackstone and shortly thereafter crosses Harris Pond. On the west bank of this lake was the crossing point Woonsocket Junction , where the Dedham – Willimantic railway line was crossed at the same level. Immediately afterwards, the railway line crosses the state border into Rhode Island and reaches the urban area of ​​Woonsocket.

The platform used by Providence & Worcester begins south of the former Woonsocket station. The Providence – Worcester railway is crossed on a bridge, a curve connecting this line serves as the only track connection of this section to the rest of the railway network. Providence & Worcester serves some freight connections as far as Slatersville. From here the line is closed again and follows the Branch River through Oakland to Harrisville, where it joins the Providence – Douglas Junction railway .

passenger traffic

In 1869, when the line was operated by the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad as the "Woonsocket Division", three pairs of Brookline – Woonsocket, four Brookline – Needham and one Medway – Woonsocket pairs drove. All trains to and from Brookline connected to Boston via the Boston and Albany Railroad.

After the takeover by New York, New Haven & Hartford in 1901, trains ran between Newton and Needham on 14 weekdays and three trains on Sundays. With the exception of one in Newton, these trains were coupled to the Boston & Albany trains and ran through to Boston. Of these trains, three continued on weekdays via Harrisville to Pascoag and three to Woonsocket. On Sundays one train went to West Medway and one to Pascoag. Two additional trains ran from Woonsocket to Woonsocket Junction on weekdays, where they connected to the trains crossing there. On weekdays, a pair of Woonsocket trains traveled to Boston via Woonsocket Junction and Walpole . In addition, two additional pairs of Woonsocket – Pascoag trains without a connection to and from Boston were offered on Saturdays. On the northern section of the route between Brookline and Newton Highlands operated by Boston & Albany, a total of 28 trains ran in each direction on weekdays and seven on Sundays.

In 1945 the Boston & Albany trains continued to operate on the northern section between Brookline and Newton Highlands. Mondays to Fridays there were 16 trains, Saturdays 14 and Sundays five trains. Between Needham Heights and Needham Junction and on via West Roxbury to Boston, ten pairs of trains ran Monday through Friday and eight pairs on Saturdays. In addition, three pairs of trains from Needham Junction to West Medway were offered on weekdays, one of which had no direct connection to and from Boston.

In 2012, Green Line D trams run between Brookline and Newton Highlands every 6 minutes during rush hour, every 11 minutes on weekdays and every 10 minutes on weekends and every 8 minutes on Saturday afternoons. 16 pairs of trains run from Needham Heights to Boston via Needham Junction on weekdays. At the weekend there is no traffic on this route.

Sources and further reading

Individual evidence

1. ↑ see timetables of the route from the years mentioned.
2. ↑ MBTA timetable for the underground and light rail lines (PDF; 66 kB)
3. ↑ Timetable of the Needham Line of the MBTA

literature

• Ronald D. Karr: The Rail Lines of Southern New England. A Handbook of Railroad History. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1995. ISBN 0-942147-02-2
• Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. (2nd edition) SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010. ISBN 1-874745-12-9