Dedham – Willimantic railway line

Dedham MA-Willimantic CT
Route length:	121.0 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	Islington – Norwood Central, formerly: Islington – Franklin
Society:	MBTA , CSXT
Legend from Forest Hills and Readville 0.0 Dedham MA to Dedham Junction from Boston 3.0 Islington MA (formerly West Dedham) BSS (Washington Street) Tram 4.0 Ellis MA BSS (Washington Street) Tram 6.1 Norwood MA (formerly South Dedham) NCS Tram (Railroad Avenue) 6.9 Norwood Central MA (formerly Dedham Middle) to Adamsdale BSS (Washington Street) Tram 8.6 Winslows MA (formerly South Dedham & East Walpole) 9.5 Windsor Gardens MA 11.5 Plimptonville MA (formerly Plymptons) N&B Tram (Main Street) Connecting tracks 13.8 Walpole MA Framingham – Mansfield route Framingham connection 16.2 West Walpole MA 18.1 Highland Lake MA (formerly Campbells Pond) 20.1 Norfolk MA (formerly North Wrentham) to Medway 22.8 City Mills MA 27.3 Franklin MA MAW (Central Street) Tram 28.1 Franklin Junction MA to Ashland to Valley Falls Interstate 495 Goods connection 31.8 Wadsworth MA 35.4 South Bellingham MA MAW (Center Street) Tram Harris Pond Connection to Harrisville Back Bay – Harrisville route 38.9 Woonsocket Junction MA WCS (Main Street) Tram Blackstone River former canal Connecting track to the Providence – Worcester line Blackstone River WCS (Main Street) Tram 41.6 Blackstone MA Blackstone River (2 ×) WCS (Main Street) Tram Providence – Worcester line Blackstone River 45.5 Millville Heights MA 48.0 Ironstone MA 50.7 South Uxbridge MA 57.4 East Douglas MA 60.4 Douglas MA 64.1 to Providence (Douglas Junction) Massachusetts / Connecticut 68.0 East Thompson CT to southbridge Interstate 395 (2 ×) 74.9 Thompson CT Interstate 395 78.3 Mechanicsville CT CT Tram (Riverside Drive) from Worcester 81.4 Putnam CT CT (Front Street) Tram according to Groton CT Tram (Kennedy Drive) Quinebaug River 89.1 Pomfret CT 92.8 Abington CT 96.6 Elliott CT 102.0 Hampton CT 108.0 Goshen CT 114.6 North Windham CT 117.4 Kendall CT Willimantic River from Providence and New London 121.0 Willimantic CT to New Haven to Brattleboro and Waterbury

The railway Dedham Willimantic is a railway line in Massachusetts and Connecticut ( United States ). It is around 121 kilometers long and connects the cities of Dedham , Norwood , Walpole , Norfolk , Franklin , Blackstone , Putnam and Willimantic , among others . Most of the normal-gauge line has been closed. The still operated section from Islington to Franklin belongs to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority , which operates the passenger traffic on it. The goods traffic is carried out by CSX Transportation , which has the right to use the MBTA route and operates a short stretch of the route south of Franklin itself.

history

Prehistory and construction

The city of Walpole was still without a railway connection in the 1840s. To change this, local investors formed the Walpole Railroad Company on April 16, 1846 . The closest route was the Forest Hills – Dedham railway , the southern end of which was about 14 kilometers away. The route should therefore be connected to the existing network there. On April 24, 1847, the Norfolk County Railroad was also founded, which wanted to extend the route to Blackstone. The Norfolk County Railroad took over the Walpole Railroad on July 19, 1847 and began construction. On April 23, 1849, the entire line from Dedham to Blackstone went into operation.

As a result, the Southbridge and Blackstone Railroad Company was founded on May 1, 1849 , which wanted to extend the route to Southbridge and later on to Palmer . However, they could not raise the financial resources for the railway construction. On December 12, 1853, the Norfolk County Railroad and Southbridge & Blackstone merged with some other companies to form the Boston and New York Central Railroad , which was now planning to build a main line from Boston to New York. It extended the line in 1854 through Blackstone to Mechanicsville, where it merged with the Groton – Worcester railway . Due to a lack of money, further construction stopped here. The company had to file for bankruptcy and in 1857 the East Thompson Railroad leased the route. This also had to go bankrupt in 1858. The section from Dedham to Blackstone was now operated again by the Norfolk County Railroad. The remaining section was initially closed because no operator could be found.

In December 1866, the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad leased the entire railway line and began operating in February 1867. They also reopened the line to Mechanicsville and now again considered the plan to extend the line to Willimantic to get a new main line towards New York. The extension went into operation in August 1872. The railway company expanded the line from Islington to Walpole to two tracks from 1873, which was completed in 1881. It was renamed the New York and New England Railroad in 1875 . In 1882 the second track was extended to Franklin.

Main line with long-distance traffic

With the opening of the connection to Willimantic, long-distance trains from Boston to New York could now run via Willimantic and on via Middletown or Hartford. Since the existing main lines via Springfield and Providence were better developed, only a few express trains drove over the route. After the opening of the Hudson Bridge in Poughkeepsie in 1892, express trains could also run from Boston to Philadelphia and Washington without a ferry service. However, this option was hardly used. In 1893 only the "New England Limited" operated via Willimantic and Middletown as well as an express train via Willimantic and Hartford to New York, and an express train via Willimantic and Poughkeepsie to Philadelphia and Washington.

In 1855 the Boston – Islington railway line was opened, allowing trains to reach Boston directly without having to change trains in Dedham. However, some trains continued to run to Dedham until 1867. It was not until 1883 that the Dedham – Islington section was closed. After the Old Colony Railroad , which also owned the line from Boston to Dedham, wanted to build a new line to Wrentham , which was to branch off the New York & New England line in Norwood, the railway company rebuilt the Dedham – Islington line in 1890 with it it could be used by the Old Colony Railroad.

On December 4, 1891, the Thompson railway accident occurred at East Thompson Station, involving four trains, which left two dead and many injured. The railway company was renamed again in 1895, namely in New England Railroad , and at the same time taken over by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , which from 1898 itself ran the railroad. Passenger traffic between Dedham and Islington ended as early as 1904, but the section was not finally closed until 1932.

Partial shutdown and current operation

A hurricane destroyed a bridge between Putnam and Pomfret on August 18, 1955. This brought the cessation of all traffic on this section, as well as the cessation of passenger traffic between Blackstone and Willimantic. Shortly afterwards, the second track between Norwood Central and Franklin was dismantled. In 1959 the line between Putnam and Pomfret was officially closed. The now interrupted main line saw only occasional local freight traffic on its southern part. In 1963 this traffic ended between North Windham and Pomfret and the section was closed. In April 1966, New York, New Haven & Hartford received permission to cease passenger services between Franklin and Blackstone. In March 1968 a bridge between Woonsocket Junction and Blackstone was destroyed by flooding and was never rebuilt.

In 1969 Penn Central took over the railway line and closed it down between Franklin Junction and Putnam that same year. In 1973 it sold the route from Islington to Franklin Junction to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which now operated passenger services to Franklin. The Penn Central, which was taken over by Conrail in 1976, continued the freight traffic . The section from North Windham to Willimantic that remained in Connecticut was taken over in 1976 by the Providence and Worcester Railroad , which shut it down around 1985. In 1988, the MBTA extended its suburban train line to Forge Park, so that the passenger trains could now use the railway line to Franklin Junction again. Freight transport on the remaining route took Conrail until its dissolution in 1998, since then leads him to CSX Transportation .

Route description

The line began at the former Dedham hub, where two lines from the north ended. The station was on Eastern Avenue, where it crosses what is now US Highway 1 . The highway was built on the route of the railway line that was closed in 1932 and only leaves it shortly before Islington. Between Dedham and Islington, the route of the link to Dedham Junction branches off in an easterly direction. The line from Boston , on which passenger and freight trains still run today, joins the Islington station . From here the line is two-pronged.

It continues south through Norwood, where the route branches off to Adamsdale , but which is closed south of Norwood. The second track that used to lead to Franklin ends today in Norwood Central. The route to Willimantic now leads in a south-westerly direction to Walpole. Here it crosses the Framingham – Mansfield line at the same level , to which there are several connecting curves. The route continues through Norfolk, where the branch line to Medway once branched off, to Franklin. At Franklin Junction station, routes to Ashland and Valley Falls branch off . While the latter is closed, the MBTA passenger trains continue on the former to Forge Park. Shortly after this line branches off, the line to Willimantic ends in a freight connection on Grove Street. From here to Willimantic, the route is no longer used for rail traffic.

The Southern New England Trunkline Trail begins on Grove Street , a bike and walking path that was built on the railway line after it was closed. About ten kilometers further, the route reaches the former Woonsocket Junction station on the west bank of Harris Pond . This is where the also closed Back Bay – Harrisville railway crossed at the same level , to which there was a connecting curve to the south, which was previously used by trains on the Boston – Franklin – Woonsocket route. The trail ends in Blackstone in front of the Blackstone River , which the railway line crossed here for the first time. This bridge no longer exists today. However, there are still two stone arch bridges and several steel bridges over streets and again the Blackstone River in the further course. Near Saint Paul Street, the route briefly touches the Providence – Worcester railway line , to which there was a connecting track. The trail begins again west of the former Blackstone Station, and the railway line crosses the railway line to Worcester and, for the fifth time within the metropolitan area, the Blackstone River, the valley of which it now leaves in a north-west direction.

In the further course the railway line crosses Douglas, where it turns again in a south-westerly direction. A few kilometers west of the city, the Providence – Douglas Junction railway line ended in a triangle of tracks . Immediately afterwards the route crosses the state border to Connecticut and with East Thompson reaches the scene of the train accident of 1891. Shortly after the state border, the hiking trail ends and the route lies fallow from here. Through Thompson it reaches Putnam shortly afterwards, where the Groton – Worcester railway crosses. Over a length of about two kilometers, the two railway lines run directly next to each other, only south of the Putnam train station do the lines separate again and the line to Woonsocket leads south out of the city, crossing the Quinebaug River . Shortly after the still existing river bridge, another hiking trail, the Airline North State Park Trail , begins on the railway line. This now leads again winding, mainly in a south-westerly direction and crosses several villages. In Willimantic it first crosses the Willimantic River and then joins the New London – Brattleboro railway line, which is still in operation .

passenger traffic

Shortly after the railway opened in 1851, three pairs of trains ran from Dedham, one to Walpole and two to Blackstone. They were connected to trains from Boston at Dedham. A ticket from Boston to Blackstone was a dollar and the journey from Dedham to Blackstone was 60 to 70 minutes. According to the timetable of 1881, the slip carriage procedure was used on some express trains in East Thompson station , whereby the last wagons were uncoupled on a passing express train, which then rolled out into the station and could be coupled to a train on a branch line .

After the reopening of the Dedham – Islington section, a pair of trains from Boston via Wrentham to Providence ran on this section on six working days in 1893 and a pair of trains on Sundays. These trains were operated by the Old Colony Railroad, which had leased the section to Islington and shared the route between Islington and Norwood Central. On the route in the direction of Franklin, Blackstone and Willimantic, the trains of the New York and New England Railroad only ran from Islington, where they turned onto the route from Boston. Among these were several express trains, such as the New England Limited , to New York. Two of the express trains ran daily, plus three that only ran on weekdays and one that only ran on weekdays and only to Putnam. Seven weekday and two Sunday passenger trains also ran from Boston to Franklin, and two more on weekdays from Putnam to Willimantic.

After both increasing car traffic and the global economic crisis brought restrictions, only two daily express trains and several regional trains from Boston ran on the route in 1932. On weekdays four pairs of trains ran to Blackstone and two to Franklin. On Sundays a train went to Franklin, but in the opposite direction from Blackstone. One train went daily to Walpole, and one on weekdays and another on Saturdays to Norwood Central, both of which continued in the direction of Cedar and North Attleboro, respectively. Only the two express trains ran between Blackstone and Willimantic.

In 2013, 15 pairs of trains ran from Boston to Forge Park Monday through Friday, another to Walpole and two more to Norwood Central. Another train with no counterpart runs from Forge Park to Boston. At the weekend the trains run every two hours, with nine pairs of trains on Saturdays and seven trains on Sundays.

Sources and further reading

Individual evidence

1. ↑ see timetables of the route from the years mentioned.
2. ↑ MBTA timetable for the route (PDF; 72 kB)

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