East Northfield – Keene Railway

East Northfield MA-Keene NH
Society:	most recently GMR
Route length:	39.4 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend to Springfield and New London 0.0 East Northfield MA to Brattleboro 0.8 South Vernon VT Connecticut River 2.7 Doolittle NH 4.4 Dole Junction NH to Brattleboro 8.6 Hinsdale NH 14.2 Ashuelot NH Ashuelot River 17.8 Winchester NH 21.1 Forest Lake NH Ashuelot River 26.4 Westport NH Ashuelot River 30.5 West Swanzey NH 34.1 Swanzey NH from Bellows Falls 39.4 Keene NH to South Ashburnham to Greenfield

The East Northfield – Keene railway is a former railroad in Massachusetts , Vermont and New Hampshire ( United States ). It was about 39.4 kilometers long and connected the places East Northfield and Keene . The standard-gauge line has been completely closed since 1983.

history

To connect the city of Keene to the main line towards Springfield and New York City , the Ashuelot Railroad planned to build a railway line that would connect to the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad (V&MR) in South Vernon . The railway company wanted a right of use for the approximately 800 meter long V&MR route to East Northfield, where the aforementioned route to Springfield should connect. Since the V&MR refused this right, the Ashuelot built its own track between South Vernon and East Northfield. The entire line went into operation on January 1, 1851. In East Northfield there were track connections to the V&MR and the Connecticut River Railroad (CRR), in Keene to the Cheshire Railroad and later to the Manchester and Keene Railroad .

The Connecticut River leased the route until 1860, then the Cheshire Railroad, which also took over the management. From the beginning, both the Ashuelot Railroad and the CRR trains ended in South Vernon, so that the short section East Northfield – South Vernon was only used by the CRR. In 1877 the lease was again transferred to the CRR, which acquired the line in 1890. The Connecticut River was in turn bought in 1893 by the Boston and Maine Railroad , which now operated the line to Keene. After the expansion of the station in East Northfield, the trains from Keene ran to there from around this time. In June 1913, Boston & Maine opened its own route to Brattleboro , which branched off from the Keene route in Dole Junction.

Scheduled passenger traffic on the line to Keene was discontinued in 1958, but mixed trains ran to Keene until 1964 , but not according to a fixed timetable. In addition, the northbound express trains ran between East Northfield and the Dole Junction junction until 1965. In 1970, damage was found to the bridge over the Connecticut River near South Vernon. As a result, the line between East Northfield and Dole Junction was closed. The freight trains to Keene had to turn in Dole Junction from now on.

After the former Cheshire Railroad was closed in 1972, the Ashuelot line was also threatened with closure. From January 23, 1978, the Green Mountain Railroad (GMR) operated the Brattleboro – Dole Junction – Keene line and acquired it on January 1, 1982 from Boston & Maine. However, the railway was no longer profitable and GMR ceased operations on January 3, 1983. The official shutdown took place in November of the same year.

Route description

The line represents the northern extension of the Springfield – East Northfield railway line . East Northfield station is in Massachusetts, but a few meters north the line crosses the state line to Vermont, where the former South Vernon station was just across the border. Then the train crossed the Connecticut River and thus the state line to New Hampshire. The bridge was demolished after its closure in 1970. At first, the railway then rose parallel to the river to Dole Junction. From there it led over a sharp bend into the valley of the Ashuelot River , which flows into Connecticut north of Dole Junction. At first the route lay south of the river, but after Ashuelot it crossed it. Today, the bridge, like a large part of the railway line, serves as a cycle and hiking path. There are two other bridges over the river between Forest Lake and Westport and between Westport and West Swanzey. In the urban area of ​​Keene, the line ended in a right curve in the train station. The locomotive shed is still standing and has since been put to another use. Most of the former station area and the adjoining routes have been built over.

passenger traffic

While in 1869 two pairs of trains ran through in 70 to 100 minutes, the train density increased to four pairs of trains by 1916, but only one of them ran on Sundays. The trains took 49 to 59 minutes. One of the train pairs was the Keene Express , which ran from New York City to Keene.

In the 1920s, however, traffic declined again and in 1934 only two pairs of trains ran on weekdays, which were now 53 to 62 minutes away. This condition lasted until the early 1950s. In 1953 only one mixed train ran between Dole Junction and Keene, so this no longer had a connection to the trains on the main line, which did not stop in Dole Junction. The train took 105 minutes for the 35 kilometers. At the end of 1958, passenger traffic was stopped.

attachment

credentials

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 1999.
2. ^ Travelers Official Railway Guide of the United States and Canada. Issued June 1869. Ashuelot Railroad. KBS 28.
3. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued June 1916. Boston & Maine Railroad, Ashuelot Branch, Table 71. Page 214.
4. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued February 1934. Boston & Maine Railroad, Table 64. Page 84.
5. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued April 1953. Boston & Maine Railroad, Table 21. p. 129.

literature

• Robert C. Jones: Railroads of Vermont. (2 volumes) New England Press Inc., 1993. ISBN 1-881535-02-9
• Ronald D. Karr: Lost Railroads of New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1996. ISBN 0-942147-04-9
• Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000. ISBN 0-942147-06-5