Framingham – Milford railway line

Framingham MA-Milford MA
Route length:	19.3 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	-
Society:	CSX Transportation
Legend from Boston and Mansfield after Lowell 0.0 Framingham MA ( wedge station ) to Worcester MBS (Waverly Street) M&U (Hollis Street) South Yard (freight yard ) General Motors industrial connection Freight depot 4.18 official end of the route 4.2 Whitney's 6.8 East Holliston MA Industrial connection 8.7 Holliston MA 10.9 Industrial connection 11.4 Metcalf's 15.0 Braggville Interstate 495 16.4 Rocky Hill M&U (Medway Road) 19.3 Milford MA from Ashland Freight depot to North Grafton and Franklin

The railway Framingham Milford is a single-track, partly disused railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). It is 12 miles long and connects the towns of Framingham , Holliston and Milford . Only the 4.18 kilometer long section from Framingham station to the former Whitney's stop is still in operation, including the freight connection of the General Motors works on the southern outskirts of Framingham, which is used exclusively for freight by CSX Transportation . The rest of the route has been closed and is used as a cycling and hiking trail.

history

The Boston and Worcester Railroad opened the branch line from their main line to Milford in 1848. In 1867 the Boston & Worcester merged with other companies to form the Boston and Albany Railroad , which also took over the branch line to Milford and operated from then on. With the takeover of Boston & Albany in 1900 by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad (later New York Central Railroad) initially only the owner changed, the management remained with Boston & Albany.

Passenger traffic was discontinued in 1959 and in 1968 Boston & Albany merged into the Penn Central system. The new owner closed the southern section from Metcalfs to Milford in 1972. From 1976 the successor company Conrail operated the route. In 1987 it stopped freight traffic between East Holliston and an industrial connection at kilometer 10.90 just before Metcalf's. As part of the Conrail takeover, the route became the property of CSX Transportation in 1999 , but it only ran as far as the General Motors plant. The section from route mile 2.60 (km 4.18), at the former Whitney's stop, to Metcalf's was therefore officially closed on September 1, 2001, and in the following years the communities involved built a cycling and walking path, the "Upper Charles Rail" Trail ”on the route between Washington Street in East Hollister and Medway Road in Milford.

Route description

The line branches off in a former triangular track at Framingham station from the main Boston – Worcester line . Of the track triangle, only the western wing, i.e. the connecting curve towards Worcester, is preserved. From Framingham station, the route runs south and shortly thereafter reaches the South Yard freight yard . A few hundred meters further, the siding of the General Motors works joins and another multi-track freight station follows. The track is still in place from here to the former Whitney's stop, but is not used. The now disused route continues south through a wooded area and turns south-west in East Holliston. From the former Washington Street level crossing, the route is used by the aforementioned Upper Charles Rail Trail . Several industrial sidings branched off the line in Hollister and near the former Metcalf's station.

The line now performs a generous S-curve and had another train station in Braggville, a district of Holliston. Shortly thereafter, she crossed the Milford city limits and passed under Interstate 495 . The Rail Trail ends on Medway Road, in the east of the city, and the disused railway line leads through the development to Milford Station. Some parts of the route have meanwhile been absorbed into land owned by the residents and have been built over. The ensemble of the station consisted of two adjacent train stations, namely the terminus of the line from Framingham and the through station on the Franklin – Ashland railway line , which was operated by a different railway company. South of Central Street, the line then merged into this railway line.

passenger traffic

In 1869, three pairs of trains were enough to handle the number of passengers. In 1901, after the takeover by New York Central, five trains were offered on workdays and one pair of trains on Sundays. The trains ran from Framingham to Milford. In the direction of Boston had to be changed in Framingham. In 1945 four pairs of trains ran on the route on weekdays, three of which ran Monday to Friday and two on Saturdays to and from Boston. In 1959, passenger traffic ended on the route.

Sources and further reading

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Decision of the supervisory authority to shut down the line from MP 2.60 to MP 6.77 from August 2, 2001
2. ↑ see timetables of the route from the years mentioned.

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