Newburyport – Wakefield Junction railway line
| Newburyport MA-Wakefield Junction MA | |
|---|---|
| Route length: | 48.23 km |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Society: | PAR |
The Newburyport – Wakefield Junction (also Newburyport Branch ) is a railway line in Essex County and Middlesex County in Massachusetts ( United States ). It is 30 miles long and connects the cities of Newburyport , Georgetown , Danvers , Lynnfield and Wakefield , among others . The standard gauge line is largely closed, only between Wakefield Center and Wakefield Junction freight trains of Pan Am Railways still run .
history
First received on March 11, 1846, the Newburyport Railroad Company a concession to build and operate a railroad from Newburyport to Georgetown and Haverhill . It was not until 1849 that construction began and on May 23, 1850, the line from Newburyport to Georgetown went into operation. The southern continuation of the route was initially built by other companies. On May 7, 1851, the Danvers and Georgetown Railroad Company received the concession for the section between their eponymous cities and on March 15, 1852 the Danvers Railroad Company for the remainder of the route from Danvers to Wakefield Junction, where it was connected to the main line of Boston and Maine Railroad should join. Construction began in April 1853 on Danvers & Georgetown and in August 1853 on the Danvers Railroad and in September 1854 the line was extended to Danvers. On October 23, 1854, the entire route was finally completed. The management took over the Newburyport Railroad on the section from Newburyport to Danvers and the Boston & Maine on the remaining part of the route. However, the trains ran from Boston to Newburyport from the start and competed with the main line of the Eastern Railroad , which also connected Boston and Newburyport. The Newburyport Railroad finally bought Danvers & Georgetown on February 22, 1855.
On February 21, 1860, Boston & Maine leased the Newburyport Railroad and took over the operation of the entire route. On October 30, 1906, she bought the company. In 1885 connection points to the main line of the Eastern were installed in Newburyport and the passenger trains from now on drove into the station of the Eastern. The former terminus on Pond Street was still used as a freight yard until the 1960s.
After the First World War, the number of shipments fell so that in 1924 Boston & Maine wanted to shut down the entire route. Protests by passengers and the local industry initially prevented this. In 1940 the railway company applied for the section from Newburyport to Topsfield again and despite further protests received approval for the closure, which took place in December 1941. Passenger traffic between Topsfield and Danvers ended in 1950 and 1959 on the rest of the route.
The Boston & Maine sold 1976 the line from Wakefield Junction to Topsfield to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority , which however did not resume the passenger traffic. The freight traffic continued to operate the Boston & Maine. In 1977, however, the freight traffic between Topsfield and Danvers ended and in 1981 this section was closed. In 1983 Boston & Maine became part of Guilford Transportation , which has operated under the name Pan Am Railways since 2006 . Around 2000, the section from Danvers to Wakefield Center was finally shut down, so that just under a kilometer of the line is still in operation.
Route description
The route begins in Newburyport on Pond Street. Sections of the railroad in the urban area are now covered by Fulton Street and Cherry Street. South of the city center was the intersection with the Eastern main line. The Newburyport Passenger Station is now at the intersection. A connecting track to the Newburyport Harbor Railway has existed since it opened in 1872. The route now continues in a south-westerly direction to Georgetown. At this wedge station the Georgetown – Bradford railway branched off , to which there was also a connecting curve from the direction of Wakefield.
The route now turns south-east and runs through Boxford and Topsfield to Danvers. Here it crosses the Salem – North Andover railway line at the same level. The route continues in a south-westerly direction through Danvers and reaches the next crossing station in West Peabody, where it also crossed the Peabody – Tewksbury Junction railway line at the same level. There was a connecting curve to both crossing railway lines.
In a westerly direction, the route continues to Lynnfield, where it turns south and after a few kilometers finally reaches Wakefield. Between Wakefield Center and Wakefield Junction it was right next to the Peabody – Wakefield Junction railway line, which opened in 1850 and closed in this area in 1935 . There were probably already connecting tracks between the two lines in Wakefield Center. In Wakefield Junction, the railway joins the main line of the former Boston & Maine.
passenger traffic
From the beginning, passenger trains ran from Boston to Newburyport. In 1869 four pairs of trains were offered on this route. In 1881 five trains ran the entire route as well as a pair of trains between Boston and Danvers. Sunday traffic was stopped for the time being in the 1880s. The offer was expanded at the beginning of the 20th century and a pair of trains also ran on Sundays. 1916 drove five trains Boston – Newburyport, a pair of trains from Boston to Georgetown via Lynn and Danvers, three pairs of trains Boston – Danvers via Wakefield and another train in this relation on Saturdays. In addition, a Saturday train ran from Boston to Haverhill via Wakefield, Georgetown and Bradford. The Sunday train was canceled shortly afterwards. In 1924 the offer was thinned out significantly. Only two pairs of trains left Boston and Newburyport. Three more trains ran from Boston to Wakefield Center. From 1950 onwards, a pair of trains from Boston to Danvers only ran on the route Monday through Friday.
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
Web links
- B&M Corporate History, 1914, pages 66–73 (PDF; 6.9 MB) ( Memento from June 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- List of stations (with miles) and staff from 1923 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ see timetables of the route from the years mentioned.