Rising Junction – Pittsfield railway line
| Rising Junction MA-Pittsfield MA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route length: | 35.1 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dual track : | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Society: | Housatonic Railroad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The railway junction Rising Pittsfield is a railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). It is around 35 kilometers long and connects the towns of Great Barrington , Stockbridge , Lee , Lenox and Pittsfield . The standard-gauge line belongs to the Housatonic Railroad , which operates freight traffic on it. Between Stockbridge and Lenox there was also tourist passenger traffic under the name Berkshire Scenic Railway until 2011 .
history
In 1842 the Bridgeport – West Stockbridge line had been completed by the Housatonic Railroad . The railway company wanted to run continuous trains in the direction of Boston without having to take the detour via West Stockbridge. In addition, some larger towns along the Housatonic River were not on the railroad network, and the industry that settled there promised lucrative rail operations. Therefore one founded on March 20, 1847 the Stockbridge and Pittsfield Railroad Company , which built the railway line. Housatonic leased the railway as early as 1849 and opened operations on January 1, 1850. Now the trains could get onto the main line of the Western Railroad in the direction of Worcester and Boston without shunting maneuvers . The new link proved so useful that it operated as part of the Housatonic Main Line and the northern portion of the original Main Line was downgraded to a Branch Line. The trains on the route now drove through to Bridgeport, New Haven or New York City.
In 1892 the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad took over the railway line and operated it as a branch line. With the railway company, the railway line went to Penn Central in 1969 . The last passenger train ran on April 30, 1971. In 1976, Conrail took over Penn Central, but in 1982 sold the line to the Boston and Maine Railroad , which in turn was taken over by Guilford Transportation the following year . In 1984 the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum at Lenox began operating sightseeing trains from Lenox to Stockbridge. In January 1991, Guilford Transportation sold the route to the Housatonic Railroad. In 2011 the railway museum had to stop the excursion traffic after the Housatonic did not want to extend the expired right of shared use.
Route description
The route begins at the Rising Junction junction, where the southern part of the Housatonic freight yard is located. It runs along the entire length of the Housatonic River and crosses it several times. Parallel to the railway line ran an overland tram of the Berkshire Street Railway , which was also crossed over or under several times. The railway line initially runs through the northern suburbs of Great Barrington. It follows the winding course of the river through Stockbridge, where the historic station building and platform have been preserved. This is where Lenox's excursion trains ended up until 2011. Through Lee and Lenox, the route now continues along the river. The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum , which operates the excursion trains, is located at Lenox Station . In 2014 the museum plans to operate an excursion train on the Pittsfield – North Adams railway further north . In Pittsfield the line joins the Worcester – Albany railway line from the west and reaches its end point.
passenger traffic
Shortly after the line opened in 1851, a passenger train and a freight train ran daily from Bridgeport to Pittsfield and back.
After the route was taken over by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, seven trains ran from Pittsfield on weekdays in 1893, and one train ran on Sundays. Two of the weekday trains ended at Great Barrington, two continued on to New Haven, and the rest ran to Bridgeport.
In 1920 there were two trains from Pittsfield on weekdays and a train to Bridgeport on Sundays, as well as a pair of trains on weekdays to Danville, Canaan and Great Barrington. From 1932 only the trains from New York via Danville to Pittsfield ran on the railway line. From the 1960s onwards, only a weekend commuter train ran on this route, running from New York to Pittsfield on Fridays and in the opposite direction on Sundays. It last drove on April 30, 1971.
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
Individual evidence
- ↑ Homepage of the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum (accessed January 20, 2013)
- ↑ see timetables of the route from the years mentioned.