South Ashburnham – Bellows Falls railway line

South Ashburnham MA – Bellows Falls VT, as of 1999
Society:	GMR
Route length:	86.79 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks:	1
Legend from Fitchburg 0.00 South Ashburnham MA to Greenfield 6.65 North Ashburnham MA (formerly Naukeag) Millers River (4 ×) by Barber from Palmer Millers River 12.91 Winchendon MA to Peterborough 17.75 State Line Massachusetts / New Hampshire 26.36 Fitzwilliam NH ? Putnam NH Rockwood Pond 34.84 Troy NH 40.88 Webb NH (formerly Marlborough) 47.19 South Keene NH (formerly Swanzey, Joslin) Otter Brook from Greenfield 50.50 Keene NH to East Northfield Ashuelot River 65.11 East Westmoreland NH (formerly Gilboa) 70.42 Westmoreland NH 80.34 Walpole NH 84.76 Cold River NH ? North Walpole NH Connecticut River ( New Hampshire / Vermont ) 86.79 Bellows Falls VT Branch towards Windsor Brattleboro – Windsor route Branch from Brattleboro to Burlington

The South Ashburnham – Bellows Falls railway is a former rail link in Massachusetts , New Hampshire and Vermont ( United States ). It is approximately 87 kilometers long and connects the towns of Ashburnham , Winchendon , Keene and Bellows Falls . Most of the route has been closed and dismantled, only a short section at Bellows Falls is still in operation and is operated by the Green Mountain Railroad .

history

Like the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad (V&M), the Cheshire Railroad , founded in 1844, intended to build a railroad line to connect to the Fitchburg Railroad to the Connecticut River . However, she chose Bellows Falls as the end point , while the V&M was building to Brattleboro . The V&M began in October 1845 with the construction of the line that should lead via Winchendon. However, after the Massachusetts government wanted a route via Gardner , the V&M sold the section from South Ashburnham to Winchendon to the Cheshire, which was already under construction . The section to Winchendon went into operation on October 1, 1847, just a few days after the opening of the V&M. The company had pushed ahead with the expansion via Troy and Keene and on December 27, 1847 the first train reached Troy. Keene was reached in May 1848, the end point Bellows Falls finally in June 1849. For the section from Fitchburg to South Ashburnham the V&M agreed in 1851 to share use.

In 1890, the Fitchburg Railroad took over operations on the route, followed by the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. Two major express trains, the Mount Royal and the Green Mountain Flyer , ran on the route from Boston via Rutland to Montréal until 1953 . Thereafter, only passenger trains drove between South Ashburnham and Bellows Falls, which were also discontinued in 1958.

1972 ended the freight traffic between Winchendon and Cold River and the line was closed except for the section South Keene – Keene. This section was in operation until 1975 and was then also officially shut down, but used as a siding until 1983. 1979 Boston & Maine sold the section from Cold River to Bellows Falls to the Green Mountain Railroad , which operates it to this day. The remaining part of the route from South Ashburnham to Winchendon was operated from 1983 by Guilford Transportation . However, it put it down in the following year, except for a short stretch in South Ashburnham. The siding in South Ashburnham was used until 1991, but was also closed in 1993.

North Walpole is the departure point of today's Green Mountain Flyer , a tourist train operated by the Green Mountain Railroad that goes to Chester .

Route description

The line begins at South Ashburnham station and branches off from the Fitchburg – Brattleboro railway line . It runs in a north-north-westerly direction past Lake Wampanoag and swings at Naukeag in a north-westerly direction parallel to State Road 12. About two kilometers before Winchendon, the Barber – Winchendon railway joins . In Winchendon, the railway line crosses Whitney Pond after the Palmer line converged directly in front of the bridge . The grounds of the Winchendon station, which are now built over, begin here.

A short distance north of the station branches off the line to Peterborough . The Cheshire route now continues north-west with little bends and shortly thereafter crosses the state line into New Hampshire. Passing Sip Pond , the route reaches the Templeton Turnpike, which it follows northwards to shortly before Fitzwilliam. She turns west, passes through the station area of ​​Fitzwilliam and turns north again. The route then crosses Rockwood Pond on a causeway and shortly afterwards reaches Troy. As in many places along the route, Depot Street (Bahnhofstrasse) is reminiscent of the railway.

The railway line is still parallel to State Road 12, the Monadnock Highway, and after 16 kilometers reaches the small town of Keene. South of town, at South Keene Station, she crossed Otter Brook . The Keene – Greenfield railway line also joins here . Shortly afterwards Keene train station is reached. The locomotive shed has a different use today, the station area is largely built over.

Initially, the railway line runs west and crosses the Ashuelot River . Shortly thereafter, however, it turns north again and now traverses the woods northwest of the city of Keene, where it meets again on State Road 12. Parallel to this, the route now leads down curvy in the valley of the Connecticut River , which it reaches at Westmoreland . Parallel to the river, the route now runs northwards and crosses it and thus the state border to Vermont shortly before the terminal station Bellows Falls. Here the Brattleboro – Windsor railway crosses at the same level, to which there are also connecting curves. The continuation of the railway line forms the Rutland main line to Burlington .

passenger traffic

The timetable of September 28, 1913 provided for five pairs of passenger trains on weekdays and three pairs of passenger trains on Sundays, all of which began and ended in Fitchburg . The travel time between South Ashburnham and Bellows Falls was between 96 and 145 minutes, depending on your stay in Keene and Winchendon.

According to the timetable of January 15, 1934, there were still four pairs of trains running on workdays and three pairs on Sundays. The travel time was between 87 and 118 minutes, which was slightly shorter than in 1913.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 1999.
2. ↑ Distance kilometers from http://www.trainweb.org/nhrra/Mileage-Charts/BM-RR/Fitchburg-Main.htm
3. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued November 1913. Boston & Maine Railroad, Table 14. page 189.
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 9. page 75.

literature

• Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .

Web links

• Boston & Maine Historical Society (English)
• Page of the current operating company (English)