South Spencer – Spencer railway line
| South Spencer MA-Spencer MA | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route length: | 3.4 km | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dual track : | - | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Society: | most recently Penn Central | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The South Spencer – Spencer (also Spencer Branch ) railway is a railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). It is around three kilometers long and runs in the urban area of Spencer . The standard-gauge , single-track line has been closed.
history
The main line Worcester – Albany of the Boston and Albany Railroad , opened in 1839, ran due to the topography south of the city of Spencer, where some small industries were located. Local investors founded the Spencer Railroad Company and built a branch line from the main line to the center of Spencer. It went into operation in 1879. When it opened, Boston & Albany leased the railway and finally acquired it in 1889.
Passenger traffic ceased in 1933. In 1968, Penn Central took over the railway line and shut it down in 1972 after only one freight customer was served last.
Route description
The line branches off the main line at South Spencer Station, which it leaves in an easterly direction. There was no connection curve to Worcester. The route turns north-east shortly after the train station. It crosses a stream and meanders through a forest from the south towards the city. The area of the terminus on Pearl Street was built over after the line was closed.
passenger traffic
Shortly after the line opened in 1881, seven pairs of trains followed trains on the main line that covered the route in seven minutes. All passenger trains only shuttled on the branch line and passengers had to change trains in South Spencer. On Sundays the traffic was quiet on the route. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of trains was increased slightly. In 1910 there were eight pairs of trains running on weekdays and in 1916 there were nine. After the end of the First World War, passenger traffic on the railways rapidly declined across the country and trains were also canceled on the line to Spencer, so that in 1920 there were still seven pairs of trains running.
The timetable from 1932 also included seven pairs of trains every working day; in the following year, there were six train-owned buses per working day and direction that took 15 minutes for the route. The rail replacement service was also discontinued a few years later.
Sources and further reading
- Individual evidence
- ↑ 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