Swampscott – Marblehead railway line

Swampscott MA-Marblehead MA
Route length:	7.10 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend from East Boston 0.00 Swampscott MA to Portsmouth 2.43 Phillips Beach Woburn – Marblehead tram 3.27 Beach Bluff Avenue 4.01 Clifton Avenue 5.78 Devereux Street Woburn – Marblehead tram from Castle Hill 7.10 Marblehead MA

The Swampscott – Marblehead railway was a railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). The route is 7.10 kilometers long and tied the city of Marblehead to the main Boston – Portsmouth line . The line is closed and dismantled.

history

As early as 1839, the city of Marblehead had a railway connection to the main line of the Eastern Railroad , but in the direction of Salem, so that passengers from Boston had to change there. A more direct route was desirable as traffic to Marblehead increased. It also made it possible to connect several settlements along the coast that were previously not accessible by rail. The route was opened on October 21, 1873. The numerous passenger trains mostly drove through to Boston, partly via the Saugus Branch . The route later faced competition from tram lines that led to Marblehead, causing a slight drop in train numbers. The Great Depression and many people switching to their own automobiles led to the suspension of passenger traffic on the route to Marblehead in 1959. Freight traffic was never particularly heavy and ended two years later, which led to the line being closed. It was dismantled and is now mostly used on the Marblehead Rail Trail , a bike and hiking trail.

Route description

The line branches off the main line from Boston at Swampscott Station and initially heads east. The area passed through is populated throughout. Therefore, four intermediate stations were set up along the short route, which were mainly used as stops for passenger traffic. Near the Phillips Beach stop at the Humphrey Street level crossing, the route turns northeast and runs parallel to the coast to Marblehead. A tram line on the Bay State Street Railway ran parallel to the railway line and crossed it on Humphrey Street and in front of the terminus at Marblehead on Pleasant Street. Shortly before the terminus, the line joins the older line coming from Castle Hill in a triangular track.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.

literature

• Ronald D. Karr: The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1995. ISBN 0-942147-02-2 .

Web links

• Station directory with route miles (English)