Webster Junction – Webster railway line

Webster Junction MA-Webster MA
Route length:	18.07 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	-
Owner:	most recently PW&S
Operations management:	most recently Penn Central
Legend from Worcester 0.0 Webster Junction MA (formerly Auburn) to Albany Interstate 90 Dark Brook Worcester Tram approx. 3 West Auburn MA French River approx. 5 Texas 5.7 North Oxford Mills MA 9.4 Howarth's approx. 12 West Oxford MA approx. 14 Glenwood MA 15.5 Webster Mills MA to the East Village 18.1 Webster MA from Worcester and East Thompson to Groton and Southbridge

The Webster Junction – Webster (also Webster Branch ) railway is a railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). It is 18 kilometers long and connects the cities of Auburn , Oxford and Webster . The standard gauge line is closed.

history

Webster entrepreneur Horatio Slater owned a number of factories in town, many of which were not connected by the existing railways. In order to be more independent of the New York and New England Railroad , which served the city, he decided to build his own railway line to the main line of the Boston and Albany Railroad near Worcester . He received the concession for the route in 1882 and founded the Providence, Webster and Springfield Railroad (PW&S). In June 1884 the line went into operation. Boston & Albany leased the route and operated it, but did not buy it. Initially, there was no track connection to the New York & New England line in Webster, although the PW&S terminus was right next to this line. Slaters railway company remained its owner during the entire operating time of the line.

Passenger traffic on the route was stopped as early as 1919. On April 13, 1940, the railway company applied for the entire line to be closed, but this was initially not approved. When the state wanted to implement a flood control project and build some smaller dams along the French River , the railway line was finally shut down in 1958 and subsequently dismantled. Only in the city of Webster between Webster Mills and the terminus were several freight connections still served. For this purpose, a track connection to the Groton – Worcester railway line was installed at the terminus, and operations on this section were initially transferred to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , and finally to Penn Central in 1968 . Around 1971, the remaining line in Webster was closed.

Route description

The line branched off at Webster Junction from the Worcester – Albany line and heads south. Part of the route south of Interstate 90 has been flooded, this is where the bridge over the Dark Brook was, which was dammed here after the route was closed. Shortly afterwards, West Auburn, the first intermediate station, is reached. The railway line now crosses the French River and runs along this river through the urban area of ​​Oxford, where there were several stops and stations. In Webster Mills, on the northern outskirts of Webster, a branch line branched off to the East Village . Shortly thereafter, the terminus east of Oxford Avenue is reached, where there was a connecting track to the Groton – Worcester railway line only from 1958 .

passenger traffic

Passenger traffic on the route always ran through Webster Junction to Worcester. Due to competition from the parallel Groton – Worcester line and an interurban tram of the Worcester tram , both of which also served Webster, Oxford and Auburn, the transport volume was sparse. In 1893 and 1901 four pairs of trains ran every weekday. In 1916 there were three. Approx. In 1919, passenger traffic ended on the route.

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

1. ↑ see timetables of the route from the years mentioned.