Winchendon – Peterborough railway line

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winchendon MA – Peterborough NH,
as of 1999
Society: most recently Guilford
Route length: 24.17 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks: 1
Legend
   
 by Barber
   
 from South Ashburnham
   
 from Palmer
   
 0.00 Winchendon MA
   
 to Bellows Falls
   
 5.99 Edge NH
   
 7.79 Thomas NH
   
 9.43 West Rings NH (formerly Rindge)
   
 11.94 Woodmere NH
   
 15.08 Jaffrey NH (formerly East Jaffrey)
   
 17.77 Pierces Crossing NH
   
 19.42 Hadley NH (formerly Cheshire Mills)
   
 21.53 Drury NH
   
 23.34 Noone NH
   
   
 24.17 Peterborough NH
   
 according to Contoocook

The Winchendon – Peterborough railway is a former rail link in Massachusetts and New Hampshire ( United States ). It is around 15 miles long and connects the towns of Winchendon , Jaffrey and Peterborough . The line is closed and dismantled.

history

The area around Jaffrey was already used for tourism in the 19th century. Many Bostonians spent their summer vacations here. In 1848 the Monadnock Railroad was founded, which wanted to build a railway line from Winchendon to Jaffrey and Peterborough. Shortly before, Winchendon had been connected to the Boston railroad. However, for financial reasons, construction did not begin until the late 1860s. In December 1870, the Winchendon – Jaffrey section went into operation, and in June 1871 the entire line was completed. In 1874 the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad (BB&G) leased the line after it had reached Winchendon from the south. After the BB & G could not lease the northern continuation of the route, they canceled the contract with the Monadnock, which was now leased by the Cheshire Railroad . Both companies were taken over in 1890 by Fitchburg Railroad , which now ran the business and which meanwhile also belonged to BB&G. In 1900 the Boston and Maine Railroad in turn bought the Fitchburg and thus also took over the Winchendon – Peterborough railway.

In 1927, some passenger trains on the route were replaced by buses to save costs. In 1941, the continuous freight service beyond Peterborough ended. Nevertheless, passenger traffic between Winchendon and Peterborough was able to hold up until 1953. Freight traffic between Jaffrey and Peterborough also ended in 1972, and the section was shut down at the same time. About a kilometer and a half, starting from Jaffrey, remained as a siding. In 1983 Guilford Transportation took over Boston & Maine and shut down the entire route the following year. In 1999, the state of New Hampshire acquired the route for half a million US dollars.

Route description

The line branches off north of Winchendon from the South Ashburnham – Bellows Falls railway line and heads north over the border to New Hampshire. The route runs along US Highway 202 . Past Pool Pond and the Mountain Brook Reservoir , the railway line reaches Jaffrey after 15 kilometers. Here the route turns to the northeast and is partly overbuilt on the following section by the widened Highway 202. In Peterborough, it goes over to the Contoocook – Peterborough railway , which was closed in 1942.

passenger traffic

The timetable of September 28, 1913 provided for four pairs of passenger trains on workdays and two on Sundays. The trains had connections from Fitchburg and Worcester in Winchendon and in the direction of Hillsborough in Peterborough. The travel time was between 31 and 43 minutes.

According to the schedule of January 15, 1934, the number of trips on the former Monadnock Railroad had not changed compared to 1913. The travel time, however, increased slightly to 37 to 52 minutes. One of the weekday train pairs ran Winchendon Concord, the other trains went to and from Worcester, but had no connection to the north in Peterborough.

literature

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

Web links

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/Worcester-Hillsboro.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 15. 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 18. page 77.