Billerica and Bedford Railroad
Billerica & Bedford Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Steam locomotive Ariel of the Hinkley Locomotive Works
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Gauge : | 610 mm ( 2 foot track ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minimum radius : | 319.6 feet = 97.4 m In the Gleisdreieck: |
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The Billerica & Bedford Railroad was a 1877 put into operation narrow gauge railway in Middlesex County from Massachusetts . It is considered to be the first publicly operated narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 610 mm (2 feet ) in the United States .
history
George E. Mansfield, of Hazelwood , Massachusetts , loved the 2-foot narrow-gauge railway after seeing the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales operating and building the experimental Sumner Heights and Hazelwood Valley Railroad at his home . He convinced the people of Billerica of the economy of a narrow-gauge railroad and became General Manager of the Billerica & Bedford Railroad when it was founded in 1876.
Construction began in May 1877 and the line between North Billerica and Bedford was completed in August 1877 over a distance of 13.9 km (8.63 miles). The line was built very cheaply according to the narrow-gauge railway concept, but quickly got into financial difficulties. There were turntables at each end of the railroad, and in Bedford there was also a triangle and an engine house, but no stations were built along the line. The company went bankrupt and was liquidated in June 1878.
Mansfield was a staunch advocate for 2-foot narrow-gauge railways in Maine , which eventually became the largest network of these narrow-gauge railways in the United States at the time. The rail vehicles were then used on the Sandy River Railroad .
The Boston and Lowell Railroad used most of the route when they moved their standard-gauge branch line to Lexington in May 1885 . The Boston and Maine Railroad took over the route in 1887. Stops on the route were Bedford, Springs Road, Bedford Springs, South Billerica, Turnpike (Nuttings Lake), Billerica, Bennett Hall and North Billerica (only the station buildings in Bedford and North Billerica are still standing ). Passenger traffic was discontinued on December 31, 1931 and the route was henceforth only used as a freight railway until the section from Bedford Depot to Billerica Depot in 1962 and the remaining route from Billerica Depot to Bennett Hall were abandoned around 1980.
Locomotives and wagons
The two locomotives were named after William Shakespeare's elementals Ariel and Puck . As intended, they were used with the tender facing forward in order to achieve smoother running.
Surname | photo | Manufacturer | design type | Construction year | Factory number | Remarks |
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Ariel | Hinkley Locomotive Works | 0-4-4T Forney locomotive | 1877 | 1251 | became Sandy River Railroad # 1 | |
puck | Hinkley Locomotive Works | 0-4-4T Forney locomotive | 1877 | 1261 | became Sandy River Railroad # 2 | |
Sylvan | Ranlet Manufacturing Company | Passenger cars | 1877 | became Sandy River Railroad # 3 | ||
Fawn | Ranlet Manufacturing Company | Passenger and baggage cars | 1877 | became Sandy River Railroad # 4 | ||
A. | Ranlet Manufacturing Company | closed freight wagon | 1877 | became Sandy River Railroad # 2 | ||
B , C | Ranlet Manufacturing Company | Excursion car | 1877 | converted to Sandy River Railroad luggage cars # 1 and # 3 | ||
D to I | Ranlet Manufacturing Company | Flat car | 1877 | sold to Sandy River Railroad , later converted into closed freight cars |
literature
- Donald L. Ball: George Mansfield and the Billerica and Bedford Railroad , Aubrey Publishing, 2012, IBAN 978-0615593715
Web links
- Billerica and Bedford history (English)
- About the Billerica & Bedford Railroad: America's First Two-Foot Common Carrier Railway (English)
- Advertising cards of the rail vehicles (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ George E. Mansfield (1876-1877): The Billerica and Bedford Railroad.
- ^ The first two-foot gauge railroad: The Billerica & Bedford Railroad of Massachusetts, 1877. Also available as a PDF file.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Linwood W. Moody: The Maine Two-Footers . Howell-North, 1959. pp. 50-53.
- ↑ a b c d e f Robert C. Jones: Two Feet Between the Rails (Volume II - The Mature Years) . Sundance Books, 1980. pp. 350 and 355.
- ↑ a b c d e H. Temple Crittenden: The Maine Scenic Route . McClain Printing, 1976. p. 19.