Cheshire Railroad

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The Cheshire Railroad is a former railway company in Massachusetts , New Hampshire and Vermont ( United States ). It existed as an independent company from 1844 to 1890.

history

The company was founded on December 27, 1844, initially as the Cheshire Railroad of New Hampshire . For the section located in Massachusetts, the Winchendon Railroad was founded on March 13, 1845 . In August 1845 the two companies merged to form a new Cheshire Railroad . The line, which was intended as an extension of the Fitchburg Railroad (FR) in the direction of Vermont, branched off at South Ashburnham from the main line of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad , which had opened the extension of the FR parallel to the northern border of the state in September 1847. The Cheshire Railroad leased the approximately 17-kilometer section from Fitchburg to South Ashburnham for shared use by its trains.

In 1849 the standard gauge railway line South Ashburnham Bellows Falls was opened. It had a total length of 87 kilometers.

From 1872 to April 21, 1877, the Cheshire Railroad leased the Ashuelot Railroad , which operated a line from Keene to South Vernon . In June 1880, she leased the Monadnock Railroad , whose route branched off in Winchendon and ran north to Peterboro . On October 1, 1890, the Fitchburg Railroad acquired the railway company and incorporated the route into their network. Two years later, she also bought the Monadnock Railroad. From 1900 the route was under the control of the Boston and Maine Railroad , which had leased the FR.

Today there is only the section from Cold River to Bellows Falls and the rail connection from there to the former Sullivan County Railroad. The museum trains of the Green Mountain Railroad in the direction of Chester begin at North Walpole Station . The rest of the Cheshire Railroad is closed.

Sources and further information

literature
  • George H. Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads 2nd Ed. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha, WI 2000, ISBN 0-89024-356-5
  • William D. Middleton, George M. Smerk, Roberta L. Diehl (Eds.): Encyclopedia of North American Railroads. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN / Indianapolis IN 2007. ISBN 978-0-253-34916-3
Web links