Eastern Railroad

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As Eastern Railroad two former Railway Companies are Massachusetts and New Hampshire ( United States ) means that operate a shared network. They existed as independent companies from 1836 and were bought up by the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1890 .

Construction of the route network

The Eastern Railroad of Massachusetts was founded on April 14, 1836 , the sister company in New Hampshire on June 18 of the same year. The company's project was to connect Boston with the northeastern US states. The main route of the Eastern RR ran from Boston along the coast to Portsmouth , where from 1842 there was a connection to Maine by the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad . Construction began in the summer of 1836 and Portsmouth was reached in 1840. In the same year, Eastern RR's biggest competitor, the Boston & Maine Railroad, built a route from Boston to New Hampshire, but until 1843 had no connection to Portland, Saco & Portsmouth, which carried traffic to Maine. In addition to the main line, the Eastern Railroad built or bought numerous branch lines. The network was built continuously. In 1840 the main line and the branch line from Salem to Marblehead were in operation. In 1847 the line to Gloucester followed, which was extended to Rockport in 1861, and the branch line to Amesbury was opened in 1848. Additional branches to Asbury Grove, Essex and Marblehead (from Swampscott) went into operation in 1871–1873. The Chelsea Beach Railroad followed around 1882 .

Acquisition of branch lines

Since the two companies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire were formally separated, but had joint management, it was logical that the Massachusetts company leased the smaller New Hampshire railway for 99 years from February 18, 1840. The Essex Branch Railroad was initially leased for five years on August 31, 1846, and was finally bought up in 1865. The Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad, which followed in Portsmouth, leased the Eastern together with the Boston & Maine from April 28, 1847 for 99 years, as this company also ran its trains on this railway towards Maine. In March 1852, the company leased the Grand Junction Railroad for ten years, which had built connections to other railway companies in Boston. The contract was not extended, however, as the Eastern had now built its own train to the North Station in Boston and in 1866 the Boston and Albany Railroad acquired the Grand Junction Railroad.

The Eastern RR also bought the South Reading Branch Railroad on July 1, 1851, and on April 30, 1852 acquired the right to buy the Saugus Branch Railroad , which was claimed in 1856.

In 1871 the Eastern Railroad leased the Portsmouth, Great Falls and Conway Railroad for 60 years, on January 6, 1872 the Wolfeborough Railroad for 68 years, on August 14, 1872 the Newburyport City Railroad for 20 years and on February 1, 1874 Portsmouth and Dover Railroad for 50 years. The contract with Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway was increased to 60 years on October 1, 1878. The Chelsea Beach Railroad , founded on July 2, 1881, was leased from the Eastern Railroad in the same year.

The end of the Eastern Railroad

On December 23, 1883, the independence of the Eastern Railroad ended, as on that day the railway company was leased by the Boston and Maine Railroad for 54 years. The final takeover and thus the dissolution of the Eastern Railroad took place on May 9, 1890.

In 2010, the main line from Boston North Station to Newburyport and from Hampton to Portsmouth as well as the Salem – South Peabody line still existed from the network of the former Eastern Railroad . These routes are now used by Pan Am Railways . MBTA passenger trains run from Boston to Newburyport as well as on the still existing branch line to Rockport . In addition, the New Hampshire Northcoast operates the route of the former Portsmouth, Great Falls and Conway Railroad from Rollinsford to Ossipee . The Conway –Intervale section , operated by the Conway Scenic Railroad, exists as a museum railway . The remaining routes are closed.

Route network

The route network of the Eastern Railroad extended including the leased railways from Boston in Massachusetts to Portland in Maine and north to Conway in New Hampshire. All lines were built in standard gauge (1435 mm). At the time of the takeover by Boston & Maine in 1883, without the leased railways, the network consisted of the following individual routes, sorted from south to north:

Misfortunes

On Saturday, August 26th, 1871, a rear-end collision occurred in Revere . On the evening of that day, the traffic at Boston North Station was so heavy that four trains left for Lynn in less time. Two of the trains, the first and the third, were supposed to run on the Saugus Branch, which was still single-track at the time, and the other two on the double-track main line. Since the regular passenger train from Lynn via the Saugus Branch was about 90 minutes late, the first train in Everett had to wait for it. The second and third trains also had to stop in front of Everett because Everett station did not have a passing track. The second train, a regular passenger train that stopped at all stations, left Everett 70 minutes late in the direction of Revere. Meanwhile the fourth train, the Portland Express, had left Boston North. The driver of this train was only instructed to watch out for the passenger train in front of him. However, he did not comply, so that the express drove at full speed to the passenger train at Revere station. The wrecked cars caught fire. In addition to some railway workers, 32 passengers died and over 100 people were seriously injured. As a result of the accident, the president of the company was fired, a telegraph system was built and the trains were equipped with air brakes .

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credentials

  1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.
  2. ^ Hans Joachim Ritzau: Shadow of the railway history. A comparison of British, US and German railways. Ritzau KG, 1987, pp. 143-146.

literature

  • Edward Appleton (Massachusetts Railway Commissioner) History of the Railways of Massachusetts ( transcribed as HTML ). Bulletin No. 1 - The Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc., 1871.
  • George H. Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads 2nd Ed. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha, WI 2000, ISBN 0-89024-356-5

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