Athol Junction – Hampden Junction railway line

Athol Junction MA-Hampden Junction MA

Route length:

23.8 km

Society:

Hampden Railroad

		from Albany
	0.0	Athol Junction MA
		to Worcester
		after Athol
		Interstate 291 on the route
		Springfield Tram (Page Boulevard)
	1.1	East Springfield MA
		Interstate 291
		Springfield Tram (Main Street)
		Chicopee River (Bircham Bend Viaduct)
		Interstate 90 on the route
	6.6	Ludlow MA
		Interstate 90 on the route
	20.0	Three Rivers MA
		Athol – Athol Junction section
		New London – Brattleboro route
		Swift River
		Springfield Tram (Sykes Street)
	21.2	Thorndikes MA
		from Northampton
	23.8	Hampden Junction MA (not affiliated)
		to North Cambridge

The railway Athol Junction Hampden Junction is a railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). It is 14 miles long and connects the cities of Palmer , Ludlow and Springfield . The standard gauge line was completed, but never opened.

history

In 1910, JP Morgan , which already owned large stakes in New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NY&NH), acquired the majority of shares in Boston and Maine Railroad . The railroad companies planned to build a direct link from Springfield to Boston to compete with the existing railroad controlled by the New York Central Railroad . The Boston & Maine already had a rail line from Boston to Palmer, which then turned north and only connected to the NY & NH network in Northampton, far north of Springfield. To build this route, the Hampden Railroad Corporation was founded in July 1910 .

The new route was to begin east of Springfield Union Station at the Athol Junction and lead via Ludlow to Palmer, where it should join the Boston & Maine route in the Bondsville district. The railway was to be expanded as the main line without crossing, which required the construction of numerous bridges, dams and cuttings in order to cross the crossing railway lines and roads. On October 11, 1911, Boston & Maine leased the Hampden Railroad. In addition, a link was planned that would branch off north of the bridge over the Chicopee River and lead to Chicopee, where it would flow into an existing branch of the Boston & Maine. This connection was not built.

In mid-1913, the line was completely completed except for the connection to Boston & Maine, including four passenger stations. In the meantime, however, JP Morgan had died and Boston & Maine was again working independently, independently of NY&NH. The Interstate Commerce Commission was also investigating NY&NH for monopoly formation. Although the line is shown as completed in the network plans of Boston & Maine from 1913, the track connection at the eastern end of the line was never installed and the line remained unused. In 1921 the Hampden Railroad filed for bankruptcy and five years later the line was sold to a scrap dealer who dismantled the tracks and bridges. Large parts of the route were later used for a high-voltage line and for the construction of two motorways.

Route description

The line branches off at Athol Junction station from the Worcester – Albany railway line and initially heads northeast. The Interstate 291 runs here about 500 meters on the railway line and then crosses them into roughly where the first passenger station East Springfield has found. The railway line then crossed Main Street and the Chicopee River over a high and elaborately constructed steel bridge . Only the concrete pillars remain from the bridge. The route then turns in an easterly direction. From here, Interstate 90 runs on the route today . In Ludlow, the nearest train station was about Center Street. About three kilometers further, the motorway leaves the railway line, which first crossed East Street at an acute angle and then turned to the northeast.

To the north of the Chicopee River reservoir, the railway line turns east again. From here to just before Hampden Junction, a high-voltage line runs along the route. The nearest train station was located in Three Rivers in the urban area of Palmer, roughly level with Liberty Street. Immediately thereafter, the route first crosses the railway line to Athol and then, on another steel bridge, the New London – Brattleboro railway line and the Swift River. From this bridge, too, only the supporting pillars have survived. The fourth passenger station was between Bondsville and Thorndikes east of Sykes Street. The route then crosses the North Cambridge – Northampton railway line and joins it shortly afterwards. The track had been built right up to this line, only the connecting switch was missing.

The railway line was built to the highest standard without any intersections, so in contrast to most main lines in North America, it had neither a level crossing nor a level crossing with other railway lines. The construction costs amounted to four million US dollars due to the numerous artificial structures.

Sources and further reading

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

Web links