Hudson, Pelham and Salem Street Railway

The Hudson, Pelham and Salem Street Railway is a former Regional tramway operation in Massachusetts and New Hampshire ( United States ). The 83.5 kilometer network connected the cities of Haverhill , Lawrence and Lowell in Massachusetts and Nashua , Pelham and Salem in New Hampshire.

history

On March 7, 1899, the Hudson, Pelham and Salem Electric Railway Company (HP&S) was founded in New Hampshire, which wanted to build an overland tram from Nashua to Haverhill with a branch to Lawrence. The Lawrence and Methuen Street Railway Company was founded on June 1 of the same year in Massachusetts to build the section of the branch to Lawrence in this state. For the Massachusetts section of the main line to Haverhill, the Haverhill and Southern New Hampshire Street Railway Company was finally founded on September 18, 1899 . The concessions were granted in 1900 and construction began immediately. A dispute over the routing of the line in Lawrence with the Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill Street Railway already operating there trams , which later merged into the Bay State Street Railway , delayed the construction of the branch to Lawrence.

On March 20, 1901, HP&S leased the two Massachusetts railroad companies for 99 years. On August 23, 1902, Canobie Lake Park , an amusement resort near Salem, opened, which was connected to the main line via a short branch line. At the end of this branch line, a turning loop was built so that trains on the main line could use the branch without major delays. Two more additional routes were licensed in 1901. One should run between Haverhill and Lawrence. From Haverhill to the city limits of Methuen the line belonged to Haverhill & Southern New Hampshire, from there to Lawrence of Lawrence & Methuen. The other route connected Methuen and Salem. The Massachusetts section of this line should belong to Lawrence & Methuen, the New Hampshire section to HP&S. A curiosity arose during the construction of the HP&S. A building permit for the two branch lines leading from the main line Haverhill-Nashua in Salem and Pelham to the state border near Methuen was only issued by the state of New Hampshire in 1914, after the lines had already been in operation for 12 years. These permits were forgotten when the concessions for these routes were granted.

Another railway company, the Lowell and Pelham Street Railway Company , was founded on December 28, 1901 and was granted the concession on June 2, 1902 to build a line from Pelham on the HP&S main line to Lowell.

The opening of the network began on July 2, 1902 with the route from Haverhill to the depot in Salem. The Canobie Lake Park junction and the Salem to Lawrence route went into operation on August 19, followed by the Salem to Nashua route on September 10, the Pelham to Lowell route on October 3, and the Haverhill route Lawrence on December 16, 1902. The opening of the line from Lawrence to Pelham was delayed until May 3, 1903. The network had a route length of 83.5 kilometers, of which 2.3 kilometers were double-tracked.

In 1902, New Hampshire Electric Railways (NHER) bought the network that became the Western Division of that operation. HP & S's lease agreements with the other companies were renewed on January 1, 1904. All three contracts now ran for 25 years. The Hudson, Pelham and Salem Electric Railway went bankrupt on December 11, 1904 as a result of a serious accident and was reorganized as the Hudson, Pelham and Salem Street Railway on July 19, 1907 . With the bankruptcy, the leases were terminated and all four railway companies in the network were now direct subsidiaries of NHER.

From January 1, 1907, the newly opened Manchester – Nashua tram in Hudson between the junction of Main Street / Webster Street and the terminus used the HP&S tracks. The Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway took over NHER on April 1, 1913, and with it HP&S and its leased sister companies. The HP&S network became the Salem Division.

There were severe restrictions in the timetable on October 14, 1918. On most routes, the train sequence was stretched, sometimes to two-hour intervals, and there were no trains at all between Salem and Pelham. The normal timetable was not offered again until March 1919. There were renewed, now final, restrictions on the winter timetable in autumn 1919. The first final shutdown in the HP&S network took place on July 1, 1923, when the Pelham – Lowell line was taken out of service and dismantled the following year.

On March 14, 1924, the last trams ran between Salem and Nashua and between Town Farm and Titcomb Farm. The section from Hudson Center to the bridge in Nashua (about two miles) was initially leased to the Nashua Tram , but was sold to them on June 2 of that year for $ 5,000. The remaining part of the line was officially closed, but initially remained operational between Salem and the depot in Pelham, as the depot there was used to park unneeded railcars. In July 1928, however, the line was sold to a scrap dealer and the depot in Pelham closed.

After the railway company had requested the closure of all lines except the Haverhill – Lawrence line in 1928, citizens of Methuen protested. As a result, part of the lines were sold to the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway . These were the section from the intersection of Broadway / Oakland Avenue in Lawrence through Methuen to Town Farm and the junction from Methuen to the state border, part of the route to Salem. From February 26, 1929, the new owner ran operations on these routes. At the same time, the routes from Ayers Village to Salem, from the state border at Methuen to Salem, the branch to Canobie Lake Park and the section in Lawrence from the terminal to Broadway were closed. At the same time, the Salem depot went out of service and the vehicles were used by the Amesbury Division of Massachusetts Northeastern. From August 27, 1930 buses replaced the trams on the two remaining routes of the HP&S from Haverhill to Lawrence and Ayers Village.

stretch

Haverhill-Salem-Canobie Lake Park

The end of the route in Haverhill was at the intersection of White's Corner (Main / Merrimack / Water Street). From here it led through Main Street, Winter Street and Broadway to the city limits of Methuen. In Methuen it continued through the Ayers Village Road to the state line in New Hampshire. In Salem, across the border, it led down Main Street to the junction of Policy Street. Here the route leaves the subgrade, crosses Policy Street and leads west of it to the north to the entrance of Canobie Lake Park, where there was a turning loop. Haverhill had a level crossing on Winter Street until 1906. The railway tracks could not be crossed by the tram, which led to a line interruption. The short section from the level crossing to the terminus at White's Corner was served by a shuttle car.

The cars on this route initially continued to Nashua. In summer there was a train every 30 minutes, in winter every hour. The branch route to Canobie Lake Park was only served in summer. From May 1903 the wagons on this route drove to Lowell, with the same timing. On summer weekends, however, the trips ended at Canobie Lake Park and there was a change in the direction of Lowell. On those days there was a ride every 15 minutes between Haverhill and the park. From around 1910, outside of the summer, the Haverhill wagons drove back to Nashua, the summer traffic remained the same.

Canobie Lake Park-Pelham-Nashua

Near the junction of Policy Street / Main Street was a triangle track, over which the route to Nashua branched off from Haverhill. The route ran on its own railway body initially east of Policy Street, but crossed it shortly afterwards and led over open terrain south-west. It crossed Lowell Road and ran parallel to it and Gage Hill Road further southwest. In Pelham, the route ran briefly through Gage Hill Road, to continue on its own railroad northwest to Mammoth Road. The route lay on this road for about one and a half kilometers and then turned again onto a separate route. It crossed Route 111 and now headed west to Hudson . At Merrifield Park she reached Ferry Street, on which she runs to the bridge over the Merrimack River . Here there was a track connection to the Nashua tram, on whose tracks the car continued through Hollis Street, Temple Street and East Pearl Street to Tremont Square (corner of Main Street) in the center of Nashua.

From May 1903, the cars ran from Nashua to Pelham, only on summer weekends was continuous traffic to Canobie Lake Park offered. The trains ran every 30 minutes in summer and every 60 minutes otherwise. From then on, the line from Lowell ran all year round between Pelham and the park, to the park on summer weekends, and otherwise continuously to Haverhill. The timing was the same as that of the Nashua line, as there was a connection in Pelham. On summer weekends, the two lines between Pelham and the park complemented each other at 15-minute intervals.

Haverhill-Lawrence

The train branches off in Haverhill on Broadway east of Forest Street and led southwest on its own track. In Methuen on Howe Street about level with Maple Street it reached the subgrade again and now led to Lawrence on the western edge of Howe Street. Through Jackson Street up to the level of the dental clinic, we continued over a short stretch of our own railroad track to Bruce Street. Through this, Erving Avenue, Short Street, Elm Street and Pine Street, the train ran to the terminus at Breen's Corner on Hampshire Street. At the intersections of Bruce Street / Berkeley Street and Elm Street / Lawrence Street there were track crossings with the Boston and Northern Street Railway .

The route was operated as an independent line throughout its existence and ran every 30 minutes all year round. It was not until 1929 that the car was driven every hour.

Lawrence-Pelham

The terminus of this line was at the intersection of Hampshire Street and Essex Street in Lawrence. From here it ran through Hampshire Street, where the route to Haverhill branched off at Pine Street, and Center Street to Broadway. Originally the train was supposed to run through Merrill Street and Brown Street, but this was discarded. On Broadway it went on to Oakland Avenue, through this, Railroad Street and Pelham Street the route continued to Hampshire Road. From here the route lay on its own track in the northern extension of Pelham Street. It led shortly thereafter across the state line to New Hampshire and turned into the main Haverhill line at Titcomb Farm.

When this line opened in May 1903, the cars ran through to Nashua. It was offered every hour. From the beginning of 1904 the wagons only drove as far as Methuen Town Farm (junction of Pelham Street / Hampshire Road). Between this point and Titcomb Farm there were only a few cars a day on the way to and from the Salem depot. At the turn of the year 1905/06, the line between Webster Avenue and Titcomb Farm (about 1.2 kilometers) was closed and dismantled in order to be able to build a siding to Rockingham Park, a racecourse. After protests from the residents of Pelham, a court ruled that the route had to be rebuilt. The railway company followed suit. The only journeys on this route, however, were still the entry journeys to the depot in Salem. From December 12, 1910, there were only two daily journeys between Webster Avenue and Titcomb Farm and only a few more between Town Farm and Webster Avenue. Again the residents of Pelham protested and the court ruled that the 1903 timetable should be reinstated.

Lawrence – Salem

The line branched off in Methuen on Pelham Street west of Cross Street from the Lawrence-Pelham line. It led over its own railway body and parallel to Cross Street over the state line to New Hampshire. Further north she reached the main route to Canobie Lake Park in Salem, east of Policy Street.

The railways ran from Lawrence through to Canobie Lake Park in the summer, but ended at the junction from the main line in Salem during the rest of the year. All year round, every 30 minutes was offered.

Pelham-Lowell

The Lowell Line branched off in Pelham on Bridge Street in a triangular track and first ran through Bridge Street to turn a little south onto its own rail track. The railway ran over this to Mammoth Road, followed it and turned into Break Neck Hill Road. This left the route to lead over a short stretch on its own railway track to Old Meadow Road. Through this, University Street and Moody Street, the route ran to the terminus on the city limits to Lowell, where there was a transition to the Boston and Northern Street Railway . Initially, the cars ran through Moody Street, Pawtucket Street and Merrimack Street on the tracks of the Boston & Northern to Merrimack Square (now Kearney Square) in Lowell. From around 1910, however, except in summer, the trains ended at Old Meadow Road, where they had to change trains to Lowell. Every 30 minutes in the summer and every hour in the winter.

Depots

The two depots of the railway were in Pelham and Salem. Pelham had an eight-track carriage shed east of the branch of the line to Lowell. The depot in Salem, which is also the headquarters of the railway company, had nine storage and two workshop tracks. It was on the main line from Haverhill east of the junction to Canobie Lake Park.

Accidents

The first serious accident on the HP&S network occurred on June 14, 1903 on the Pelham – Lowell line. About 2.5 kilometers south of Pelham Center, two railcars collided head-on, nine passengers were injured, the two tramcars remained almost undamaged.

On September 3, 1903, the worst tram accident in New Hampshire history occurred again near Pelham. Less than a kilometer west of Pelham Center, two railcars collided head-on in a curve on a single-track route in the morning. Car 125 drove the route from Nashua towards Canobie Lake Park and was occupied with 54 passengers, Car 137, which drove the line in the opposite direction, had 30 passengers on board. Six people died, including the driver of car 125, about twelve were seriously and 60 others were slightly injured. The wagons were partially pushed together, with the heavier wagon 125 getting under the wagon 137 over a length of about three meters. The cause of the accident was human error. The dispatcher at Pelham Center had left Car 137 on the route, and the staff on that car had complied, although everyone involved had to know that the scheduled return train had not yet arrived. In addition, the railway's block signaling system had been paralyzed the day before by a thunderstorm, that the driver of car 137 was overtired and that car 125 was delayed and therefore, as usual in these cases, was driving at excessive speed. As a result of the accident, bushes around the curves were cut to improve visibility and speed limits were introduced for curves. Contrary to the recommendation of the investigation commission, the travel time was not increased. Both railcars involved were repaired. The costs caused by this accident led to the bankruptcy of HP&S in December 1904.

On the morning of May 8, 1919, an explosives attack was carried out on the railway in Methuen. Striking textile workers were blamed for this. Railcar 158 was damaged in the process, people were not harmed.

On November 19, 1923, a freight train collided with a tram at a level crossing near Nashua Union Station . Six passengers were injured. Railcar 86 was only slightly damaged in the process, but was scrapped as a result of the accident.

Sources and further reading

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cummings 1967, p. 31.

literature

• OR Cummings: Trolleys to Canobie Lake Park. Mass. Northeastern St. Ry. Vol. 4 - Salem Division. New England Electric Railway Historical Society, 1967.