Martha's Vineyard Railroad

Martha's Vineyard Railroad Company
Gleisdreieck at the pier of Oak Bluffs
Mattakeeset Lodge in Katama
Route 1894
Route length:	14 km
Gauge :	914 mm ( English 3-foot track )
Legend Jetty 0 Pier Oak Bluffs Wharf Track triangle Sengekontacket Pond Edgartown Depot Track triangle Mattakeeset Lodge, Katama 14th South beach

The Martha's Vineyard Railroad Company in Edgartown built and operated 1874-1896 a 14 km long narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 3 feet (914 mm) on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts .

Route

The line was built in 1874. It connected the pier of Oak Bluffs with the hamlet of Katama in Edgartown . It led from Oak Bluffs, where the steamers of the Old Colony Railroad arrived, in a southeast direction along the coast through Edgartown to Katama. The line was closed in 1896.

history

Foundation and commissioning

After the decline of whaling in the 1860s, tourism on the east coast of Martha's Vineyard should be developed. Therefore, the narrow-gauge railway was built in 1874 to transport tourists across the island. The line was laid on the flat, sandy ground within eight weeks and completed on August 7, 1874.

Edward R. Dunham of Edgartown built one half of the bridge over Sengekontacket Pond while a mainland contractor built the other half. When the two ends met in the middle, a measurement error of more than 50 millimeters became apparent, for which the contractors blamed each other before taking the necessary corrective action.

Fearing that a conventional steam locomotive could frighten horses, the railway company procured a dummy called steam engine, as it was used on the elevated railways in larger cities. On August 5, 1874, while thousands were lining the tracks, the dummy began its maiden voyage. However, it only got to the first tight bend because the chassis were not rotatable due to the toothed chain drive.

Therefore a conventional H.K. Porter steam locomotive called Active was to be procured. On August 17, 1874, it was ready for the journey across the Sound on a flat wagon when some loaded freight wagons tore themselves away and hit the buffers of the flat wagon. The flat car stopped on land, but the ten-ton locomotive tipped into the harbor basin. It was hoisted from the muddy bottom of the harbor basin by crane and shipped to Boston to be cleaned and repaired. When it was finally unloaded from the steamboat Island Home at Mattakeset Lodge in Katama via a special loading ramp on August 22, 1874 , the summer season was almost over. Decorated with flags, she mastered the route to Edgartown at a brisk pace, which was celebrated as a sensation along the entire route.

In 1876 the route was extended by half a mile from Katama to South Beach, after which its total length was 14 km. Today it is possible to drive much of the original route between Oak Bluffs, Edgartown and Katama (with a few short detours).

business

The railway company was in financial difficulties from the start. Until 1877 the operation of the line was temporarily transferred to the main investors, until the company became solvent again.

The financial problems continued, however, and in 1890 the railroad was operated by a bankruptcy administrator. In 1892 a fire destroyed the Sea View House, the wooden ferry dock and the Gleisdreieck. Since there was no budget for the reconstruction of the Gleisdreieck, the train then drove backwards from Oak Bluffs to Katama.

Sale and closure

In early 1892 the railroad was sold to the Old Colony Steamboat Company , a subsidiary of the Old Colony Railroad , which operated the steamers to Oak Bluffs. This sold the route to Joseph M. Wardell, who then became their general manager. The railroad continued to operate at a loss and was finally abandoned in 1896.

locomotive

Surname	Manufacturer	photo	Wheel alignment	Construction year	Serial number	Remarks
Active	HK Porter		0-6-0T	April 1874	201	Renamed Edgartown and later South Beach

literature

• Andrew T. Eldredge: Railroads of Cape Cod and the Islands . Arcadia Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7385-1157-9 .
• George W. Hilton: American Narrow Gauge Railroads. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1990. ISBN 0-8047-2369-9 .
• Herman Page: Rails Across Martha's Vineyard: Steam Narrow Gauge and Trolley Lines . South Platte Press / Brueggenjohann / Reese, Inc., Newton, KS 2009, ISBN 978-0-942035-83-4 .
• Laura Blackwell, Walter Blackwell: Tracing the Route of the Martha's Vineyard Railroad , 2nd edition, Engelhard Printing Co., Miami, Florida 1973, OCLC 725994 .

Web links

Commons : Martha's Vineyard Railroad  - Collection of Images

• John D. Freeman: Martha's Vineyard Railroad Homepage. Community History Project, Martha's Vineyard Regional High School.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Julia Novakovic and Norma Hagen: Finding Aid to the Martha's Vineyard Museum. Record Unit 117, Martha's Vineyard Railroad Collection.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Tom Dunlop: Six Historic Tales. Fall 1991 and January 5, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
3. ^ Wallingford: The Rail Road. Vineyard Gazette, August 24, 1874.
4. ^ The Rail Road. Vineyard Gazette, August 28, 1874.
5. ^ Herman Page: Rails Across Martha's Vineyard: Steam Narrow Gauge and Trolley Lines . South Platte Press / Brueggenjohann / Reese, Inc., Newton, KS 2009, ISBN 978-0-942035-83-4 .
6. ^ Sea View In Ashes. Vineyard Gazette, September 29, 1892.
7. ^ The Vineyard Railroad. Vineyard Gazette, July 16, 1896.

Coordinates: 41 ° 27 '30.4 "  N , 70 ° 33' 16.6"  W.