This is a list of all freight railroad (not streetcar or rapid transit) lines that have been built in Rhode Island, and does not deal with ownership changes from one company to another. The lines are named by the first company to build or consolidate them. Unless noted, every railroad eventually became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad system.
| Name | From | To | Branches | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston and Providence Railroad | Massachusetts state line in Pawtucket | downtown Providence | East Providence Branch, Massachusetts state line in Pawtucket to Fox Point in Providence | was jointly owned with the Providence and Worcester Railroad south of Boston Switch in Central Falls |
| Providence and Worcester Railroad | Massachusetts state line in North Smithfield | downtown Providence | East Providence Branch, Valley Falls (in Cumberland) to East Providence (with a section in Massachusetts) | was jointly owned with the Boston and Providence Railroad south of Boston Switch in Central Falls |
| Rhode Island and Massachusetts Railroad | Valley Falls (in Cumberland) | Massachusetts state line in Cumberland (with a section in Massachusetts) | ||
| East Side Railroad Tunnel | East Providence | downtown Providence | built by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad | |
| Moshassuck Valley Railroad | Woodlawn (in Pawtucket) | Saylesville (in Lincoln) | remained independent | |
| Seekonk Branch Railroad | Short line in East Providence | |||
| Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad | East Providence | Bristol | ||
| Fall River, Warren and Providence Railroad | Warren | Massachusetts state line in Warren | ||
| Newport and Fall River Railroad | Massachusetts state line in Tiverton | Newport | ||
| Charles River Railroad | Massachusetts state line in Woonsocket | Woonsocket | ||
| Woonsocket and Pascoag Railroad | Woonsocket | Harrisville (in Burrillville) | ||
| Providence and Springfield Railroad | downtown Providence | Massachusetts state line at Burrillville | ||
| Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad | downtown Providence | Connecticut state line in Coventry | Dorrance Street Branch in Providence | |
| New York, Providence and Boston Railroad | downtown Providence | Connecticut state line in Westerly | South Providence Branch, Cranston Junction (in Cranston) to South Providence (in Providence) | |
| Pontiac Branch Railroad | Auburn (in Cranston) | Pontiac (in Warwick) | ||
| Pawtuxet Valley Railroad | Pontiac (in Warwick) | Hope (in Scituate) | ||
| Warwick Railroad | Auburn (in Cranston) | Buttonwoods (in Warwick) | remained independent, later became a street railway | |
| Naval Air Station Quonset Point | Davisville (in North Kingstown) | Quonset Point (in North Kingstown) | remained independent (U.S. Government owned) | |
| Newport and Wickford Railroad | Wickford Junction (in North Kingstown) | Wickford (in North Kingstown) | ||
| Narragansett Pier Railroad | Kingston (in South Kingstown) | Narragansett Pier (in Narragansett) | remained independent | |
| Wood River Branch Railroad | Wood River Junction (in Richmond) | Hope Valley (in Hopkinton) | remained independent | |
| Westerly Granite Quarry Proprietor's Railroad | Westerly | granite quarries | ||
| Southern New England Railway | Massachusetts state line in Woonsocket | Providence | South Providence Branch, around the west side of Providence | never finished, built by the Grand Trunk Railway |
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“Though the railroad and the telegraph have been established on the shores of Maine, the Indian still looks out from her interior mountains over all these to the sea.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I struck the board, and cried, “No more.
I will abroad.”
What? Shall I ever sigh and pine?
My lines and life are free; free as the road,
Loose as the wind, as large as store.
Shall I be still in suit?”
—George Herbert (1593–1633)
“Beyond this island bound
By a thin sea of flesh
And a bone coast ...”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)