Lines and Branches
The following is a description of the Old Colony Railroad lines and branches at about the time of the 1893 lease to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, and shortly thereafter.
| Line | Segment / Branch | Opened | Length (miles) |
Built By | Acquired by OCRR |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plymouth Line (Central Division) |
Boston to Plymouth | November 10, 1845 | 36.8 | Old Colony Railroad Corporation | 1845 | Line completed 0.5 miles from South Boston to Boston on June 19, 1847 with the opening of Kneeland Street Station; line between Boston and South Braintree doubled in 1848; line now part of MBTA Red Line to Braintree, MBTA Plymouth commuter rail Line, ending in North Plymouth |
| Whitman to Bridgwater Junction | June 21, 1847 | 6.2 | Old Colony Railroad Corporation | 1847 | Connection with Fall River Railroad; this line has been abandoned | |
| Neponset to Mattapan | December 1, 1847 | 3.3 | Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad Company | 1848 | leased/operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1848 to 1863; merged in 1863 | |
| Granite Branch | October 7, 1826 | 1.8 | Granite Railway Company | 1871 | lines extended in 1873 and 1876 by Old Colony Railroad to connect with Plymouth line, forming a loop to West Quincy and East Milton | |
| Shawmut Branch | December 2, 1872 | 2.2 | Old Colony and Newport Railway Company | 1872 | The MBTA bought the whole Shawmut Branch and part of the Dorchester and Milton Branch in 1926, using the rights-of-way for their Dorchester Extension and Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line, now two parts of the MBTA Red Line. | |
| Braintree to Cohasset | January 1, 1849 | 11.5 | South Shore Railroad Company | 1877 | leased by Old Colony Railroad from 1849 to 1854; now part of MBTA Greenbush commuter rail line | |
| Westdale to Elmwood | April 1, 1885 | 0.75 | Old Colony Railroad | 1885 | short connector between Fall River-Middleborough line and Bridgewater-Whitman line | |
| Hanover Branch | July 18, 1868 | 7.8 | Hanover Branch Railroad Company | 1887 | continued to carry freight to a wood box factory in West Hanover into the 1960s | |
| Matfield Junction to Easton | January 1, 1888 | 7.6 | Old Colony Railroad Company | 1888 | also known as the Easton Branch | |
| Nantasket Beach Branch | July 10, 1880 | 7.0 | Nantasket Beach Railroad Company | 1888 | leased to Old Colony Railroad from April 1, 1888; deeded outright to OCRR February 24, 1906; The Nantasket Beach Branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford railway had the first electric train in the U.S. It had its first run on Sunday, June 30, 1895. | |
| Union Freight Railroad | 2.2 | |||||
| Plymouth to Middleborough | November 30, 1892 | 15.0 | Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad | 1892 | this line has been abandoned | |
| Cohasset to South Duxbury | 1871 | 17.5 | Duxbury and Cohasset Railroad Company | 1904 | line now part of MBTA Greenbush commuter rail line; other parts have been abandoned | |
| South Duxbury to Kingston | 1874 | 3.2 | Duxbury and Cohasset Railroad Company | 1904 | this line has been abandoned | |
| Fall River & Newport Lines (Central Division) |
South Braintree to Myricks | December 31, 1846 | 30.5 | Fall River Railroad (1846) | 1854 | consolidation of Randolph and Bridgewater Railroad with Middleborough Railroad and Fall River Branch Railroad; this line now used by MBTA Middleborough/Lakeville commuter rail line; portion between Middleborough and Myricks has been abandoned |
| Myricks to Fall River | June 9, 1845 | 10.8 | Fall River Branch Railroad | 1854 | still used by CSX for freight; sold to Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2010 for proposed South Coast Rail project. | |
| Fall River to Newport | February 5, 1864 | 19.0 | Old Colony and Newport Railway Company | 1864 | segment completed after 1863 merger of Newport and Fall River Railroad Company with Old Colony and Fall River Railroad Company | |
| Mayflower Park (Braintree Highlands) to Somerset Junction (Fall River) | September 24, 1866 | 32.8 | Old Colony and Newport Railway Company | 1866 | utilized part of Easton Branch Railroad between Stoughton and North Easton | |
| Stoughton to North Easton | May 16, 1855 | 3.8 | Easton Branch Railroad Company | 1869 | operated by Boston and Providence Railroad from 1855 to 1856; operated by Old Colony and Newport Railway from 1866 to 1871 | |
| Middleborough to Taunton | July 4, 1856 | 8.0 | Middleborough and Taunton Railroad Corporation | 1874 | originally Taunton and Middleborough Railroad Corporation, name changed in 1853 before line built; still used by CSX for freight | |
| Warren to Fall River | 1875 | 8.0 | Fall River, Warren and Providence Railroad Company | 1875 | completed from Warren to Somerset by April, 1875; extended to Fall River with opening of Slade's Ferry Bridge; operated by Old Colony Railroad from December 1, 1865; deeded to Old Colony Railroad in 1892 | |
| Whittenton Branch | September 10, 1882 | 2.5 | Old Colony Railroad Company | 1882 | first 0.8 mile segment from Taunton Branch Railroad line to Whittenton Mills opened in 1881; connected to Mayflower Park-Somerset line at Raynham in 1882; allowed Somerset line trains to stop at Taunton Central Station, instead of Dean Street Station, east of downtown Taunton | |
| Cape Cod Division | Middleborough to Wareham | January 26, 1848 | 14.7 | Cape Cod Branch Railroad Company | 1872 | name change to Cape Cod Railroad in 1854 |
| Wareham to Sandwich | May 29, 1848 | 12.9 | Cape Cod Branch Railroad Company | 1872 | name change to Cape Cod Railroad in 1854 | |
| Sandwich to Hyannis | July 8, 1854 | 16.7 | Cape Cod Railroad Company | 1872 | name changed from Cape Cod Branch Railroad on February 22, 1854 | |
| Yarmouth to Orleans | December 1, 1865 | 18.7 | Cape Cod Central Railroad Company | 1872 | ||
| Buzzards Bay to Woods Hole | July 20, 1872 | 17.5 | Old Colony Railroad | 1872 | ||
| Orleans to Wellfleet | December 29, 1870 | 11.6 | Cape Cod Railroad Company | 1872 | now part of Cape Cod Rail Trail | |
| Wellfleet to Provincetown | July 23, 1873 | 14.3 | Old Colony Railroad Company | 1873 | this segment of line has been abandoned | |
| Harwich to Chatham | November 21, 1887 | 7.1 | Chatham Railroad Company | 1905 | Acquired by New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1905 | |
| West Wareham to Fairhaven | October 2, 1854 | 15.9 | Fairhaven Branch Railroad | 1879 | deeded to New Bedford and Taunton Railroad in 1861; leased in 1879 by OCRR and merged in 1883 with the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad; also included ferry from New Bedford to Fairhaven | |
| Martha's Vineyard Railroad | August 7, 1874 | 9.0 | Martha's Vineyard Railroad | 1892 | sold to Old Colony Steamboat Company in 1892, closed in 1896 | |
| Taunton & New Bedford Lines |
Mansfield to Taunton | August 1836 | 10.9 | Taunton Branch Railroad | 1883 | operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1879 to 1883 by lease from Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad; also Weir Branch, opened in 1840 with New Bedford and Taunton Railroad |
| Taunton to New Bedford | July 2, 1840 | 20.0 | New Bedford and Taunton Railroad | 1883 | operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1879 to 1883 by lease from Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad | |
| Taunton to Attleborough | August 1, 1871 | 5.6 | Taunton Branch Railroad | 1883 | operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1879 to 1883 by lease from Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad | |
| New Bedford to Fall River | December 16, 1875 | 12.4 | Fall River Railroad (1874) | 1896 | leased by Old Colony Railroad from 1882 to 1893 | |
| Northern Division | Mansfield to Framingham | May 1, 1870 | 22.1 | Mansfield and Framingham Railroad | 1883 | operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1879 to 1883 by lease from Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad |
| Framingham to Northborough | December 1, 1855 | 13.2 | Agricultural Branch Railroad | 1883 | operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1879 to 1883 by lease from Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad | |
| Northborough to Pratts Junction | July 1866 | 14.0 | Agricultural Branch Railroad | 1883 | operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1879 to 1883 by lease from Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad | |
| Fitchburg to Sterling Junction | February 11, 1850 | 18.7 | Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad | 1883 | operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1879 to 1883 by lease from Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad | |
| Marlborough Branch | June 1855 | 1.5 | Agricultural Branch Railroad | 1883 | operated by Old Colony Railroad from 1879 to 1883 by lease from Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad | |
| Framingham to Lowell | October 1, 1871 | 26.1 | Framingham and Lowell Railroad | 1886 | later operated by Conrail and Bay Colony Railroad into the 1990s; now being converted into the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail | |
| Boston & Providence Division |
Boston to Readville | June 4, 1834 | 8.1 | 1888 | ||
| Readville to Providence (India Point) |
August, 1835 | 33.4 | ||||
| Seekonk Branch | 1838 | 0.25 | Seekonk Branch Railroad Company | 1888 | ||
| Readville to Dedham | June, 1842 | 2.1 | 1888 | |||
| Stoughton Branch | April 7, 1845 | 3.4 | Stoughton Branch Railroad Company | 1888 | ||
| East Junction to Blackstone River | October, 1847 | 4.0 | Boston and Providence Railroad | 1888 | ||
| Blackstone River to Providence | October, 1847 | 5.4 | Boston and Providence Railroad and Transportation Company | 1888 | one-half of right of way deeded to Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1853 | |
| Forest Hills to Dedham | June, 1850 | 5.3 | Boston and Providence Railroad | 1888 | ||
| Bristol, Attleboro & Wrentham lines |
Providence to Bristol | July 12, 1855 | 14.1 | Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad Company | 1891 | leased to the Old Colony Railroad from July 1, 1891; now used for East Bay Bike Path |
| Attleborough Branch | 1871 | 4.6 | Attleborough to North Attleborough; became a streetcar line after 1903 when Adamsdale Branch opened and NY,NH&H ended its lease of this line | |||
| Wrentham Branch (Walpole Junction to North Attleborough) | December 1, 1890 | 12.8 | Old Colony Railroad | 1890 | ||
| East Walpole Branch (Walpole Junction to Norwood) | February 15, 1892 | 5.7 | 1896 | also known as East Walpole Branch Railroad; connected with the New York and New England Railroad at Norwood | ||
| Adamsdale Branch | June 27, 1903 | 9.6 | 1903 | extension of Wrentham Branch from North Attleborough to Adamsdale; connected with Rhode Island and Massachusetts Railroad near state line |
Read more about this topic: Old Colony Railroad
Famous quotes containing the words lines and, lines and/or branches:
“Every living language, like the perspiring bodies of living creatures, is in perpetual motion and alteration; some words go off, and become obsolete; others are taken in, and by degrees grow into common use; or the same word is inverted to a new sense or notion, which in tract of time makes an observable change in the air and features of a language, as age makes in the lines and mien of a face.”
—Richard Bentley (1662–1742)
“It is the Late city that first defies the land, contradicts Nature in the lines of its silhouette, denies all Nature. It wants to be something different from and higher than Nature. These high-pitched gables, these Baroque cupolas, spires, and pinnacles, neither are, nor desire to be, related with anything in Nature. And then begins the gigantic megalopolis, the city-as-world, which suffers nothing beside itself and sets about annihilating the country picture.”
—Oswald Spengler (1880–1936)
“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)