A history of our railroads...

[JCitron]

We look at our railroads today and we usually see a single company running thousands of miles of track. In the past this wasn't always the case. Recently I've started working, again, on a route I started many years ago. This is presently the eastern portion of the Boston and Maine between Portland and Wilmington, and then hopefully on to Boston and the west. Perhaps someday I can complete the full B&M, but that's another 5 Trainz versions in the future I'm sure.

The Boston and Maine was never a really large railroad, though it was once considered a Class 1 back in its heyday. Today it's more of a small regional run by Pan Am Railways, which has split ownership in Massachusetts where it only has running rights on state-owned tracks that are used for commuter rail service by the MBTA. The B&M its self had an interesting history of mergers, which is what I discovered. It started out as the Andover and Wilmington. A small segment of this line is still in operation today with the portion between Wilmington Jct. and North Andover long gone as that was abandoned during the 1840s in favor of the current B&M ROW.

Court fights, rifles, and pitchforks...

The rest of Boston and Maine's Western Division as it was called, was owned by a New Hampshire based company, and was considered an outsider in the region. The company had no direct connection to Boston and had to use trackage rights via the Boston and Lowell at a still existing connection in Wilmington Center where today the Amtrak Downeaster and commuter rail still run.

The Boston and Lowell was built during the early 1830s to connect the two namesake cities. The present day city of Lowell was named after the Lowell brothers who founded the mill city on land in Chelmsford that bordered the Merrimack and Concord rivers. There's a great waterfall there which became the source of power for the many of mills that sprang up in the city. The state charter for the Boston and Lowell stated that they had exclusive operation between the two cities and this was to last umpteen years.

Along came the B&M... A tiny orphan whose owners were far away and were toddling along on a much smaller less exclusive business. The B&M's owners of course had set their sights on much bigger business and longer railroad. In the early 1830s, the company built the line between Haverhill and Andover where the railroad connected to the Andover and Wilmington. The northern portions beyond Haverhill connected eventually to the Exeter and Dover, and then on to Portland.

This is pretty much the present day routing of the B&M. However, there's a problem. They were stopped dead in their tracks, no pun intended, at their final 16 mile run into Boston. The B&L effectively blocked their run at Wilmington Center because the B&M's original connection to Boston was by trackage rights over the B&L via a connection in Wilmington. Because the B&L had priority, they let the B&M trains languish as the parade of B&L trains moved along. The B&L was brought to court numerous times over this unfair practice to no avail. The state-sponsored charter stood and the other company had to concede to the B&L.

Company after company caved as they attempted to take on the giant B&L, but one of the more notable jabs at the lucrative Lowell market was the Lawrence and Lowell, which was built by the B&M. The present day city of Lawrence, MA like Lowell is also a mill city. It too was built by the Lowell brothers and on the same river a bit east. In the early 1870s, the B&M built a branch to Lowell. Due to some yelling and screaming by some wealthy people in Tewksbury, the original surveyed route was abandoned in favor of a much longer roundabout one via Tewksbury. When completed, this landed the B&M in court and they were allowed to operate after the court found in their favor.

With the B&M being blocked from Boston with trackage rights priority at Wilmington center, they decided it was time to build their own line to Boston. Starting at Wilmington Jct., where the Wild Cat branch, aka the original Andover and Wilmington line now ends, the company built their new Western Division mainline via Reading and Wakefield, MA. This line ran straight as an arrow via Melrose and Malden right into the Boston. Again the B&L screamed and brought the B&M to court on this. By this time, now the mid-1870s, the court sided in favor of the Boston and Maine, and the exclusive rights of the B&L were over. By the 1880s, the B&L like other competing railroads were all gobbled up by the now prosperous Boston and Maine.

Quite interesting, I think and as I come across other bits of history, I'll post it.

John

 

[cascaderailroad]

In the Library of Congress the most written about subjects are: RR's, which is second to that of the Civil War

 

[bendorsey]

I'd think the history of almost any railroad anywhere in the world would make an interesting subject since few if any are even remotely like they were at their creation.

Ben

 

[rjhowie]

Hi John.

A while back i mentioned here that I was once given a copy of the Association of American Railroads. It is very thick are there including maps and timetables and dozens of wee ones of only a few miles. Back in 1980, I decided on a holiday in the ex-colonies (didn't take a red tunic) and stayed in NYC. One day i got the train down to Washington DC for the day. Later in the afternoon whist at the DC Union Station I moved from where I was sitting to allow a man to be able to be with his wife. We chatted and I was surprised to find he was a retiree but more importantly had been the editor of the in-house rail magazine for the Pennsylvania. We had a great chat until they got off at Philadelphia and said that if I ever came over again to tell them and do a visit. Two years later I was back phoned them and went down to Philly for 2 days. Joe gave me a couple of Pen souvenirs and I told him about the big book and that I seen his name listed.

The handbook was give because of my love of trains and it is a historical time piece for what was once in the USA back in the 50's. It is still in reasonable condition but I have often thought I would like someone over the water to have this impressive record of what you used to have over there compared to now. But when I offered it through Trainz no-one took up the offer and although i am Scot I did not want any cash for the thing but of the view that an American train lover would simply love this item. Had lost it but the other day while looking for something else came across it and I am once again going to offer it to across the pond. A two inch thick bonanza of US rail history being offered from the centre of the universe Glasgow fo the less aware)

Bobby

 

[JCitron]

I'd think the history of almost any railroad anywhere in the world would make an interesting subject since few if any are even remotely like they were at their creation.

Ben

I agree, Ben. The more I'm researching the route, the more I'm finding.

Hi John.

A while back i mentioned here that I was once given a copy of the Association of American Railroads. It is very thick are there including maps and timetables and dozens of wee ones of only a few miles. Back in 1980, I decided on a holiday in the ex-colonies (didn't take a red tunic) and stayed in NYC. One day i got the train down to Washington DC for the day. Later in the afternoon whist at the DC Union Station I moved from where I was sitting to allow a man to be able to be with his wife. We chatted and I was surprised to find he was a retiree but more importantly had been the editor of the in-house rail magazine for the Pennsylvania. We had a great chat until they got off at Philadelphia and said that if I ever came over again to tell them and do a visit. Two years later I was back phoned them and went down to Philly for 2 days. Joe gave me a couple of Pen souvenirs and I told him about the big book and that I seen his name listed.

The handbook was give because of my love of trains and it is a historical time piece for what was once in the USA back in the 50's. It is still in reasonable condition but I have often thought I would like someone over the water to have this impressive record of what you used to have over there compared to now. But when I offered it through Trainz no-one took up the offer and although i am Scot I did not want any cash for the thing but of the view that an American train lover would simply love this item. Had lost it but the other day while looking for something else came across it and I am once again going to offer it to across the pond. A two inch thick bonanza of US rail history being offered from the centre of the universe Glasgow fo the less aware)

Bobby

I remember that Bobby, and you even offered the book to me. This is a very generous offer, which I declined as I though perhaps you should hold on to this treasure as this book must bring to you some fond memories of this great journey across to Philadelphia. The Pennsy as we often call it is one of those railroads that surely left its mark on the world.


Now for a bit more on the Boston and Lowell.

The B&L had also set its sights on bigger and better things and it too was in an expansion around the same time. Their goal was north up towards Canada to tape the St. Lawrence traffic. They also probably wanted to connect to the the Portland and Ogdensburg (later the Mountain Division of the Maine Central), which ran up and across from Portland Maine to Lake Champlain via the White Mountains. This would also mean an east-west route which stayed away from the Boston and Maine, which had a line to Fitchburg through its partner and later merger the Fitchburg Railroad. The Boston and Albany also owned the south through Worcester, so this meant in order to get out of the short Boston to Lowell run, they needed to go north. So they built the Concord and Lowell, which connected the two cities. The Concord then had a connection to the Concord and Montreal and the Northern Railroad of New Hampshire. The C&M ran up through the White Mountains via Laconia then on to Sherbrooke, Quebec in Vermont, while the NRNH ran via diagonally from Concord, across to Lebanon New Hamphire and on to White River Jct. where it connected to the Vermont Central, Later Central Vermont Railroad, to be come the Central Vermont Railway. The C&M and C&L became the Boston, Concord & Montreal.

The Boston and Lowell was built with high finances during the early 1830s. The line was graded with the easiest grade found in the region, and was laid with granite sleepers instead of wood. The iron rails, locomotives and rolling stock were imported from Britain and were quite fast on this very smooth line. The line though was not smooth running and caused quite a bit of angst with the passengers as they bounced about in the carriages. This was due to the stiff, not so forgiving, granite blocks used for the sleepers. The bigshots thought they would be smart and build something better than the other railroads around such as the Boston and Worcester, another forerunner to the Boston and Albany, that used wooden sleepers and T-rail which both was much safer than the iron strap rail and smoother running than the granite blocks. They ended up eating a bit of crow and they were forced to relay their track again using wooden sleepers and t-rail. They did use this opportunity to double-track the line.

What's interesting is the running times on the original B&L are not much different than they are today. The run between Boston and Lowell by commuter train today is about 52 minutes with all commuter stops. During the 1840s the time was about the same even with their less powerful trains. Charles Dickens remarked, during his trip to Lowell from Boston on his visit in 1850s, that he found it amazing that this line had stops in the woods for the locals to take the train. Those same station locations today host commuters to Boston daily in the same fashion. Commuting, I suppose, is still commuting no matter when.

 

[rjhowie]

I am musing John! You are on the right track of it being something really impressive what with the amount of information and the scores of railway companies and all the now history. Lots of big names I knew about from over here and the equally enthralling info on wee companies here and there to boot. It was perhaps me feeling a little guilty holding onto this from 3,000 miles away!

 

[JCitron]

More historical musings... The Eastern Railroad.

The Eastern Railroad was chartered in 1836 and ran from Boston Massachusetts up to Portland on the coast. The railroad served all the major North Shore coastal cities between the two points including Lynn, Salem, Beverly, Ipswich, Newburyport, Portsmouth, and finally Portland with branches to Marblehead, Gloucester, and York. The railroad was a strong competitor to the Boston and Maine, and due to its straight, flat, double-tracked line all the way the service was much faster. The problem, however, was the railroad terminated in East Boston, which required passengers to take a ferry across the harbor. This became the Achilles heal as it cost extra time for commuters and cost money to operate. By the 1840s other companies, such as the South Reading, Bradford and Georgetown, and Saugus Branch railroads were built to connect between the Eastern Railroad and the B&M to take advantage of the new B&M mainline directly into Boston, and not have to use ferries to cross the harbor.

The Eastern saw this as competition siphoning their traffic away, and purchased these lines, and also purchased the Grand Junction Railroad which ran between East Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge where it connected to the B&M, B&L, and Fitchburg railroads. This became a joint partnership operation, and much later on a connection with the Boston and Albany (NYC) was built where the line connect in Brighton where it connected to the B&A at Beacon Park.

In 1884 the Boston and Maine leased the Eastern, and in 1893 a new terminal was built in the West End. This became North Station and served the B&L, Fitchburg, B&M, and ERR. Eventually all these lines came under B&M control with the Fitchburg joining the fold in 1900.

Today the southern portion, nearly all of the Massachusetts portion, of the Eastern is still used for MBTA commuter rail as far as Newburyport, including the Gloucester/Rockport branch. The once double-track mainline, however, has been single-tracked above Ipswich, and the track has been abandoned above Newburyport, though the ROW has been preserved and there have been discussions off and on about restoring service again to Portsmouth. The Merrimack River drawbridge, between Newburyport and Salisbury, was burned and stuck open sometime in the early 1970s. The B&M continued to serve both ends of the line as separate branches until Guilford took over in the 1980s when the north end of the line was abandoned along with the Amesbury Branch, and the Manchester to Portsmouth branch farther up. The southern half lost rail service in 1984 after the Beverly Drawbridge was burned, however, that portion was restored a year later. The rest of the line up from Ipswich to Newburyport remained closed as all freight service was gone. In the early 2000s, service was once again restored to Newburyport with stations reopened in Rowley and Newbury, and Newburyport.

To be continued...