Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad
 | This article is missing information about a station list. (December 2015) |
 At the junction in Gardner, the former Boston, Barre and Gardner rail line can be seen in the background, today operated by the Providence and Worcester Railroad | |
| Übersicht | |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1871–1885 |
| Successor | Fitchburg Railroad |
The Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts, which connected Worcester and Winchendon. It was originally chartered as the Barre and Worcester Railroad in 1847.[1] Construction to its northern terminus of Winchendon was finished in January 1874. The railroad operated independently until it was taken over by the Fitchburg Railroad in 1885.[1] Despite the company's name, it never served Boston or Barre.[1]
History
Formation and construction
Originally chartered by businessmen in Worcester in 1847, the company changed its name to the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad in 1849.[1][2] It was originally intended to connect Worcester with Barre and Palmer, and its charter authorized it along a westward route towards those two cities.[1] The railroad's promoters could not raise funds to begin construction at the time, leaving the company a railroad only in name until 1869.[1][2] In September of that year, the city of Worcester voted by an overwhelming margin to give the company $200,000 in aid, allowing construction to begin.[3]
With the passage of 20 years since the original charter, the railroad changed its original plans and decided instead to build northward towards Gardner, and requested a modification of its charter by the Massachusetts General Court in late 1869. The legislature approved this change, and the railroad formally changed its route in March 1870.[4] An additional change was made to route the railroad directly through the town of Holden, which had contributed $30,000 towards the railroad's construction and offered an additional $14,800 on the condition that the company directly served the town.[4] Construction was completed from Worcester to Gardner in 1871, and the railroad ran its first trains that year.[5]
Operating history
By 1872, the railroad was described as "a decided success" on account of brisk traffic, and began plans to built further north from Gardner to Winchendon, a distance of 10 miles.[5] This extension was opened in January 1874.[1]
In August 1874, the railroad's board of directors voted to lease the Monadnock Railroad, which extended the Boston, Barre and Gardner's tracks from Winchendon to Peterboro, New Hampshire.[6] The railroad also decided to extend the Monadnock from its Peterboro terminus northward 18 miles to Hillsboro, where it would connect with the Contoocook River Railroad, providing a route to Concord.[6] This lease was ended in 1880, as the railroad could no longer afford to pay it.[1]
In December 1881, the Central Massachusetts Railroad completed a connection to the Boston, Barre and Gardner in Holden, allowing the latter company a connection to Boston.[7]
Merger into the Fitchburg
The Fitchburg Railroad concluded an agreement to purchase the Boston, Barre, and Gardner Railroad in early 1885, with the Fitchburg taking over operations on March 4 pending legislative approval.[8] The following month, the Massachusetts General Court authorized the Fitchburg to consolidate the Boston, Barre, and Gardner, formally ending its existence as a railroad company.[9]
As a part of the Fitchburg system, the Boston, Barre and Gardner's lines remained busy, with the Fitchburg describing its purchase of the company as "very satisfactory" in 1887.[10]
To the present day
In 1900, the Fitchburg was leased by the Boston and Maine Railroad.[1] The B&M continued to operate the line between Winchendon and Worcester until 1959, when the final 10 miles between Winchendon and Gardner were abandoned, leaving only a 1 mile long stub track north of the former Fitchburg line that met the Boston, Barre and Gardner in downtown Gardner.
Falling on hard times in the 1970s, the Boston and Maine abandoned nearly all of the line in 1972, excepting only the stub track in Gardner. The line was saved when the newly founded Providence and Worcester Railroad purchased the line and reopened it in 1974, as a means of connecting with the Boston and Maine.[1] As of 2021, the P&W continues to operate its portion of the Boston, Barre and Gardner between Worcester and Gardner, while Boston and Maine successor Pan Am Railways operates the remaining portion of the line in Gardner.[1][11][12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2nd ed.). Pepperell, Massachusetts: Branch Line Press. pp. 229–231. ISBN 978-0-942147-12-4.
- ^ a b "The Steam Railroads of Massachusetts". Boston Daily Evening Transcript. February 11, 1869. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ "Brief Mention". Hartford Weekly Times. September 25, 1869. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ a b "Barre & Gardner Railroad". Boston Daily Evening Transcript. March 23, 1870. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ a b "A Visit to Gardner". Boston Daily Evening Transcript. December 2, 1872. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ a b "Telegraphic Dispatches". Manufacturers and Farmers Journal. August 13, 1874. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ "Railroad Items". The Southbridge Journal. December 9, 1881. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ "Boston, Barre & Gardner". Boston Evening Transcript. March 4, 1885. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ "Local Railroad Notes". Boston Evening Transcript. April 29, 1885. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ "Annual Report of the Fitchburg". Boston Evening Transcript. January 20, 1887. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ "Maps and Routing Guide". Pan Am Railways. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
- ^ "Providence and Worcester Railroad – A Genesee & Wyoming Company". Retrieved 2021-10-26.