Turners Falls branch (Boston and Maine Railroad)
Turners Falls branch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Abandoned | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner |
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History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1868 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | 1947 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 3.0 mi (4.8 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Turners Falls branch was a railway line in
Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad, later part of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The B&M acquired the New Haven's Turners Falls branch in 1947 and abandoned its own line. Part of the abandoned line is now the Canalside Rail Trail
.
History
The
Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad built the Turners Falls branch in 1868.[1] The line crossed the Connecticut River and ran due north into Turners Falls, Massachusetts. The passenger depot was located downtown, near 7th Street and A Avenue. An industrial spur crossed the Turners Falls Canal to serve various industries there.[2] The Fitchburg Railroad leased the V&M in 1874; the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) leased the Fitchburg in 1900.[3]
The B&M obtained trackage rights over the New Haven branch in 1925, and these rights became more important after a flood in 1936 destroyed the B&M's bridge over the Connecticut River.[3][1] The New Haven ceased operating over its own branch in 1943, and the B&M acquired the portion between Cheapside and Turners Falls in 1947. The B&M then abandoned the remainder of its original branch, save the industrial spur that crossed the canal.[3][4] That remainder was abandoned with the rest of the former New Haven branch in 1985. Part of the former B&M route along the canal is now part of the Canalside Rail Trail, which opened in 2008.[3][5]
Notes
- ^ a b Karr 2017, p. 204.
- ^ "Image 1 of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Turners Falls, Franklin County, Massachusetts". Library of Congress. August 1914. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Karr 2017, p. 79.
- ^ Karr 2017, pp. 204–205.
- ^ "Powering Forward: A Vision For The Turners Falls Canal District" (PDF). 2017. p. 30.
References
- Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England: A Handbook of Railroad History (2nd ed.). Pepperell, Massachusetts: Branch Line Press. ISBN 978-0-942147-12-4.
External links
- Media related to Turners Falls branch (Boston and Maine Railroad) at Wikimedia Commons
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