Winchester Highlands station
Winchester Highlands | |||||||||||||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Cross Street, Winchester, Massachusetts | ||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°28′04″N 71°07′54″W / 42.46772°N 71.13154°W | ||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | New Hampshire Main Line | ||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | Before 1864 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | June 1978[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 1877, 1943 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Previous names | North Winchester | ||||||||||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||||
1972 | 13 daily boardings | ||||||||||||||||||||
Former services | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Winchester Highlands station was an
History
Boston and Lowell Railroad
The
In the 1870s, residents of Winchester Highlands petitioned the B&L for a new station building, but the railroad was not willing to bear the cost. Aaron C. Bell, a local real estate developer, constructed a two-story house on the west side of the tracks north of Cross Street. The upper level served as the station (as the tracks were on an embankment); the lower level housed the station agent and his family.[8][4] The station was built on land belonging to Eli Cooper, who had been the engineer of the first train to run on the B&L. It was believed to be the only privately owned railroad station on the line.[4]
Bell affixed a gilded wooden bell emblem engraved with the 1877 construction date to the station.[4][9] It was dedicated on December 31, 1877, at which time the station was renamed as Winchester Highlands.[10] Despite the name change, the station was still commonly known as North Winchester into the 1880s.[11][12] A church prayer group (which later became the Second Congregational Church of Winchester) held meetings in the station from 1881 until their own chapel was completed in 1887.[8][13] The original shelter was extant until at least 1889.[7]
Boston and Maine Railroad
The B&L became part of the
The bell was torn off the building by a storm in January 1935. It was brought to the office of a local newspaper, and later presented to the Winchester Historical Society.[9][4] The bridge over Cross Street adjacent to the station was rebuilt in 1939.[18] The station building was replaced with a small shelter around 1943 to reduce the B&M tax bill.[19][20] The old building was demolished.[9][21] Stoneham Branch service ended on May 18, 1958, after which Winchester Highlands was served by Lowell trains.[3][22] Service continued to decline during the mid-20th century: 4 round trips in 1946, 2+1⁄2 in 1952 (two southbound trains and three northbound trains), and 1+1⁄2 in 1957.[23][24][25]
MBTA
The B&M sold the Winchester Highlands station lot, as well as the Winchester and Wedgemere station buildings, in 1964.[9] The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was created that year to subsidize suburban commuter rail service. Subsidies for a number of B&M lines, including the Southern Division service as far as Wilmington, began on January 18, 1965. Subsidies for all Lowell service began on June 28; it became the Lowell Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system.[1] In 1967, the MBTA proposed to modernize Winchester Highlands as a park and ride facility.[26]
Cross Street station had just 13 daily boardings in a 1972 count; all walked to the station, as no parking was available.[27] By that time, only a single inbound trip and two outbound trips were scheduled to stop at Winchester Highlands.[28] The B&M commuter rail assets were purchased by the MBTA on December 27, 1976.[1] The peak-hour-only stops at Winchester Highlands on the Lowell Line plus Clematis Brook and Beaver Brook on the South Acton Line were discontinued in June 1978 due to low ridership.[1] The shelter built in 1943 is no longer extant.[21]
References
- ^ a b c d Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
- ISBN 9780942147124.
- ^ ISBN 9780685412947.
- ^ a b c d e "Old Relic Rescued". The Winchester Star. January 18, 1935. p. 4.
- ^ "For Sale in Winchester [advertisement]". Boston Evening Transcript. June 19, 1872. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ ABC Pathfinder Railway Guide. New England Railway Publishing Company. August 1877. p. 56 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "Part of Town of Winchester" (Map). Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. 1:3,000. George H. Walker & Co. 1889. pp. 134–135 – via Ward Maps.
- ^ a b Chapman, Henry Smith (1936). History of Winchester, Massachusetts. Town of Winchester. pp. 241–242.
- ^ a b c d Knight, Ellen (2021). "The Evolution of Winchester's Four Railroad Depots". Town of Winchester.
- ^ "Scraps From Suburban Towns". Boston Globe. January 2, 1878. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Before the Railroad Commissioners". Boston Globe. August 17, 1883. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Killed a Man Without Knowing It". Boston Globe. March 6, 1884. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Winchester". Boston Globe. May 5, 1931. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Local Train Service. Boston and Maine Railroad. September 30, 1917. pp. 39–42 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ Time Tables. Boston and Maine Railroad. September 29, 1929. pp. 28–31 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ "Train Derailed at Winchester". Boston Globe. May 23, 1923. pp. 1, 13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Wreck Causes Injuries to 24". Boston Globe. May 24, 1923. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Scott, Charles (November 1987). "Historic Structure Inventory Form". MBTA Historical Property Survey, Phase II – via Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System.
- ^ "Winchester". Boston Globe. November 2, 1942. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "B.& M. Wants Shelters Instead of 13 Stations". Boston Globe. December 15, 1942. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ ISBN 9780942147087.
- ^ Passenger Train Schedules, Boston and Maine Railroad, April 29, 1962 – via Wikimedia Commons
- ^ "Table 52". Northern New England Travel Guide. Boston and Maine Railroad. April 28, 1946 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ Passenger Train Schedules, Boston and Maine Railroad, April 27, 1952, pp. 22–25 – via Wikimedia Commons
- ^ Complete Rail Schedule, Boston and Maine Railroad, October 27, 1957, pp. 24–25 – via Wikimedia Commons
- ^ Plotkin, A.S. (August 17, 1967). "MBTA May Trim Some Commuter Runs". Boston Globe. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Thomas K. Dyer, Inc. (December 1972). Plan for Acquisition and Use of Railroad Rights of Way. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. p. 32.
- ^ Timetable No. 20, Boston and Maine Railroad, July 1, 1974 – via Wikimedia Commons
External links
Media related to Winchester Highlands station at Wikimedia Commons