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Bay Colony Railroad locomotive in Medfield, Massachusetts, in 2017 | |
Overview | |
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Headquarters | Braintree, Massachusetts |
Reporting mark | BCLR |
Locale | Massachusetts |
Dates of operation | 1982–2023 |
Predecessor | Conrail |
Successor | Massachusetts Coastal Railroad |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Bay Colony Railroad( reporting mark BCLR) was a shortline railroad (STB Class III) operating in Massachusetts.
Formerly operating along most of the south coast region (including all lines on Cape Cod), Bay Colony's final operations ceased in late 2023, when the only two remaining lines (a roughly six-mile stretch of track between New Bedford and Westport, referred to as the Watuppa Branch, as well as a section of the Millis Branch from Medfield Junction to Millis) were purchased by Massachusetts Coastal Railroad.
In addition to moving freight for its customers, Bay Colony also performed AAR-certified repairs on rolling stock and contract track construction projects for other railroads. It had a sister railroad, the Seminole Gulf Railway, which is based out of Fort Myers, Florida.
The Bay Colony railroad was chartered on March 31, 1977, with the intent of taking over freight service on former New Haven lines from Conrail, which was planning to abandon service. [1] The lines were purchased by the state government, and Bay Colony took over all freight operations on the lines on June 12, 1982 with a 25-year contract. [2]
Bay Colony expressed interest in purchasing the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad in 1983. [3]
The contract for the railroad lines owned by the State of Massachusetts administered by the Executive Office of Transportation (EOT), which included the Cape Cod main expired on December 31, 2007. It was awarded to a new company, the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad, which took over on January 1, 2008. At that time the Bay Colony ceased operation on those lines, but continued to maintain operations in other areas of the state, namely the Millis branch (until 2018) and the Watuppa branch. [2] The Bay Colony Railroad maintained its headquartered in Braintree, Massachusetts, and owned 6 miles (9.7 km) of active trackage within Massachusetts. [4]
Bay Colony continued operations along the Millis Branch, a roughly eight-mile segment of track between Needham Junction and the former Millis station. This line interchanges with CSX at Medfield. By May 2018, Bay Colony had ceased regular operations of this branch following the closure of GAF Roofing, the biggest customer on the line. [4] Bay Colony also operated along the Watuppa Branch (also referred to as the North Dartmouth Industrial Track), a roughly six-mile stretch of track in the south coast of the state. The branch diverges from the New Bedford Secondary and passes through the town of Dartmouth before terminating in Westport. Interchange was with Mass Coastal in New Bedford. [4]
In November 2023, Mass Coastal indicated that it had agreed to purchase the Millis Branch and Watuppa Branch from Bay Colony and operate the lines, ending all remaining operations by the Bay Colony. [5] [6] However, on December 15, the Surface Transportation Board rejected the transfer of Millis Branch operations due to uncertainty about the status of the line. [7] Mass Coastal announced the purchase of the Bay Colony was final in February 2024, excluding the Millis Branch which remained held up by legal issues. [8] Mass Coastal expects to acquire the Millis Branch in summer 2024. [9]
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Pan Am Railways, Inc. (PAR) is a subsidiary of CSX Corporation that operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Rotterdam Junction, New York. Pan Am Railways is primarily made up of former Class II regional railroads such as Boston and Maine Corporation, Maine Central Railroad Company, Portland Terminal Company, and Springfield Terminal Railway Company. It was formerly known as Guilford Transportation Industries and was also known as Guilford Rail System. Guilford bought the name, colors, and logo of Pan American World Airways in 1998.
The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod. For many years the Old Colony Railroad Company also operated steamboat and ferry lines, including those of the Fall River Line with express train service from Boston to its wharf in Fall River where passengers boarded luxury liners to New York City. The company also briefly operated a railroad line on Martha's Vineyard, as well as the freight-only Union Freight Railroad in Boston. The OC was named after the "Old Colony", the nickname for the Plymouth Colony.
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The Cape Cod Railroad is a railroad in southeastern Massachusetts, running from Pilgrim Junction in Middleborough across the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge, where it splits towards Hyannis in one direction and Falmouth in the other. It was incorporated in 1846 as the Cape Cod Branch Railroad to provide a rail link from the Fall River Railroad line in Middleborough to Cape Cod.
The Fall River Secondary is a freight railroad line in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, with freight operations handled by the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad; it was formerly owned and operated by CSX Transportation. The line runs from the New Bedford Subdivision at Myricks south to Fall River along a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad line. At its south end, at the Rhode Island state line in Fall River, it becomes a line of the Providence and Worcester Railroad.
The New Bedford Main Line, also known as the New Bedford Subdivision, is a freight railroad line in the U.S. state of Massachusetts owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, with freight operations handled by the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad. The line runs from Cotley Junction where it meets the Middleboro Secondary near Weir Village south to New Bedford along a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad line. The Fall River Secondary branches off at Myricks Junction.
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