Lancaster Railroad

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A map of downtown Hudson from 1888 showing the Lancaster Railroad, erroneously labeled as the Central Massachusetts Railroad, crossing over Mill Pond and continuing north off the map. Sanborn Hudson MA 1888 key map.png
A map of downtown Hudson from 1888 showing the Lancaster Railroad, erroneously labeled as the Central Massachusetts Railroad, crossing over Mill Pond and continuing north off the map.

The Lancaster Railroad, also known as the Lancaster and Hudson Railroad, was a shortline railroad in Massachusetts. The line ran 8.75 miles from a connection with the Worcester and Nashua Railroad in South Lancaster to a connection with the Marlborough Branch of the Fitchburg Railroad in Hudson via the town of Bolton.

A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the U.S., railroads are categorized by operating revenue, and most shortline railroads fall into the Class III or Class II categorization defined by the Surface Transportation Board. Shortlines generally exist for one of three reasons: to link two industries requiring rail freight together ; to interchange revenue traffic with other, usually larger, railroads; or to operate a tourist passenger train service. Often, short lines exist for all three of these reasons.

Massachusetts State of the United States of America

Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It borders on the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named after the Massachusett tribe, which once inhabited the east side of the area, and is one of the original thirteen states. The capital of Massachusetts is Boston, which is also the most populous city in New England. Over 80% of Massachusetts's population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. During the 20th century, Massachusetts's economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a global leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.

Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad transport company

The Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad was a railroad line that was to link the city of Worcester, Massachusetts to the city of Portland, Maine, via the New Hampshire cities of Nashua and Rochester, by merging several small shortline railroads together.

Contents

History

The Lancaster Railroad was chartered by the Legislature of Massachusetts on April 30, 1870. [1] Its first, and only, president was George A. Parker of Lancaster. In addition to regular stops at the stations at its termini and in Bolton center, the prospectus outlined plans for special stops at Holman's Orchard in the spring and fall as well as at the Hillside Church on Sundays during the summer. No plans for freight service were mentioned. [2] Upon its completion, the Lancaster Railroad was supposed to be leased jointly by its connecting railroads, the Worcester and Nashua Railroad and the Fitchburg Railroad. [3]

Massachusetts General Court legislature of Massachusetts

The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the colonial assembly, in addition to making laws, sat as a judicial court of appeals. Before the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, it was called the Great and General Court, but the official title was shortened by John Adams, author of the state constitution. It is a bicameral body. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate which is composed of 40 members. The lower body, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members. It meets in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston.

Construction began in the winter of 1871 but was plagued with problems, including undercapitalization, frequent disagreements among the seven directors, and, at one point, an inability to meet payroll that resulted in the layoff of the railroad's workmen. In spite of these issues, the line was completed by the spring of 1872. [4] Ultimately, however, the railroad's problems proved too great to overcome, and it would never officially open. The only train to pass over the route carried the railroad's officials as they inspected the completed work. [2] The main reason cited for the railroad's failure was a lack of funds; however, other underlying issues also contributed. Chief among these underlying issues was that neither the Worcester and Nashua Railroad nor the Fitchburg Railroad ever exercised their lease agreements of the Lancaster Railroad in part due to disagreements over the details of the joint lease. [5] Adding to the list of the Lancaster Railroad's problems was a lawsuit on June 22, 1872 alleging that the railroad had damaged a dam of the Holmes Manufacturing Estate in Hudson. [2]

In 1874, the Lancaster Railroad entered into bankruptcy. [5] Although it emerged from bankruptcy in 1877, [6] it was never resurrected, partially due to the threat of increased competition from the advancing Central Massachusetts Railroad. The property was sold to Robert Codman, a director of the Fitchburg Railroad, for $15,000- a fraction of the $290,000 it had originally cost [6] - and then turned over to the Fitchburg Railroad itself a short time later. [7] With no need for the line, the rails were taken up in 1889. [2]

Central Massachusetts Railroad Former railroad in Massachusetts

The Central Massachusetts Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. The eastern terminus of the line was at North Cambridge Junction where it split off from the Middlesex Central Branch of the Boston and Lowell Railroad in North Cambridge and through which it had access to North Station in Boston. From there, the route ran 98.77 miles west through the modern-day towns of Belmont, Waltham, Weston, Wayland, Sudbury, Hudson, Bolton, Berlin, Clinton, West Boylston, Holden, Rutland, Oakham, Barre, New Braintree, Hardwick, Ware, Palmer, Belchertown, Amherst, and Hadley to its western terminal junction at N. O. Tower in Northampton with the Connecticut River Railroad.

The Lancaster Railroad trestle passing over Mill Pond in Hudson, MA, probably taken sometime in the 1870s. Lancaster Railroad Trestle, Mill Pond, Hudson, MA 001.jpg
The Lancaster Railroad trestle passing over Mill Pond in Hudson, MA, probably taken sometime in the 1870s.

In late 1895, the Lancaster Railroad was briefly considered for resurrection. The Boston and Maine Railroad had leased the Worcester and Nashua Railroad in 1886, renaming it the Worcester, Nashua, and Portland Division Main Line, and the Central Massachusetts Railroad in 1897, renaming it the Central Massachusetts Branch. By 1895, planning was underway for the construction of the Wachusett Reservoir, and the Boston and Maine needed to reroute a portion of its Central Massachusetts Branch in Boylston and West Boylston that would be flooded. Their plan was to build a new stretch of track from West Berlin Junction with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad to the Worcester, Nashua, and Portland Division Main Line at Clinton Junction. Trains on the Central Massachusetts Branch would then follow the Worcester, Nashua, and Portland Division Main Line into Oakdale, where they would switch back onto the Central Massachusetts Branch. Sensing an opportunity to bring the rail service to their town that had never materialized in the preceding decades, the citizens of Bolton proposed that the Boston and Maine use the Lancaster Railroad right of way instead, building a small connection in Hudson and leaving Berlin at the end of a four-mile branch. [2] Ultimately, however, the Boston and Maine elected to go with its original plan, and the Lancaster Railroad was never rebuilt.

Boston and Maine Corporation transport company

The Boston and Maine Corporation, known as the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M), was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. It became part of what is now the Pan Am Railways network in 1983.

Wachusett Reservoir

The Wachusett Reservoir is the second largest body of water in the state of Massachusetts. It is located in central Massachusetts, northeast of Worcester. It is part of the water supply system for metropolitan Boston maintained by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). It has an aggregate capacity of 65 billion US gallons (250,000,000 m3) and an area of almost 7 square miles (18.2 km²). Water from the Wachusett flows to the covered Norumbega Storage Facility via the Cosgrove Tunnel and the MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel. The reservoir has a maximum depth of 120 feet and a mean depth of 48 feet.

Boylston, Massachusetts Town in Massachusetts, United States

Boylston is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,355 at the 2010 census.

Present Day

Today, with all of the rails torn up, there is very little evidence of the Lancaster Railroad. Part of the railroad's route included a wooden trestle that ran across Mill Pond, also known as Bruce's Pond, in Hudson. Although the wooden part of the trestle was destroyed during the 1938 New England hurricane, the support bases can still be seen when water levels are low. Much of the grading can still be seen along the route, especially in the Boy Scouts of America's Camp Resolute in Bolton, although the Boston and Maine sold off other parts of the property for redevelopment. Bridge abutments can also be seen where the railroad crossed Route 85 and Interstate 495.

1938 New England hurricane Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 1938

The 1938 New England Hurricane was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The storm formed near the coast of Africa on September 9, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, before making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Long Island on September 21. It is estimated that the hurricane killed 682 people, damaged or destroyed more than 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at $306 million. Damaged trees and buildings were still seen in the affected areas as late as 1951. It remains the most powerful and deadliest hurricane in recorded New England history, perhaps eclipsed in landfall intensity only by the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635.

Massachusetts Route 85 highway in Massachusetts

Route 85, is a north–south state highway in Massachusetts, United States. It passes through the heart of Boston's MetroWest region, through towns on the eastern edge of Worcester County and western edge of Middlesex County, crossing the border between the two counties four times. Throughout its entire distance, Route 85 runs parallel to I-495, never passing more than two miles from it.

Interstate 495 (I-495) is an auxiliary route of I-95 in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning 120.74 miles (194.31 km), it is the second-longest auxiliary route in the Interstate Highway System, ranking behind I-476 in Pennsylvania by a difference of roughly 11 miles (18 km).

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New York and New England Railroad

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References

  1. ↑ Massachusetts, Board of Railroad Commissioners, ed. (1870). Second annual report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners (1870). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Railroad Commission. p. 82. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 The Central Mass (2nd ed.). Brimfield, MA: Marker Press/The Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society. 2008. pp. 129–130.
  3. ↑ Massachusetts, Board of Railroad Commissioners, ed. (1872). Fourth annual report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners (1872). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Railroad Commission. p. 208. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  4. ↑ Massachusetts, Board of Railroad Commissioners, ed. (1873). Fifth annual report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners (1873). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Railroad Commission. p. 198. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  5. 1 2 Massachusetts, Board of Railroad Commissioners, ed. (1874). Sixth annual report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners (1874). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Railroad Commission. p. 213. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  6. 1 2 Massachusetts, Board of Railroad Commissioners, ed. (1877). Ninth annual report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners (1877). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Railroad Commission. p. 307. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  7. ↑ Massachusetts, Board of Railroad Commissioners, ed. (1889). Twenty-first annual report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners (1889). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Railroad Commission. p. 222. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
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