The Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad was a railroad line between the towns of Middleborough and Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was in service from 1882 to 1939.
The Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad was a railroad line between the towns of Middleborough and Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was in service from 1882 to 1939.
Incorporated in 1890, the 15-mile (24 km) line opened on November 30, 1892. The next day, it was leased to the Old Colony Railroad for 99 years. [1] In 1893, it became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad as part of the lease of the entire Old Colony Railroad network. [2]
Passenger service, never more than a few trips per day, was often operated as Providence–Plymouth or Taunton–Plymouth trains. [3] [4] After a competing bus line opened in 1925, passenger service ended in 1927. [5] [6] Beginning in early 1928, freight service was suspended for the winter after the end of the October–December cranberry season. [7]
Freight service between North Carver and Plymouth was discontinued in 1934, and that section of the line was abandoned in 1937. [5] [8] The remainder of the line was abandoned in early 1939 with no objections from shippers. [5]
| Municipality | Station | Miles (km) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middleborough | Middleborough | 0 (0) | Junction with Middleborough Main Line, Middleborough–Taunton line, and Middleborough–Fall River line |
| Namasket (Putnams) | 3.1 (5.0) | ||
| East Middleborough (Mt. Carmel) | 5.4 (8.7) | ||
| Carver | North Carver | 7.5 (12.1) | |
| Plymouth | Darby | 10.8 (17.4) | Next to Darby Pond in West Plymouth [9] |
| Plymouth | 15.7 (25.3) | Junction with Old Colony Railroad main line |
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over 398 mi (641 km) of track to 141 different stations, with 58 stations on the north side and 83 stations on the south. It is operated under contract by Keolis, which took over operations on July 1, 2014, from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR).
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.
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 Greenbush Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which serves the South Shore region of Massachusetts. The 27.6-mile (44.4 km) line runs from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the towns of Quincy, Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate to the Greenbush neighbourhood in southern Scituate. There are ten stations along the line. From South Station, to Quincy Center, service operates in conjunction with the Old Colony Lines commuter rail service via the Old Colony Main Line. From Weymouth Landing/East Braintree to Greenbush, trains utilize the Greenbush Branch, the former South Shore Railroad line that was later incorporated into the Old Colony Railroad.
The Old Colony Lines are a pair of branches of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, connecting downtown Boston, Massachusetts with the South Shore and cranberry-farming country to the south and southeast. The two branches operate concurrently for 10 miles (16 km) via the Old Colony Mainline from South Station to Braintree station. The Middleborough/Lakeville Line then winds south through Holbrook, Brockton, Bridgewater, Middleborough, and Lakeville via the Middleborough Main Line and Cape Main Line. The Kingston/Plymouth Line heads southeast to serve Weymouth, Abington, Whitman, Hanson, Halifax, Kingston, and Plymouth by way of the Plymouth branch.
The Middleboro Secondary is a railroad line owned by MassDOT in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The line runs from Attleboro to Middleborough via Taunton.
The East Junction Branch is a railroad line owned and operated by the Providence and Worcester Railroad in the U.S. state of Rhode Island and by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Massachusetts. The line runs from the P&W's East Providence Branch in East Providence, Rhode Island, northeast to Amtrak's Shore Line at East Junction in Attleboro, Massachusetts, along a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad line. In Massachusetts, CSX Transportation operates local freight service via trackage rights, which it also has on the Shore Line north towards Boston. The P&W has overhead trackage rights in Massachusetts over the East Junction Branch, Shore Line, and CSX's Middleboro Subdivision, New Bedford Subdivision, and Fall River Subdivision to the state line in Fall River, to reach its line to Newport, Rhode Island.
North Scituate is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Scituate, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. The station, located at 777 Country Way in North Scituate village, is the primary station for Scituate, while nearby Greenbush station primarily serves as a park-and-ride for adjacent communities. Like the other stations on the Greenbush Line, North Scituate consists of a single full-length high-level platform which provides accessible boarding to the line's single track.
Brockton station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Brockton, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Middleborough/Lakeville Line and is a stop on the CapeFLYER seasonal line. The station consists of a single full-length high-level platform which is fully handicapped accessible. It is located adjacent to the BAT Centre, the primary hub for Brockton Area Transit Authority local bus service.
Middleborough/Lakeville is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Lakeville, Massachusetts, just south of the Middleborough border. It is the southern terminus of the Middleborough/Lakeville Line; it also serves seasonal CapeFlyer service. Middleborough/Lakeville has a single full-length high-level platform serving the line's single track.
South Coast Rail is a project to build a new southern line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system along several abandoned and freight-only rail lines. The line has been planned to restore passenger rail service between Boston and the cities of Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford, via the towns of Berkley, and Freetown, on the south coast of Massachusetts. It would restore passenger service to some of the southern lines of the former Old Colony Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
East Taunton station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in East Taunton, Massachusetts adjacent to the interchange between the Route 24 expressway and County Street. It is planned to open in late 2023 as part of the first phase of the South Coast Rail project.
The Dighton and Somerset Railroad was a railroad that ran between Fall River and Braintree, Massachusetts. It opened in 1866; from the 1890s to the 1930s and again in the late 1950s, it was the primary rail route from Boston to the South Coast. Passenger service ended in stages with the final regular service in 1958, though freight service on two short segments continues into the 21st century. MBTA Commuter Rail service is proposed to be extended onto the northern part of the line around 2030 as part of the South Coast Rail project.
The South Shore Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1846 to provide rail service between Quincy and Duxbury, Massachusetts through the towns of Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and Marshfield.
The Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1846 as a branch off the Old Colony Railroad main line from Boston to Plymouth. The 3.3 mile road was completed on December 1, 1847, from Neponset Village in Dorchester, Massachusetts, through the town of Milton to the village of Mattapan.
The Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad was a railroad that provided tourist and seasonal passenger services in Southeastern Massachusetts in the 1980s. Its primary service operated from the Braintree MBTA station to Hyannis on Cape Cod; branches to Attleboro and Falmouth also operated in some years. The service ended after the 1988 summer season amid early-1989 state budget cuts in Massachusetts; much of the same trackage is being used for the seasonal CapeFLYER service.
Bournedale station was a railroad station serving Bournedale, Massachusetts. Opened in 1848, it was relocated in 1911 during construction of the Cape Cod Canal and closed in the 1920s.
The Dedham Branch was a spur line of the Boston and Providence Railroad, opened in 1835, which ran from the junction with the main line at Readville through to central Dedham; it was the first railroad branch line in Massachusetts. In 1966, it became part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, but was abandoned the next year.
Middleborough station is a planned MBTA Commuter Rail station in Middleborough, Massachusetts. It is expected to open in late 2023 as part of the South Coast Rail project, replacing Middleborough/Lakeville station for regular service. The station will have a single side platform located inside the wye between the Middleborough Main Line and the Middleboro Secondary.
The 88 stations case was a 1935–40 controversy and court case involving the Old Colony Division of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The New Haven entered bankruptcy in 1935; the next year, it ended the 1893 lease of the unprofitable Old Colony Division, but continued operating those lines by court order. The Old Colony and New Haven closed 88 stations in Massachusetts on July 18, 1938, ending passenger service altogether on some lines. In May 1939, the Old Colony filed to abandon all freight and passenger service on its lines. In November 1939, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Palmer v. Massachusetts that a district court did not have authority to order the discontinuance of intrastate passenger service. Thirty-two of the stations were reopened in 1940, with 40 percent of service cut in lieu of total abandonment.
| KML file (edit • help) |
 | This United States rail–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |