~ THE HISTORY of MARLBOROUGH'S TROLLEY AND RAIL SYSTEM ~ Rails from the North side
Submitted by Ray Shoop
Although it eventually grew to encompass a major rail system, the Fitchburg Rail Road began as a short line built to service the docks of Charlestown. The Charlestown Branch RR received its charter in 1836, and in October 1839 opened as a 1.3 mile line from Charlestown to Somerville. The Charlestown Branch was soon engorged by a much more ambitious project. In 1842 paper mill tycoon Alvah Crocker of Fitchburg had secured a charter to build a rail line from Charlestown to Fitchburg. The Fitchburg RR commenced construction at West Cambridge in May 1843 and opened from that point to Waltham in December. By June 1844 it had reached Concord. By October, it was in Acton, December in Shirley and in March 1845 it was completed to Fitchburg. The Fitchburg RR owners’ wasted little time in chartering extensions, to New Hampshire, Vermont and ultimately, Canada. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Fitchburg RR had expanded into a 460-mile system that controlled lines in four states. The Boston & Maine RR leased the entire Fitchburg RR system in 1900.
The Lancaster & Sterling RR was chartered in 1846. Shortly afterwards the Fitchburg RR obtained control and had the charter changed to authorize construction of a Fitchburg RR Marlboro branch from South Acton toward Marlboro. Construction commenced in 1848 and was completed to Feltonville (now part of Hudson) in June 1850. Under the charter of a second line, the Marlboro Branch RR in 1852, the branch was extended to Marlboro and completed in March 1855.
The thirteen mile branch started in South Acton {0} and served Maynard {3}, Lake Boone {6} (Whitmans Crossing), Gleasondale {7} (Rockbottom), Hudson {9} (Feltonville) and Marlboro {13}.
The Marlboro Branch RR supported both freight and passenger travel.
The typical passenger train consisted of a steam engine (4-4-0) with two passenger cars.
The initial 1855 passenger depot and engine house buildings were located on Prospect Street. As activity on the branch increased, a engine round house with turntable, several warehouse buildings and railroad sidings were added in the area. The increase in passenger traffic caused the Marlboro Branch RR passenger depot at the corner of Lincoln and Mechanic St. to be constructed and dedicated in 1893.
The number and frequency of passenger trains servicing the branch varied until 1939, when passenger service was suspended. Examination of a B&M 1919 timetable reveals that four trains supported Marlboro.
Typical departure times were: 6:20am, 7:00am, 11:48am, 3:50pm, and 9:00pm.
Typical travel time to Boston was between 1:20 and 1:45 min. The travel time varied due to some trains were ‘thru to Boston’. The other trains required the passengers to change in South Acton or at the junction with the Mass Central branch in Gleasondale.
Boston & Maine Railroad Passenger Station, Marlboro, Mass. in July 1940. The building was originally built by the Fitchburg Railroad in 1893.
Photo by Charles Cole, who was the railroad station agent in the building.
(from the collection of R. Richard Conard)After B&M passenger train service to Marlboro ended on April 29, 1939, the baggage portion of the building (in the foreground) was used as a railroad freight office for several years, and then as a gas station and automobile dealership. Despite local efforts to preserve the building, it was demolished on June 9, 1987.
Faced with declining traffic and deterioration track conditions, time finally ran out. On August 1979 the B&M filed a petition with the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon the Central Mass. Branch between Waltham North and Berlin, as well as the remainder of the Marlboro Branch between Hudson and Marlboro.
The last train to Hudson ran on June 19, 1980. An embargo on all future shipments west of Waltham North became effective on August 22nd, and a bulletin order dated September 11th placed all track out of service west of the Beacon Street crossing in Waltham effective as of that date. The U.S. District Court overseeing the B&M’s bankruptcy gave its consent in October and the service discontinuance was made permanent.
DRAFT QUESTIONS
Rt-290 extension cuts rail line.
Fitchburg St. RR overpass removal
Epilog
The trail will be built along the abandoned rail bed of the former Marlborough Branch RR, which was active between 1855 and 1980.
As of July 20, 2001, a 3/4 mile section of the trail is paved and open to the public, with a 2nd 1/2 mile under construction and scheduled to open by December 2001.Bibliography
The information collected for this ‘snapshot history’ is only a tiny part of the knowledge contained in these listed reference books and web pages. Much more detailed information on the facts; people and history are available within their pages. They are available thru the Marlborough Public Library.
Assabet River Rail Trail – Natural Resource Guide tab -- copyright 1998: Jeff Richards/ARRT – (Extensive description of trail route including fauna and floral)
Assabet River Rail Trail – Route Map tab -- copyright 1998:
“B&M Bulletin” – December 1985.
Karr, Ronald Dale “The Rail Lines of Southern New England – A Handbook of Railroad History” Branch Line Press, Pepperell, Mass
Liljestrand, Bob “New England 1930’s Steam action Worcester – The Railroad Press.
Railroad info links
Assabet River Rail Trail - Home page
Assabet River Rail Trail - Natural Resource Guide
Assabet River Rail Trail - Route map
Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society
Guilford Rail System Home Page
Providence and Worcester Railroad
National Railway Historical Society
The New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association
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