Massachusetts Railroading and Railfanning In "The Bay State"

Massachusetts railroading, like most of the Northeast, is defined by mountainous, stiff grades and coastal operations. Although the Bay State has never had more than a few thousand miles of railroad it is the first to have a railroad operating within its borders, even before the Baltimore & Ohio was chartered! Today, Massachusetts is home to one operating Class I and Amtrak’s very busy Northeast Corridor (NEC), which terminates in Boston.

Massachusetts railroading has its beginnings dating all of the way back to 1826 when the Granite Railway was chartered on March 4th of that year. While not the first common-carrier railroad in the United States (which belongs to the B&O) the Granite Railway is distinguished as the first commercial railroad to develop into such without ever being closed or going bankrupt. This little railroad was initially built to move granite (hence its name) from Quincy to the Neponset River at Milton.

In the succeeding years Massachusetts would be home to several of the Northeast’s most well known railroads, most of which built into the Bay State to reach the burgeoning port city of Boston. These would include the Pennsylvania Railroad, New Haven Railroad, New York Central, and the Boston & Maine.

Of these railroads perhaps the Boston & Maine is best remembered in Massachusetts. Although the B&M operated less than 2,000 miles of railroad, it served its namesake city and much of the Bay State reaching such cities as Springfield, Greenfield and Worcester. From Boston it radiated out to the north and east reaching Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and extreme eastern New York.

The growth of the B&M was a result of a heavily industrialized Northeast which existed for many years until following WWII when businesses slowly began to move away (most notably from the 1960s through the 1980s). During this time the B&M was a very profitable operation and while never a large operator of passenger trains did run commuter services with its more well known named trains including the Ambassador (Concord, New Hampshire to White River Junction, Vermont), Alouette (Bostonand Wells River, Vermont), Green Mountain Flyer (Bellow Falls, VT to Montreal via CN and the Rutland Railroad), and the lightweight streamliner Flying Yankee a near identical sister to the famous Burlington Zephyr 9900.

Like most Northeastern carriers, following WWII (and especially the latter 1950s) the Boston and Maine Railroad began to see profits drying up and it did not help any that during the late 1950s and early 1960s the railroad had a president unable to effectively manage the railroad (one problem of which was deferring maintenance and allowing the railroad to deteriorate to critical conditions). It was almost inevitable then that the B&M went bankrupt on February 1, 1970 (a time period when almost all of its surrounding competitors were throwing in the towel as well).

Miraculously, however, it was able to avoid inclusion into the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), which began operations on April 1, 1976. A new president kept this from happening whose name was Alan B. Dustin. Dustin rescued the railroad from the brink and through aggressive management, marketing, and sound railroading the B&M began to once again see black (which, considering the Northeast rail grid during these years its amazing the railroad was able to accomplish such a feat).

Now a successful Regional operation it’s not surprising that someone would be interested in purchasing the B&M. After recently emerging from its 1970 bankruptcy, the Boston and Maine Railroad was purchased by Timothy Mellon, founder of Guilford Transportation Industries in 1983. Today the Boston and Maine Railroad is still officially on the books although it survives now mostly in name only and it is unlikely the railroad will ever be spun off from the Pan Am system.

The rest of the Massachusetts railroading network is operated by Regional Providence & Worcester and Class I, CSX Transportation (of note, CSX also operates the original Western Railroad alignment, a later Boston & Albany predecessor which was so well constructed that almost all of it remains in constant use today, 171 years after it was originally built!) and a number of other shortline carriers. These include the Bay Colony Railroad, Cape Cod Rails, East Brookfield & Spencer Railroad, and the Massachusetts Central Railroad.

All together, these systems along with Amtrak and the MBTA operate just over 1,000 miles of track throughout the state although at one time Massachusetts was home to twice that amount. For a more detailed look at Massachusetts railroading in terms of route mileage over the years please have a look at the chart below.

Passenger railroading today continues to be an important part of the Massachusetts rail system with the ex-New Haven main line to Boston serving as Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (Massachusetts is also home to longest stretch of high-speed rail in the U.S., totaling 10.5 miles at 150 mph). Amtrak trains such as the Vermonter, and Downeasters also serve the Bay State.

Passenger and freight operations aside, Massachusetts railroading is also home to a number of railroad museums and excursion trains, like the very popular Cape Cod Central Railroad. Others include the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum, Cape Cod Central Railroad, Chatham Railroad Museum, Edaville Railroad, Lowell National Historical Park, Old Colony & Fall River Railroad Museum, Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, and the Walker Transportation Collection.

So, whether you are interested in high-speed passenger trains or bucolic local shortline railroads, Massachusetts railroading offers a bit of everything. And, if you tire of that then be sure and stop by one of the state’s many railroad museums to learn more about its history.