The Providence and Worcester Railroad

The Providence and Worcester Railroad is a regional operation based in Worcester, Massachusetts that has its beginnings dating back to the 1840s but has only been an independent operation since 1973. Its current system comprises over 500 miles of track stretching from (with trackage rights) New York and Connecticut to Rhode Island and Massachusetts. By being located in the Northeast the P&W also has a myriad number of connections with other railroads, especially Class Is that include CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific.

The railroad�s history began in 1844 to connect its namesake cities and was leased in 1892 by the New Haven Railroad for 99 years. The P&W�s road to independence started in 1969 when the New Haven was merged into the Penn Central Corporation (although both the Pennsylvania and New York Central wanted nothing to do with the New Haven, due to the railroad�s very poor financial situation, it was forced into the merger per the ICC's ruling). Because of this merger the following spring in 1970 the Providence and Worcester wanted out and announced it was going independent which resulted in quite a legal battle but was approved by the ICC and finalized in the late winter of 1973.

Today, the P&W is the only railroad which offers Rhode Island interstate rail service (the state has no Class I rail service and the Providence & Worcester is the largest carrier still operating within the state) and has the unique and exclusive privilege of actually operating over the Northeast Corridor between New Haven and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island border.

The P&W�s current roster includes a mix of EMD and GE power although all are of the four-axle variety save for their E9B. The below roster comes courtesy of The Diesel Shop:

The Providence and Worcester Railroad Roster

#150 - GE 25-Tonner

#668 - EMD E9B

#2006-2009 - EMD GP38-2

#2010 and #2011 - EMD GP38-3: Ex-Penn Central

#2201 and #2212 - GE B23-7

#2215 and #2216 - GE B23-SS7

#3001-3003 - EMD GP40: Ex-Georgetown Railroad

#3004-3008 - GE B30-7A: Ex-Burlington Northern

#3901-3909 - GE B39-8E: Ex-LMX

#4001-4004 - GE B40-8: Ex-Susquehanna

Currently the railroad's traffic base consists of everything from steel, coal, chemicals, scrap metals, and cement to food-based products like corn syrup and vegetable oils. Its customers include Dow Chemical, Northeast Utilities, Exxon/Mobil, Frito-Lay, General Dynamics Corporation, International Paper Company, Smurfit Stone Container Corporation and Tilcon Connecticut. The P&W also operates the largest double-stack intermodal facilities in the region, located in Worcester.

For more reading on Regionals like the P&W consider the book Regional Railroads of the Midwest by Steve Glischinksi. While the book obviously does not feature every Regional in the country it does cover the "Chicago Central Pacific; Dakota, Minnesota Eastern; Escanaba Lake Superior; Iowa Interstate Railroad; Iowa, Chicago Eastern; Indiana Rail Road; Kyle Railroad; Red River Valley Western; Twin Cities Western; Toledo, Peoria Western; Wisconsin Central; and Wisconsin Southern" with plenty of photographs and information about each. If you have an interest in smaller carriers like Regionals, and/or are interested in learning more about their operations, you will almost surely enjoy the book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".

footer for providence and worcester page