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Medford branch (Boston and Maine Railroad)

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Medford branch
Park Street station around 1908
Overview
Stations3
Service
SystemBoston and Maine Railroad
History
Opened1847
ClosedOctober 1, 1957 (passenger service)
2010 (freight service)
Technical
Line length1.8 mi (2.9 km)
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Medford branch was a railroad branch line of the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M). Located entirely within Medford, Massachusetts, the branch connected Medford Square to the B&M main line. It had passenger service from 1847 to 1957, with freight service on the inner part of the line until 2010.

History

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The Boston and Lowell Railroad was built in 1835 through West Medford, followed by the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) through the east part of Medford in 1844.[1] On March 7, 1845, the state legislature approved the charter of the Medford Branch Rail-road Company to build a branch line from the B&M mainline to Medford Square.[2] The railroad had been formed by a group of citizens including James O. Curtis earlier that year.[3] The group almost immediately acted on the charter provision which allowed them to transfer the line to the B&M, which constructed the line and opened it as the Medford branch on March 2, 1847.[4] It ran about 1.86 miles (2.99 km) from Medford Junction (north of Wellington station) to Medford Square.[4]

By 1875, an intermediate station - East Medford - had been added at Spring Street.[5] A second stop at Park Street was added by 1889.[6] The East Medford station had been renamed Glenwood by then, and was relocated slightly to the east by 1900.[7][8]

The remaining spur to the Medford branch, seen in 2017

In the 1890s, the B&M double-tracked the branch to provide more frequent service to compete with electric streetcars.[9] The branch was then a busy commuter route; at the peak levels of B&M service in 1906, the branch had 21 daily round trips.[10] However, ridership was soon decimated by the streetcars operated by the Boston Elevated Railway and the Bay State Street Railway.[10] The B&M attempted to end service in 1917; after negotiations with the town, the railroad kept four daily round trips.[11] This increased slightly to six daily round trips by 1919.[10] Operation of a gasoline-electric railcar on the branch was considered in 1925.[12]

Service on the branch was discontinued for some period in 1933–34; the station buildings remained closed after service resumed.[9][13][14] They later reopened, but were abandoned around 1943 to reduce the B&M tax bill.[15] As a marginal route, the branch was often closed entirely during service disruptions like those caused by the April 1946 and March 1948 coal mine strikes.[16][17] By 1949, only a single daily round trip remained.[10] This trip was discontinued on October 1, 1957.[18][19]

The section of the line between Park Street and Medford Square was abandoned in 1959, with the Northern Expressway soon built across it.[1] The section between Park Street and Glenwood was abandoned two years later, while freight service continued on the remaining section.[1][20] In the early 1970s, an underpass for the Orange Line and Reading Line was built at Medford Junction as part of the Haymarket North Extension.[10] (Never-realized plans in the 1940s had called for the Medford branch to be reused as an Orange Line branch.[21]) Regular freight service ended in 2008, though a single trip to deliver a single carload of fish was run in 2010.[1] The only remaining station structure is the Park Street station, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1][22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. pp. 289–296. ISBN 9780942147124.
  2. ^ "Chapter 109: An Act to incorporate the Medford Branch Rail-road Company". Acts and resolves passed by the General Court. Secretary of the Commonwealth. 1845. pp. 455–456.
  3. ^ "Medford Branch Railroad". Medford Historical Register. 27 (2): 34–39. April 1914 – via HathiTrust.
  4. ^ a b "Medford Branch Railroad". Medford Historical Register. 20 (2): 37–43. April 1917 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ County Atlas of Middlesex, Massachusetts. F.W. Beers & Co. 1875. p. 105 – via Ward Maps.
  6. ^ Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. George H. Walker & Co. 1889. pp. 18, 19 – via Ward Maps.
  7. ^ Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Vol. 1. George W. Stadley & Co. 1900. Plate 33 – via Ward Maps.
  8. ^ Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. George H. Walker & Co. 1889. p. 29 – via Ward Maps.
  9. ^ a b Boulding, Christine; Herza, John (March 1975). "NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM: Park Street Railroad Station". National Park Service.
  10. ^ a b c d e Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 68, 69. ISBN 9780685412947.
  11. ^ "Summary of the news in and about Greater Boston: Medford". Boston Globe. June 5, 1917. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ^ "Medford". Boston Globe. December 9, 1925. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  13. ^ "How would you like to live in a railroad station". Boston Globe. July 15, 1933. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  14. ^ "Storm crowds B. & M. trains". Boston Globe. February 20, 1934. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  15. ^ "B.& M. Wants Shelters Instead of 13 Stations". Boston Globe. December 15, 1942. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Trains to Be Discontinued". Boston Globe. March 20, 1948. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  17. ^ "B. & M. WEEK DAY Trains CANCELLED". Boston Globe. May 7, 1946. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  18. ^ "B&M Told to Up Earnings Or Face Control by Court". Boston Globe. August 3, 1957 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  19. ^ Middlesex County Court (April 3, 1962). "CITY OF MEDFORD vs. MARINUCCI BROS. & CO., INC. & another". Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Massachusetts Cases.
  20. ^ Karr, Ronald Dale (2010). Lost Railroads of New England (Third ed.). Branch Line Press. p. 153. ISBN 9780942147117.
  21. ^ Casey, Gene R. (April 6, 1947). "10 Electric-Train Lines Proposed by Board in Report to Legislature". Boston Globe. pp. 1, 28 – via Newspapers.com. (second section, third page) Open access icon
  22. ^ Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. p. 213. ISBN 9780942147087.
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