View source for Medford branch (Boston and Maine Railroad)

{{Short description|Former railway line in Massachusetts}}
{{Infobox rail line
| image = Park Street (Medford) station 1908 postcard.jpg
| image_width = 300px
| caption = [[Park Street station (Boston and Maine Railroad)|Park Street station]] around 1908
| system = [[Boston and Maine Railroad]]
| open = 1847
| close = October 1, 1957 (passenger service)<br />2010 (freight service)
| stations = 3
| linelength_mi = 1.8
| gauge = {{RailGauge|ussg}}
}}
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==
The [[Boston and Lowell Railroad]] was built in 1835 through [[West Medford station|West Medford]], followed by the [[Boston and Maine Railroad]] (B&M) through the east part of Medford in 1844.<ref name=sne /> 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.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/actsresolvespass184345mass/page/454/mode/2up |title=Acts and resolves passed by the General Court |chapter=Chapter 109: An Act to incorporate the Medford Branch Rail-road Company |publisher=Secretary of the Commonwealth |year=1845 |pages=455–456}}</ref> The railroad had been formed by a group of citizens including [[James O. Curtis]] earlier that year.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044048113153&view=1up&seq=56 |title=Medford Branch Railroad |journal=Medford Historical Register |volume=27 |issue=2 |date=April 1914 |pages=34–39 |via=HathiTrust}}</ref> 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.<ref name=mhr1917>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCkWAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA37 |title=Medford Branch Railroad |pages=37–43 |journal=Medford Historical Register |volume=20 |issue=2 |date=April 1917 |via=Google Books}}</ref> It ran about {{convert|1.86|miles}} from Medford Junction (north of [[Wellington station (MBTA)|Wellington station]]) to Medford Square.<ref name=mhr1917 />
By 1875, an intermediate station - East Medford - had been added at Spring Street.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=524 |page=105 |year=1875 |title=County Atlas of Middlesex, Massachusetts |publisher=F.W. Beers & Co. |via=Ward Maps}}</ref> A second stop at [[Park Street station (Boston and Maine Railroad)|Park Street]] was added by 1889.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=526 |title=Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts |pages=18, 19 |publisher=George H. Walker & Co. |year=1889 |via=Ward Maps}}</ref> The East Medford station had been renamed Glenwood by then, and was relocated slightly to the east by 1900.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=2220 |page=Plate 33 |no-pp=yes |title=Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts |volume=1 |year=1900 |publisher=George W. Stadley & Co. |via=Ward Maps}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=4029 |title=Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts |page=29 |publisher=George H. Walker & Co. |year=1889 |via=Ward Maps}}</ref>
[[File:Former Medford Branch spur, April 2017.JPG|thumb|left|The remaining spur to the Medford branch, seen in 2017]]
In the 1890s, the B&M [[double-track]]ed the branch to provide more frequent service to compete with electric streetcars.<ref name=nrhp /> 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.<ref name=150years /> However, ridership was soon decimated by the streetcars operated by the [[Boston Elevated Railway]] and the [[Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway|Bay State Street Railway]].<ref name=150years /> The B&M attempted to end service in 1917; after negotiations with the town, the railroad kept four daily round trips.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50915400/the-boston-globe/ |title=Summary of the news in and about Greater Boston: Medford |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=June 5, 1917 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> This increased slightly to six daily round trips by 1919.<ref name=150years /> Operation of a [[Doodlebug (rail car)|gasoline-electric railcar]] on the branch was considered in 1925.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50915681/the-boston-globe/ |title=Medford |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=December 9, 1925 |page=13 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>
Service on the branch was discontinued for some period in 1933–34; the station buildings remained closed after service resumed.<ref name=nrhp>{{cite web |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796059 |title=NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM: Park Street Railroad Station |date=March 1975 |first1=Christine |last1=Boulding |first2=John |last2=Herza |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50898665/the-boston-globe/ |title=How would you like to live in a railroad station |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=July 15, 1933 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50915100/the-boston-globe/ |title=Storm crowds B. & M. trains |newspaper=Boston Globe  |date=February 20, 1934 |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> They later reopened, but were abandoned around 1943 to reduce the B&M tax bill.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85682231/the-boston-globe/ |title=B.& M. Wants Shelters Instead of 13 Stations |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=December 15, 1942 |page=34 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> As a marginal route, the branch was often closed entirely during service disruptions like those caused by the [[Strike wave of 1945–46|April 1946]] and March 1948 coal mine strikes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50916219/the-boston-globe/ |title=Trains to Be Discontinued |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=March 20, 1948 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50921198/the-boston-globe/ |title=B. & M. WEEK DAY Trains CANCELLED |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=May 7, 1946 |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> By 1949, only a single daily round trip remained.<ref name=150years>{{cite book |title=Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years |last1=Humphrey |first1=Thomas J.|last2=Clark |first2=Norton D. |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |year=1985 |isbn=9780685412947 |pages=68, 69}}</ref> This trip was discontinued on October 1, 1957.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38532117/the_boston_globe/ |title=B&M Told to Up Earnings Or Face Control by Court |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=August 3, 1957 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/344/344mass50.html |title=CITY OF MEDFORD vs. MARINUCCI BROS. & CO., INC. & another. |author=Middlesex County Court |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Massachusetts Cases |date=April 3, 1962}}</ref>
The section of the line between Park Street and Medford Square was abandoned in 1959, with the [[Interstate 93|Northern Expressway]] soon built across it.<ref name=sne /> The section between Park Street and Glenwood was abandoned two years later, while freight service continued on the remaining section.<ref name=sne /><ref name=abandoned>{{cite book |title=Lost Railroads of New England |last=Karr |first=Ronald Dale |edition=Third |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780942147117 |page=153}}</ref> In the early 1970s, an underpass for the [[Orange Line (MBTA)|Orange Line]] and [[Haverhill Line|Reading Line]] was built at Medford Junction as part of the [[Haymarket North Extension]].<ref name=150years /> (Never-realized plans in the 1940s had called for the Medford branch to be reused as an Orange Line branch.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42959374/the_boston_globe/ |title=10 Electric-Train Lines Proposed by Board in Report to Legislature |first=Gene R. |last=Casey |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=April 6, 1947 |pages=1, 28 |via=Newspapers.com}} ([https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42959392/the_boston_globe/ second section], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42959409/the_boston_globe/ third page]) {{open access}}</ref>) Regular freight service ended in 2008, though a single trip to deliver a single carload of fish was run in 2010.<ref name=sne>{{cite book |title=The Rail Lines of Southern New England |edition=2 |last=Karr |first=Ronald Dale |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780942147124 |pages=289–296}}</ref> The only remaining station structure is the Park Street station, which was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1975.<ref name=sne /><ref name=depots>{{cite book |title=A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses |last=Roy |first=John H. Jr. |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780942147087 |page=213}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
[[Category:Boston and Maine Railroad]]
[[Category:Medford, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Defunct Massachusetts railroads]]