Shortest railroads in New England

How big was the "original" Springfield Terminal Railroad?

tj48 wrote:How big was the "original" Springfield Terminal Railroad?

5.5 miles long.

bruceclouette wrote:I just came across this 2005 post by ehb:

"The shortest short line in New England was actually the Warwick Railway at .9 miles, Moshassuck Valley was a whopping 1.8, and Fore River is about 2 miles."

But here's another contender: the Van Buren Bridge Railroad in northern Maine. Although the company had over a mile of track, the portion in the US, and hence New England, was only 412 feet, or .078 miles. I would add a couple of hundred feet more on the bridge to get to the border in the middle of the river, making it about .1 mile. VB was acquired by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic as an asset of the Bangor and Aroostock. MMA uses the VB mark for its radio-control cabooses.

From the time the railroad opened in 1915, BAR had a controlling interest in the company, so in truth, it was not a short line in the sense that it had its own motive power or operated independently. There are various pictures of freight cars lettered for the VB, however, as well as the above-mentioned cabooses.

So, how's that for splitting hairs?

how about the old South Manchester Railroad, owned by the Cheney Brothers. It was about 1.25 miles. It was last used by Conrail to deliver lumber to Grossman's and furniture to Watkins Brothers!

First, the Boston & Providence, then later, the Old Colony and even later the New Haven had a short branch line from Dedham to East Dedham which was part of their Dedham Branch. It was .09 miles long. 1834 - 1967. There are still traces of rail still visible.

Another branch line, first built by the Boston & New York Central RR which met the Dedham Branch above, went from Dedham to Islington for a distance of 1 mile accessing the city of Boston as the Midland RR. It later went under the control of the New York & Nerw England. 1855 - 1881

The Claremont Concord Railroad with two branches (one in White River Junction and the other in Claremont) runs a pretty short distance. Not sure off the top of my head though.