Abandoned station between Provicence and Attleboro

In between Providence and Attleboro on the NEC, there's an old and fairly large station that is very abandoned. What station was/is this? Why is it no longer in service?

Does it have a building over it? Pawtucket Station.

Pawtucket/Central Falls station, built on the town line as a joint venture between the two cities. Beautiful station, and very much intact - remains of two platforms and a couple of staircases in addition to the station building. Service ended on February 20, 1981; when Providence service resumed in 1988, Pawtucket was not reopened. It was one of the last station closures in the MBTA era - only Harbor, Nashua, Merrimack, Manchester, and Concord closed past then without immediate replacement.

There's a proposal to add a Pawtucket station under Rhode Island commuter rail, but it would likely be at Dexter Street - the curve at the old station is too tight for high-level platforms.

The EGE wrote:Pawtucket/Central Falls station, built on the town line as a joint venture between the two cities. Beautiful station, and very much intact - remains of two platforms and a couple of staircases in addition to the station building. Service ended on February 20, 1981; when Providence service resumed in 1988, Pawtucket was not reopened. It was one of the last station closures in the MBTA era - only Harbor, Nashua, Merrimack, Manchester, and Concord closed past then without immediate replacement.

There's a proposal to add a Pawtucket station under Rhode Island commuter rail, but it would likely be at Dexter Street - the curve at the old station is too tight for high-level platforms.

"Nashua, Merrimack, Manchester, and Concord"--These would all be in New Hampshire. But what is Harbor?

"There's a proposal to add a Pawtucket station under Rhode Island commuter rail"--Would MBTA trains stop there?

"the curve at the old station is too tight for high-level platforms"--That explains why the old station might not be used nowadays, but what was the reason for not re-opening it back in 1988?

Here is a web site that has some nice pics of this station by clicking on the rows of numbers........
http://www.artinruins.com/arch/?id=deca ... ltrain#top

But what is Harbor?

It was a short-lived flagstop between Gloucester and West Gloucester, just east of the latter. In the 1970s it was the turnback point for a few midday trains from Boston.

That explains why the old station might not be used nowadays, but what was the reason for not re-opening it back in 1988?

Possibly the condition of the neighborhood? It was a Rhode Island DOT decision since they were paying for and dictating details of service south of the state line.

According to the link, the station was tuned into a CVS, with the facade of the station intact? Has anyone seen it since this conversion?

Otto Vondrak wrote:According to the link, the station was tuned into a CVS, with the facade of the station intact? Has anyone seen it since this conversion?

From that web site , the address is : 280 Broad Street, Pawtucket, RI
From Goggle Earth , :

The new Pawtucket station would serve both MBTA and Rhode Island intrastate trains. It's a viable market both to Boston and to Providence.

The station design would be interesting. I imagine the platform design would be complicated to serve both RI (on the P&W track for eventual Woonsocket service) and the MBTA (on the Amtrak tracks).

Link to the 2007 study done for RIDOT on new Pawtucket station proposal.

http://www.dot.state.ri.us/documents/in ... erRail.pdf

Thanks for posting that study. I was out there last week and took some photos. I was wondering what was going to happen with that spot.

Here's a link to a couple of my photos:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e6TcKyIUNGU/T ... LS+ONE.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UxU9Stb_c-U/T ... LS_TWO.jpg

Very nice pics.

For a complete story with dozens of pictures of the station and the Woodlawn-Boston Switch route go to:
http://sites.google.com/site/pawtucketcentralfalls

161pw165 wrote:Link to the 2007 study done for RIDOT on new Pawtucket station proposal.

http://www.dot.state.ri.us/documents/in" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... erRail.pdf

I guess this belongs here. Baby steps are being made!



Momentum building for Pawtucket train station
http://www.valleybreeze.com/2013-06-18/ ... in-station" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A brief "fair use" quote:

An environmental review and preliminary engineering have now been conducted by officials from the Department of Transportation, who have narrowed the possibilities for a future train station to a pair of Pawtucket sites:

* One is the P & W Railroad yard on the Goff Avenue side of the existing railroad tracks between the site of the former Union Wadding Mill and the Mineral Spring Cemetery.

* And the other, just over the tracks, is between Barton Street, Dexter Street, Weeden Street and the existing tracks, encompassing some commercial buildings diagonally across from the Lynch Arena.

Representatives from the DOT held an informational meeting with city residents last week to talk about a potential project and answer questions and concerns from residents. Nearly 50 residents turned out to express support for the proposed train station and voice their opinions on issues like making sure there is the right amount of parking and easy pedestrian access from both sides of the tracks, among others.

Boy, is that a beautiful building just begging for restoration!