Abandoned Station Walpole

[atsf sp]

http://www.fallout-ue.com/locations/walpoletrain/
My friend inquired to me where this station is in walpole since he lives there. I am quite stumped by it but i have deduced that it must be on the wrenthem branch. If anyone can provide any info, that would be great.

[ferroequinarchaeologist]

I don't know where it may be, but my usual approach is this:

Go to www.maptech.com
Go to Land Software
Go to Online Maps
Go to Historical Topo Maps
Find Walpole in the Town Index
Look for a historical map of the appropriate area, not a current topo
On the map, look for an occupied building - black rectangle - adjacent to railroad tracks
Visit the location

You could also check out the website Railroad Stations in Massachusetts, but you already know what it looks like.

PBM

[CarterB]

Emailed Matt, the guy who took the photo. Its about 50' back from the existing tracks, just south of Morse St. in Norwood, Ma. N 42.17178 W 71.20430 Looks like it could have been an old freight depot.

[Tracer]

About 15-20 years ago I explored that place as a kid. Its basically an old dilapidated warehouse(thats how it was 20 years ago). The rail line there kinda sits up on an embankment and the siding to the building is at about the second floor level of the building.

[Pat Fahey]

HI
According to the Railroad Station Historical Society, the South Walpole station is at 44 Summer St , in Walpole, Mass and its current use as a Post Office .

[FatNoah]

I happened to drive by the South Walpole station on Saturday. Looks like a nice little Post Office. I wonder if it will survive the cuts planned for the USPS.

[Pat Fahey]

HI

I would like to add one more thing, when you go on too web site www,fallout-ue.com /locations/walpoletrain , a granite station does come up on web site. I am wondering if the station you saw was in North Easton, Mass , and not Norwood, Mass I am going to enclose a photo see if that looks like it ? Pat.

[MBTA1016]

HI
According to the Railroad Station Historical Society, the South Walpole station is at 44 Summer St , in Walpole, Mass and its current use as a Post Office .

Yes it is a post office and right next the csx owned Framingham seconday the football extras pass this going to the stadium

[Austin023]

I saw this thread while browsing and since I grew up in Walpole, I recognized the building pictured immediately. Such a cute little building.
That little station was once the South Walpole station, built about 1892 when the Wrentham Branch was built from Norwood Central down through Walpole, Wrentham, Plainville and Attleboro. It has been a post office for many years, serving a small area of South Walpole---I am not sure if it still even operating as one as I recall there was some talk of closing it (I have not lived in town for about 7 years now). It was a passenger station for the NY/New Haven RR (as I recall from reading once) until about 1933. There is an old freight station very close to it that has been converted into a private residence that was built about 1915. Freight trains do use the tracks still, albeit on a somewhat infrequent basis.
Since the MBTA opened a limited-use station at Gillete Stadium in 2003 for use during games (about a mile from the old S. Walpole station), commuter rail trains do pass by the old South Walpole depot en route either to the stadium or to Walpole center where the tracks converge with the Franklin MBTA line.
There was some talk of opening this part of the line again to T passenger service to connect the Providence and Franklin lines together on a more regular basis; the tracks do continue on past Walpole through Medfield, Sherborn and Framingham which freight trains still use, though passenger service stopped long ago....Medfield still has its Victorian era station---last I checked it was a restaurant.

[highgreen215]

That Victorian "station" in Medfield is not original, it was built as a regular commercial building about 10 years ago. The Medfield station was at Medfield Junction, about a half mile to the west.

[charding]

Also a former Walpole resident, the South Walpole station is/was on the Mansfield-Framingham of the Old Colony Railroad - the Wrenthem branch crossed over the the Mansfield-Framingham line at a place called Cedar [sometimes called Walpole]Junction right behind Harwood Engineering on Walpole's South Street - a little south of the South Walpole station. At one time, Walpole was in Ripley's Believe It or Not because one coudn't enter Walpole Center without going over/under a railroad line.

[MBTA1016]

Also a former Walpole resident, the South Walpole station is/was on the Mansfield-Framingham of the Old Colony Railroad - the Wrenthem branch crossed over the the Mansfield-Framingham line at a place called Cedar [sometimes called Walpole]Junction right behind Harwood Engineering on Walpole's South Street - a little south of the South Walpole station. At one time, Walpole was in Ripley's Believe It or Not because one coudn't enter Walpole Center without going over/under a railroad line.

You are right saying that you couldn't get to walpole center without crossing a rail line at some point. There used to be a rail line that crossed 27 heading towards walpole center where Kendall st and 27 meet. 1a goes over the Franklin line heading towards Norwood. 27 crosses under the same line where the road takes a right under a bridge next to the mbta's parking lots. 1a also goes over csx's Framingham secondary when you head towards wrentham. To make this more interesting, east walpole also had a train station where a Sharon credit union bank is now. The bridge was that carried the line was removed a few years ago. The line the bank sits on was once a branch to wrentham. It's the same line that I said above that crossed 27 where Kendall st meets it. Walpole had at least three train stations in each part if town. Nice to see local history is still talked about. I thought walpole was only known for a prison(it still is).

[charding]

You're so right - Walpole had lots of railroad stations. The line you reference on Rt 27 & Kendall St was the old Wrentham Line - we had friends who lived at 713 East St and I can remember when the train came through, the house would start to shake. In addition to the station in East Walpole that you referenced, there was also a station at Walpole Heights which was on Ellis Street - between Common and Stone streets right across from the Lindsey house. Every once in a while, a picture of this station will pop up on Ebay. There were also stations at Walpole Junction where the Wrentham Line cross the Old Colony Line between Mansfield and Framingham, and at Pondville near the old hospital although this might be considered Norfolk.

On the Mansfield-Framingham Line, in addition to the Walpole Union Station - of course still in use - there was the South Walpole Station, now post office.

On the present MBTA line from Boston to Franklin, again in addition to the Union Station, there was a station at Plimptonville on Plimpton St - one train each way still stop at this location. The station was made famous by Joseph Welch who lived just the other side of the Neponset River and would walk to the station. He was the lead attorney for the US Army in the Army-McCarthy hearings in the 1950s. I actually have a picture of this station. There was also a station in West Walpole, but I have never been able to pinpoint its location.

On the prison, was it Oscar Levant who said that "there is no such as bad publicity as long as they spell your name right" - maybe it was Mae West. I grew up in Walpole during its championship hockey time and when people ask me where I am from, I always say Walpole - we breed hockey players and prionsers, and sometimes you can't tell the difference.

Colin Harding

[MBTA1016]

Plimptonville is still strangely a station. It's just a asphalt rectangle with a yellow line. I actually found out about the east walpole station from a small book at barns and Nobel at the walpole mall. It had a picture of east walpole when the station was there before the street that passes the front of the bank was even built. There is a lot of rail history in east walpole and its been disappearing. The bridge that was next to the bank was torn down a few years ago. I see the old ROW behind houses on union st daily. It's disappointing the only rail service on the east walpole branch is by csx at the Pleasent st shingle factory. I have seen them switching by accident one day. It was a nice surprise to see, I always knew they serviced that factory.

[The EGE]

Plimptonville has a small but dedicated ridership - about 30 riders on that single round trip according to the Bluebook. It's easier for the T to stop one train per day than it is for them to discontinue the stop.