B&M commuter rail outside Boston?

Did they ever run commuter rail out of Springfield Ma? Manchester NH etc?

There were local trains on every line if you go back far enough, including out of Springfield and Manchester, but never anything resembling a high-density rush hour commuter service anywhere except Boston.

The B & M's Springfield-Northampton-Greenfield service was pretty extensive for a single line operation. The 1933 timetable which just happened to be right beside me has about 15 trips each way, about half to Northampton. This service also provided connections to the New Haven at Springfield. Besides commuter service the concentration of colleges and academies, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, UMass, Amherst, Mt. Hermon and Deerfield also provided business for this operation. The service remained pretty much at that level until late 1940s and then dropped off rapidly. Some Springfield-Greenfield trips ran via East Deerfield Branch and backed to Greenfield station to turn train for run back to Springfield.

edbear wrote:The B & M's Springfield-Northampton-Greenfield service was pretty extensive for a single line operation. The 1933 timetable which just happened to be right beside me has about 15 trips each way, about half to Northampton. This service also provided connections to the New Haven at Springfield. Besides commuter service the concentration of colleges and academies, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, UMass, Amherst, Mt. Hermon and Deerfield also provided business for this operation. The service remained pretty much at that level until late 1940s and then dropped off rapidly. Some Springfield-Greenfield trips ran via East Deerfield Branch and backed to Greenfield station to turn train for run back to Springfield.

The original "Knowledge Corridor!" Plus, of course, factory folks etc, etc...