ESSEX RAILROAD SPUR

On the former Essex Railroad just north of the ex-Danversport, MA station, there is a RR spur and a trestle over the Crane River. Both can be seen by satellite image. If you go to http://www.oldrr.com/ This site has photographs of the spur and trestle. My questions is whom did this spur serve, and when was it last serviced?

That served the Hebb Leather Company.

John, the guy in the white car with the wing on back

Thank you!

moxie wrote:On the former Essex Railroad just north of the ex-Danversport, MA station, there is a RR spur and a trestle over the Crane River. Both can be seen by satellite image. If you go to http://www.oldrr.com/ This site has photographs of the spur and trestle. My questions is whom did this spur serve, and when was it last serviced?

The spur you are referring to is called the Danvers Branch, which begins in Salem and runs to Danvers, where it connected with the Newburyport Branch. Eastern Propane, located in Danvers near the Waters River, was the primary customer served by the Danvers Branch. Any freight train coming to Eastern Propane from Salem would have to cross the trestle over the Waters River, which burned around 1985. After that, Eastern Propane continued getting its supplies delivered by train, however, the trains had to come to Danvers from Wakefield, via the Newburyport Branch, then switch onto the Danvers Branch. I believe 1997 was the year that all freight service to Eastern Propane stopped and the Newburyport Branch was abandoned. Another member of railroad.net said he remembers seeing a lone Guilford GP40 locomotive parked on the Newburyport Branch in December 1997, between the grade crossing on Route 1 and the one on Lowell Street, in Peabody. The night before, he believes, a collision between a freight train and a car had occurred at the Route 1 grade crossing. In any event, that was most likely the last time that the Newburyport Branch was ever used. The track was ripped up later and replaced with a walking trail. And Eastern Propane now has all of its supplies delivered by truck.

I should also mention that the Danvers Branch is still in use today, to serve a customer in Peabody called Eastman Gelatine. A freight train runs to Eastman only about once a week. It runs up to Salem via the MBTA's Newburyport/Rockport Line, swithces onto the Danvers Branch, then runs to Peabody, where it switches onto the old South Reading industrial track, which goes to Eastman Gelatine. Apparently, the track is still intact after Eastman, although I'm not sure if it still runs all the way to South Reading. Most of the Danvers Branch is still intact, expect for the stretch between the Waters River trestle and the Newburyport Branch.

One of the two routing options for the fairly high-priority Peabody/Danvers commuter rail stub branch involves a terminal at Liberty Tree Mall that will necessitate rebuilding the Crane River bridge. Other option is westerly to North Shore Mall/128. If the T weren't asphyxiated with the South Coast Rail farce this thing would probably be greenlit by now because it's the top recommendation of the big North Shore Transit Improvements study.

I believe 2001 was when PAR stopped serving the Danvers Branch because of abysmal track conditions, although I don't know which customer was the last they were serving out of Wakefield. The line was officially OOS until last year when the T formally landbanked it and allowed a trail to be built from Lynnfield to Danvers. Trails are not under consideration at all for either of the two CR extension options, which the T is keeping clear because Peabody/Danvers is a Top 3 overall line extension project and crucial for being able to run expanded service to Salem on the Eastern Route.