History of Newburyport rail line?

A co-worker/railfan who lives in West Newbury said there used to be a rail line that went right down to the coastline in Newburyport, near the rt1 bridge. The area seems so built up, I can't figure out where it would have been.

What is the history of this line? When were the rails lifted? Was this part of the Newburyport area that burned years ago?

Ronald Dale Karr's book, The Rail Lines of Southern New England and Robert M. Lindsell's book, The Rail Lines of Northern New England should be your two best friends for looking this sort of thing up. They have a short history of the line in the 'Southern New England' book as well as a general map.

Another best friend you should have is the online Maptech historical USGS map collection at http://historical.maptech.com/

Or, you can try http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm to access the University of New Hampshire's topo map collection. Basically the same thing as the Maptech collection, except that they only cover the New England states and New York.

Both sites provide the same information.

Although you might not find any ROW remains in the downtown Newburyport area (the old ROW may now be an alley, street, or just built over) - - explore a bit around the Newburyport station. At one time, the Boston and Maine Newburyport Branch crossed the Eastern Railroad there -- and the branch you are looking for also left the B&M Newburyport Branch at a switch right near the station, crossed the Eastern Railroad and hooked around the east side of Newburyport, eventually running right along the wharves. The entire branch forms a sort of question mark shape around Newburyport.

I'd be willing to bet that if you take a look around at Newburyport, you might find the remains of the beginning of this branch. Good clues to look for are telephone or electrical lines (they often follow old ROWs) or sewer/water lines (identified by a 'line' of manhole covers).

Good luck.

You can still see some of the rail in street pavement where it crossed several small side streets. It went right between peoples's homes and through their backyards. There are a couple of highway overpasses including Rte. 1-A, where the track went underneath. You can walk some of the grade. I took movies of a freight hauled by an RS-3 back in the 1960s on this line, and that footage is included in the B&MRRHS tape which they had for sale some time back, and may still have available ("The Films of Richard W. Symmes")

You might also visit the Walker Transportation Collection at Beverly Historical Society some Wednesday evening. We have photos of trains on the Newburyport City Railroad, including some by the late Albert G. Hale, showing steam working the line in the 1940s.

We'll look forward to showing them to you.

I would also suggest Scott Currier's website http://64.65.241.74/newbbr.htm
for a quick summary.

PBM

Check the power lines off Parker Street just east of the rotary on Route 1 at the Newbury/Newburyport line, this is the old ROW.

Basically the same thing as the Maptech collection, except that they only cover the New England states and New York.

Actually, the UNH site is no longer being maintained nor updated. The Maptech site is the new home of the collection, and is maintained and updated as time and resources of the volunteers permit.

-Ed Lecuyer
Site Administrator
http://historical.maptech.com

.... and the Maptech historic topos site is an excellent resource, the UNH site still exists, and as such, is a viable source of information for those asking questions. Both choices are available to folks for as long as the UNH site exists.

I'm sure that I speak for others in addition to myself when I offer thanks to you Maptech folks that offer your time and effort to keeping your site updated, and offering another choice in the search for historic topo maps.

First off, we are all very fortunate that Chris Marshall compiled the collection in the first place. I long admired the site before it became something I was involved in maintaining.

While not everyone at Maptech understands or appreciates the value of the collection (and associate its hosting as nothing more than a seemingly worthless expense) we are proud to provide this service to the community. So that I can justify its expense to the 'bean counters', links to and usage of the Maptech version of the site do matter. Thus, for the continued success of the entire collection, it is helpful to refer folks to the Maptech version of the site.

-Ed Lecuyer
Site Administrator
http://historical.maptech.com

What did this line serve? Was it more of a freight line for the city (like the ones in Lowell and Lawrence)? Or did this also carry passengers at one time too? Does this have any connection with the railroad that was near the Salisbury Beach area?

It used to be part of the Eastern Route main line to Portland. It joined the Western Route [via Haverhill] main line at N. Berwick, ME., I believe.

The branch under discussion, from Newburyport West to the docks in Newburyport, was referred to in old timetables as the Newburyport City Railroad (or maybe Railway). I think I heard at some point that it was built for the account of the city but I'm not sure. It certainly never had a scheduled passenger service but, maybe there was a fantrip or special move or two though, the clearances and curvature make even that doubtful. I recall the speed as being in the 10mph range since way back. I remember cars all the way at the end of track in the early 60s but dont know when the end came.
LS

I believe the track was initially built during the 1870s-1880s. Since the track ended along the wharves, it was most likely built as a benefit to Newburyport to aid the fishing industry. At that time, rail was the quickest way for the daily catch to reach the city markets.

Ms. Nells Choo, I very recently walked what I could of the right-of-way. Some of it is under development for use as a bicycle path. Down on Harrison Street, the rails are still in place (right in the pavement on the grade crossing portion only). One can still walk the final westerly curve along the river - - a local said you could walk as far as the sewer treatment plant.

There is a milepost left, and the remains of tell-tales (upright rail portions only, no danglers). If you look carefully along one section, you can see where ash was dumped and used as ballast - - very common in steam locomotive times - - and this can still be seen on many abandoned or infrequently used lines. Just think, the discolored ash pieces you pick up were most likely once burned in a steam locomotive's firebox many years ago. Look carefully along these sections, too - - you will often find that vegetation still doesn't grow along these areas of ash.

FYI, According to karr's references, the Newburyport City Railroad was built in 1872, abandoned in 1971, and never had passenger service. It is still possible to find rails buried in the dirt in alleyways and behind buidings near the waterfront.

PBM

I chased the local freight on the City Railroad a few times in the 1960s. Got some good slides/movies of Alco RS3s creeping gingerly between tightly packed Colonial era houses and such on the way to the waterfront terminal of the line. One time we chased it in the winter after a heavy snowfall and got them wading through deep snowbanks on the sides of roads. Some houses were so close to the track you could literally reach out a window and touch a passing train. I'd love to have seen the line in the steam era. Fortunately Al Hale got some great shots of steam on that line, and they are preserved at the Walker Transportation Collection at the Beverly Historical Society for all to see.

We were in the area a couple of weekends ago, but only briefly. We didn't see anything from the car. Hopefully this summer we will be on foot and can look around. BUT, we usually only walk around the waterfront and shop areas. Sounds like most of the rails were not near here. I wish I could see it all on a map...

JD