spur to Wrentham State School?

[NRGeep]

Was there a spur to the power plant of the (still partially open) institution located on the abandoned Wrentham branch (ex Conrail, NH)?

[elecuyer]

Spur to to Wrentham State School (facility for the developmentally challenged)?
No.
The tracks were not close enough.

However, you may be asking about a spur to Walpole State Prison (MCI Cedar Jct.) power plant.
Again, No.
However, a spur was planned - but never constructed. For details see this thread:
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 26&t=56468

Also the Wrentham branch (south of E. Walpole) was never operated by Conrail. It was not included in the PennCentral transfer to Conrail and abandoned at that time. Rails remained in place until ~1980.

[NRGeep]

Spur to to Wrentham State School (facility for the developmentally challenged)?
No.
The tracks were not close enough.

However, you may be asking about a spur to Walpole State Prison (MCI Cedar Jct.) power plant.
Again, No.
However, a spur was planned - but never constructed. For details see this thread:
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 26&t=56468

Also the Wrentham branch (south of E. Walpole) was never operated by Conrail. It was not included in the PennCentral transfer to Conrail and abandoned at that time. Rails remained in place until ~1980.

Thanks. So, it appears they recieved coal deliveries via horse and wagon and later by truck. Any freight coal trolly deliveries there?

[charding]

…having grown up in Walpole, when the Prison was built, the original plan was to use coal for the heating plant - hence the right-of-way off the Wrentham Branch…but later converted to oil heat before the rail was laid - so, I don't think that any coal was ever delivered to the prison's heating plant...

[elecuyer]

So, it appears they received coal deliveries via horse and wagon and later by truck. Any freight coal trolley deliveries there?

No. The prison was built circa ~1955. Long after the horse and wagon (and trolley) era. I do not think a trolley line ever went down that section of Route 1A (but I could be mistaken.)

the original plan was to use coal for the heating plant - hence the right-of-way off the Wrentham Branch…but later converted to oil heat before the rail was laid - so, I don't think that any coal was ever delivered to the prison's heating plant

As confirmed by multiple sources, including employees at the plant such as my father, the plant burned coal when it was first opened. However, deliveries of coal came by truck, and not by rail. The spur from the Wrentham branch was proposed when the prison was constructed, and the bridge under Route 1A was built to accommodate such a branch (although it is still unclear why they wanted to cross under route 1A and into the prison itself.) However, no rail was ever laid.

[NRGeep]

The state school in Wrentham was built in 1906, certainly within a period where coal still dominated. Not talking about the prison.

[elecuyer]

The state school in Wrentham was built in 1906, certainly within a period where coal still dominated. Not talking about the prison.

Ok. I grew up (1971-1988) within a half-mile of both the Wrentham Branch and the Wrentham State School (facility for the developmentally challenged.)

The school is not really that close to the Wrentham Branch. In the 1970's there was a long cart road that went from the water tower to the east of the school down to a pumping station across the Wrentham Branch tracks, almost into Norfolk/Foxboro. Part of that road is now a driveway for some condominiums that were built circa 1988. There was a power line that ran along this road, and I assume a water line under it. I spent much of my youth in those woods before the condos and other houses were built.

There was no evidence whatsoever that this road was used as a railroad grade. In fact, the grading where it crossed the rail line is not correct, nor would any railroad (except a cog) would have been able to climb the steep hill to where the water tower is.

I can say with absolute certainty that there was never a rail connection between the Wrentham Branch and the Wrentham State School. Moreover, I highly doubt that one was planned.

Freight via trolley to Wrentham State School? Again, doubtful. The trolley lines in Wrentham didn't pass through the campus of the school. One (from Franklin/Milford) came close, but I know of no spur to the school (as opposed to a well-documented trolley spur to nearby Lake Pearl Park.) And the power plant at the school is on the East side of the campus (near the aforementioned water tank.) The trolley line was closest to the West side of the campus.

[Tracer]

The Wrentham branch has a special place in my heart. One day i decided to explore the old right of way behind Southwood hospital, a few hundred feet down the line a huge dog ran out of someones back yard and chased me halfway to Walpole.

[charding]

…the only section of the Wrentham Branch that I know still exists is a short section across Production Rd off of Rt 1A going toward Wrentham…there may be more...

[elecuyer]

Remaining Wrentham Branch trackage:
In-Service: Norwood Central to East Walpole.
Disconnected rail in ground: Walpole, MA. Between near Cedar Jct. and Industrial Road.
Out of Service: In Valley Falls RI.

Notable Remaining Structures:
Freight House, East Walpole
Pondville (Southwood) Hospital - Coal Trestle.
Pondville Station, Norfolk. Moved to Route 1 as Resturant. (reported not confirmed)
Wampum Station, Wrentham. Moved slightly and remodeled into apartments.
Plainville - Roundhouse
Attleboro - Station (on ORIGINAL row to Attleboro before cutoff to connect to Valley Falls was constructed) on North Main Street.

[Ridgefielder]

The Wrentham branch has a special place in my heart. One day i decided to explore the old right of way behind Southwood hospital, a few hundred feet down the line a huge dog ran out of someones back yard and chased me halfway to Walpole.

Track down a copy of Vol. 35, Issue 3 of the NHRHTA's Shoreliner-- came out in mid 2013. Multi-page article about the branch, focused on Bird Mills in East Walpole, at one time one of the single biggest customers of the NYNH&H.

[Teamdriver]

Wampum Station, Wrentham. Moved slightly and remodeled into apartments

''This anonymous looking building was built for the Old Colony Railroad in 1893, and was an active passenger station until 1938. It's now apartments, and it's been partially rebuilt since its days as a train station. The roof and first floor are original, but the second floor has been added. The small section with the flat roof is thought to have been the baggage room.

This was called Wampum Station in its day, and in fact the entire town of Wrentham was at one point known as Wampum. Currently, the corner where this building is located is called Wampum Corner, a name that some of the local businesses use.

Wrentham's original freight house also still survives, but it's not in Wrentham anymore -- it's in Cumberland RI where it is a private residence. I didn't go see it today as it's some distance from here.''

see link for picture ,
http://www.flickriver.com/places/United ... er/search/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[elecuyer]

Wrentham's original freight house also still survives, but it's not in Wrentham anymore -- it's in Cumberland RI where it is a private residence. I didn't go see it today as it's some distance from here.

Not quite.
There were TWO rail lines through Wrentham. The Wrentham Branch (Norwood-Valley Falls) was the subject of this thread.

The other line went North-South through West Wrentham, and ran from Franklin to Valley Falls, RI (where it joined the Wrentham Branch at Adamsdale, MA then on to the P&W mainline.)

The passenger and freight stations from West Wrentham were moved to Cumberland, RI. At last visit, they still stand - although the home (pass. station) is barely recognizable as such. The freight station is a barn and retains its railroad architecture. The residence is on Route 121, in the "Grants Mills" section of town, not far from the Mercymount School. Interestingly, the Franklin-Valley Falls line also passed right through that area; I do not know if they used the railroad to "ship" the buildings down the line to their present home.

[Edited to reflect Adamsdale, MA as the junction point.]

[charding]

…just checked my rusty-dusty copy of Ron Karr's book, Lost Railroads of New England, third edition - 2010…great book for junkie 'ferroequinologists'…the second line you are talking about went from Franklin/Franklin Jct but connected with the Wrentham line at Adamsdale, MA, south of Wrentham before going to Valley Falls…according to Ron's book, passenger service on this line ended in 1930 and with local freight traffic being light, the line was taken up in 1942. However, I checked my November 1915 New Haven timetable, Table 6 - shows the Franklin-Adamsdale line going from Franklin to West Wrentham to Grants Mills to Diamond Hill to Arnolds Mills to Abbotts Run to Adamsdale. Now Table 5, the Wrentham Line, shows that line continuing on from Pondville to Wrentham to Wampum to Plainville to North Attleboro to Hillside to Adamsdale. So it appears the West Wrentham station was on the Franklin Line but not the Wrentham Line. Talk about getting down to a granular level of detail…I've got to get a real job.

[elecuyer]

Thanks for the clarification regarding Adamsdale, MA. I have updated my post.

Fun facts:
The Franklin-Adamsdale-Valley Falls line was constructed before the Wrentham Branch. The *original* Wrentham Branch, as constructed by the Old Colony Railroad, ran Norwood-Wrentham-North Attleboro-Attleboro, and junctioned with the Boston & Providence main line north of Attleboro station. When the New Haven took over the Old Colony, the line from North Attleboro to Adamsdale was constructed, and the segment from North Attleboro to Attleboro sold and converted to a trolley line. Locally, this trolley line was known as the "Gee Wiz" line, as in "Gee Wiz, this trolley goes fast!".

Fun Rumors:
The line from Franklin-Adamsdale was supposedly used for car storage during the depression. With so many excess cars to store, the New Haven crammed it as full as possible, with only the minimum left at grade crossings. Rumor is that they did so in the dead of winter; when the summer came, the heat caused the metal of the cars to expand, blocking some of the grade crossings. {heard from several sources, never confirmed}

One or more flatcars sunk in a bog/swamp near the Plainville station. {heard from one source, never confirmed}