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  • Abandoned Commuter Rail Stations

  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #601810  by Robert Paniagua
 
Plimptonville on the Franklin Branch was abandoned in 1981 for a short while but reinstated later that year.

Yes, but it sees extremely limited service to it, only one or two trains on weekdays each direction use it, I don't think it's even used on weekends or major holidays
 #601812  by jbvb
 
In 1980 I worked on Cross St. in Winchester, right by the NH Div. main overpass; If I caught a Woburn train I'd ride to Cross St., otherwise walk from Winchester. There was a short platform on the S. side of the street and a little cinder block shelter E. of the tracks. The trains were usually an F10 and two de-motored RDCs, I have a few slides.

I never noticed Salem St. Wilmington in a timetable, but now I'll have to look.

The North Andover stop wasn't reinstated when Haverhill service was restored for two reasons I can think of: First, it wasn't much more than a mile from the old Lawrence station. Second, trains that stop would block Sutton St., possibly enough to interact with the then-daily jam on 495 where it narrowed down for the Merrimack River bridge.

Shawsheen was also rather close to Andover. My company rented in the building there after it was converted to offices in the early '90s, and at that time the MBTA said they would reinstate the stop if somebody else paid to repair the station. We never found out exactly how much work they had in mind, but now it would be very impractical due to congestion on the single track.
 #602027  by Agent at Clicquot
 
Anyone recall Rustcraft on today's Franklin Branch? It was located a short distance east of today's Dedham Corporate/Rte 128 stop. There's also an isolated siding diverging to the north near this spot, too.

* Cliq *
 #602033  by AutisticPsycho
 
ST214 wrote:While were at it, how about partially abandoned stations???
Well, it's not really abandoned just moved. But of course, on Lynn's platform to the north are the old low-level platforms. There's also a sealed-off unused escalator there.

Getting back to abandoned stations...

And of course, Salem Station at the mouth of the tunnel with it's low-level platforms on each side of the tracks and rusted staircases leading to the street, which are covered and chained with corrugated metal, IIRC.

My question is, did the Saugus Branch have any stops, because there's a section neighborhood in Lynn, near the T garage called Raddin Station.

Finally, was there ever service to New Hampshire in 1980 as noted in vanshnookenraggen's map here?
 #602058  by Charliemta
 
Here's a good website about rail stations in Massachusetts:

http://www.lightlink.com/sglap3/massachusetts/

From the website: "Railroad Stations in Massachusetts is a site devoted to the history, location, and uses of railroad depots,whether still standing or long gone, throughout the thirteen counties of Massachusetts."

The "color Poster Archive" section of the webiste has a lot of good pictures of stations no longer in existence. The direct link to it is:
http://www.lightlink.com/sglap3/massach ... tarch.html
 #602062  by 3rdrail
 
Ron Newman wrote:On the south side, abandoned stations include Mount Hope (in Roslindale)
Never under the T, MTA, or BERy, Ron. It was originally Boston & Providence, then New Haven's.

(Charliemta - That's a nice site with the color postcards, but the author has Forest Hills original BERy Station confused. He's got it as the Forest Hills Replacement station, which it wasn't. It was the original rapid transit station. And underneath, he has it operated by the New Haven, which it wasn't. If anything, you could say that the current Forest Hills MBTA station is the replacement for the original Forest Hills Railroad Station, but definitely not the old rapid transit terminal. He's got Dudley Station down as New Haven's too, which of course was BERy/MTA/MBTA.)
 #602067  by MBTA3247
 
AutisticPsycho wrote:My question is, did the Saugus Branch have any stops, because there's a section neighborhood in Lynn, near the T garage called Raddin Station.
My SPV atlas shows a "closed station or siding" called Raddin on that branch.
 #602092  by Ron Newman
 
Mount Hope was open until 1979 when the whole Main Line closed for Southwest Corridor reconstruction. That's well into the MBTA era.

Saugus branch passenger service ended long before the MBTA was created.

Yes, there was a year of service to Nashua, Manchester and Concord NH in 1980-81.
 #602166  by 3rdrail
 
Ron Newman wrote:Mount Hope was open until 1979 when the whole Main Line closed for Southwest Corridor reconstruction. That's well into the MBTA era.
Mount Hope burned, the result of arson, in the 1940's, and was eliminated at that time. It never saw the MBTA or predecessor's equipment.
 #602186  by TomNelligan
 
AutisticPsycho wrote: My question is, did the Saugus Branch have any stops, because there's a section neighborhood in Lynn, near the T garage called Raddin Station.
Saugus Branch passenger service ended fifty years ago, in 1958, but it once had a huge number of stations, since it was almost like a rapid transit line with stops every half-mile or so. From south to north, stations were West Street, West Everett, Bell Rock, Malden, Faulkner, Maplewood, Broadway, Linden, Franklin Park, Cliftondale, Pleasant Hill, Saugus, East Saugus, Raddin, and Lynn Common. Trains typically ran Boston-Lynn.
Finally, was there ever service to New Hampshire in 1980 as noted in vanshnookenraggen's map
Yes, as discussed by myself and several others back towards the beginning of this thread. It was largely paid for by a one-time Federal grant, and when that money ran out after a year, New Hampshire declined to pick up the tab and the service stopped.
 #602250  by Charliemta
 
"Mount Hope burned, the result of arson, in the 1940's, and was eliminated at that time. It never saw the MBTA or predecessor's equipment."

I distinctly remember seeing the Mount Hope sign next to the railroad around 1958, when I was 8 years old. I lived in Cambridge but had gone with a friend to that area to visit his Aunt.
 #602486  by RedLantern
 
Not sure if Falmouth was mentioned, or if it was even MBTA, but as this picture shows, it's a pretty intact abandoned station.

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20030 ... G=falmouth

I'm not sure if Lowell Line trains still stop at Wedgemere anymore, they haven't for the last few I've ridden.

There's also an unused commuter rail platform at the Oak Grove station on the Orange Line, complete with the LED message sign and everything.
 #602504  by A320
 
RedLantern wrote: There's also an unused commuter rail platform at the Oak Grove station on the Orange Line, complete with the LED message sign and everything.
I seem to recall that the Oak Grove Commuter Rail station was open temporarily during the Red Sox playoffs last fall. It was an outbound, drop-off only station, while the nighttime Orange Line signal work was still in progress. That line had been bustituted at night for several years while the work was being done (all the way back to Haymarket at one point), and I'm assuming the temporary availability of Commuter Rail outbound to Oak Grove was to take some pressure off the buses during the busy baseball playoff season.
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