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  • Portsmouth Branch: Emery

  • Discussion relating to the pre-1983 B&M and MEC railroads. For current operations, please see the Pan Am Railways Forum.
Discussion relating to the pre-1983 B&M and MEC railroads. For current operations, please see the Pan Am Railways Forum.

Moderator: MEC407

 #1546315  by Manalishi
 
Anybody know what this small building was? It has a sign 'Emery'as if it were a station or flagstop but it's not listed in the few time tables I've seen.

The 2nd shot is the location of Emery today. The mile post and concrete post visible in the vintage photo are still present in the current photo. The sign on the post is gone. Could it have been a yard limit sign?
DSCN0071.JPG
DSCN0071.JPG (1.3 MiB) Viewed 1937 times
Attachments:
emery.JPG
emery.JPG (3.75 MiB) Viewed 1937 times
 #1546322  by edbear
 
The junction of the Eastern Route Mainline and Manchester-Portsmouth Branch.
 #1546345  by The EGE
 
Gotcha, so that's the Button Factory opposite Aldrich Road at right.

My best guess is that the name comes from James W. Emery, a local businessman. He was the lawyer for the Portsmouth & Concord Railroad (now the Portsmouth Branch), and invested in street railways near Boston as well.
 #1546355  by arthur d.
 
Manalishi wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 4:47 pm Anybody know what this small building was? It has a sign 'Emery'as if it were a station or flagstop but it's not listed in the few time tables I've seen.
You are correct. Trains stopped there till at least 1964. This is only the second photo I have every seen of the building.
 #1546371  by Pat Fahey
 
Hi
I have found a reference to Emery in my B&M employee's timetable Sept 24th, 1950, The timetable does show four (4) passenger trains stopping at Emery at that time. It is possible that the small building was used as a station for the convenience of the workers, that worked at Emery.
From my B&M 1950 employees timetable
From my B&M 1950 employees timetable
B&M Portmouth Branch Emery.jpg # 2.jpg (71.51 KiB) Viewed 1800 times
 #1546377  by Manalishi
 
So it was a station, probably built for whoever worked in those brick industrial-type buildings behind it. Makes sense as it really isn't accessible to the general public.

Even though Emery has been torn down, most of those brick buildings seen in the vintage photo still stand.
 #1546398  by Pat Fahey
 
Hi Manalishi
Ya, I found that information as I said in the employee's timetable, of the B&M. It was more than likely a Flag Stop, I doubt if they sold tickets, being sp close to the Portsmouth station? Maybe someone with more information will have the answer, but glad to be of help. Pat.
 #1546441  by arthur d.
 
Absence of a lower case letter f ( for flag stop) indicates a regular stop ( for reference, see the indication for W. Epping).
Say, that is the schedule for the two daily round trips to Manchester, which by that late date would be aboard a doodlebug!
Passengers de-training at Emery could conceivably have transferred to B&M buses, the garage for which was located across the tracks from the far end of the button factory, prior to 1926, they would have been streetcars.

Now, does anyone know where the so called Morrison-Knudson siding on the Manchester branch was located?
 #1546537  by Pat Fahey
 
Hi
I have a question about Emery, what is the actual rail mileage from Portsmouth. My employee timetables do not show the actual mileage? Can anyone help here, Thank you again, Pat.
 #1546549  by bruce6594
 
Back when the Eastern Route existed mileage was from Boston. Emery was 55.98 and Portsmouth was 56.91. Back when the Portsmouth Branch existed mileage was from Portsmouth. Emery was .93 , Rockingham 9.94 and Manchester 40.39.
 #1546676  by jaymac
 
The 4 System ETTs that I have -- No. 10, 11-22-1931; No. 23, 04-25-1937; No. 28, 09-24-1939; and No. 36, 11-14-1943 -- vary widely in Emery information, No. 10 doesn't even show it on the schedule pages for either Eastern Route or Portsmouth Branch. No. 23 and No. 28 show Emery on the Eastern Route pages, but not the Portsmouth Branch listings, and No. 36 shows it on both the Eastern Route pages and Portsmouth Branch listing.
The Eastern Route mileage from Boston was uniformly listed in the 4 ETTs as 56.00.
Time at a station minus a letter -- s, f, v, or even a few others -- indicated schedule-time only and not a stop.
 #1546808  by jbvb
 
Discussion on FB implies that the layout of 'Emery' changed when the Portsmouth Bypass was built; A Nov. 1935 'Z-plan' shows Emery as a spring switch at the west end of double track from Portsmouth. The Manchester & Portsmouth line is shown diverging east of the Bartlett St. grade crossing. Signaling is a pair of 2-arm semaphores with no obvious interlocking.

A 1940 Z-Plan shows Emery still the end of Eastern Route double track, but the spring switch is now the west end of a crossover. The westerly track continues across the 'interstate highway' parallel to the Eastern main line and diverges well before the Barberry Ln. grade crossing. The Eastern has a home signal on each side of the crossover. The photo looks like the 'post-bypass' layout.

Looking closely at the older photo, I think I see a spring switch mechanism in the shadows. I don't see the WB home signal shown in the Z plan, but it might be just outside the frame to the left. Circa 1960? They may have built the shelter for a switch tender while the M&P still had passenger service, but I don't see it on Track Charts available to me.