What lines are (were) these in western Mass????

As I was traveling east on I90 into Mass, there were a couple of spots I saw where it appeared there had been a rail line at some point.
One was along I90 a couple of miles after you get into Mass by Lee. On the right side (I was heading east) I saw remnants of a bridge. It looked like it was a wooden bridge. All that was left was rails going across the span. Maybe the wood rotted? It was a small trestle and the roadbed paralelled the road for a mile or so and then I lost it in the woods.

The other spot was by the off ramp to get onto I291. I've seen this spot a couple of times. If you get on the ramp or just drive by it, you can see supports for what must have been a massive bridge or viaduct. Whatever it was went across this valley and to the other side. There are power lines that go over that same spot. The suports can be seen on both sides of the valley but it looks like they have been taken out in the middle. Was this an old rail line??? I'm not familar with western Mass. Does anyone have old pictures of these spots?
Thanks,
Warren

BM6569 wrote:The other spot was by the off ramp to get onto I291. I've seen this spot a couple of times. If you get on the ramp or just drive by it, you can see supports for what must have been a massive bridge or viaduct. Whatever it was went across this valley and to the other side. There are power lines that go over that same spot. The suports can be seen on both sides of the valley but it looks like they have been taken out in the middle. Was this an old rail line???

Perhaps the former NYNH&H Canal Line? Not sure.

I guess I have to look more closely the next time I drive out that way!

The line by I-291 isn't the ex-NH Canal Line; that line (now the Pioneer Valley RR) intersects the Pike near Westfield. You might be looking at the long-abandoned Boston & Albany branch to Athol, which would have crossed in that general area.

As for the other spot, the Housatonic Railroad (the former New Haven Berkshire Division) passes under the Mass Pike in Lee. But that's still active, if a little weedy. The other reasonable option is the Berkshire Street Railway, either its Great Barrington-Pittsfield mainline that roughly paralleled the NH or its short-lived branch between Lee and Huntington. A right-of-way parallel to the turnpike would suggest the latter.

The other spot was by the off ramp to get onto I291. I've seen this spot a couple of times. If you get on the ramp or just drive by it, you can see supports for what must have been a massive bridge or viaduct. Whatever it was went across this valley and to the other side. There are power lines that go over that same spot. The suports can be seen on both sides of the valley but it looks like they have been taken out in the middle. Was this an old rail line??? I'm not familar with western Mass. Does anyone have old pictures of these spots?

Actually these are remnants of the Hampden Railroad which was built but never operated a train. The plan was to connect the Central Mass line of the B&M in Bondsville, MA, with the New Haven in Springfield in order to create an alternative route to the Boston & Albany. Other bridge abutments can be found in the Palmer, MA area and much of the right of way is now used for power lines.

BM6569 wrote:As I was traveling east on I90 into Mass, there were a couple of spots I saw where it appeared there had been a rail line at some point.
One was along I90 a couple of miles after you get into Mass by Lee. On the right side (I was heading east) I saw remnants of a bridge. It looked like it was a wooden bridge. All that was left was rails going across the span. Maybe the wood rotted? It was a small trestle and the roadbed paralelled the road for a mile or so and then I lost it in the woods.

The only line I can see paralleling the Pike in that area was a street railway running on private ROW from eastern Lee (splitting from US 20) to Blandford. The westernmost part was used for the Pike, and the rest, or at least part of it, now has power lines.

Further east, just past the Westfield interchange (exit 3), the Holyoke Branch of the New Haven and Northampton Railroad parallels the Pike to the south for a mile or two.

BM6569 wrote:The other spot was by the off ramp to get onto I291. I've seen this spot a couple of times. If you get on the ramp or just drive by it, you can see supports for what must have been a massive bridge or viaduct. Whatever it was went across this valley and to the other side. There are power lines that go over that same spot. The suports can be seen on both sides of the valley but it looks like they have been taken out in the middle. Was this an old rail line??? I'm not familar with western Mass. Does anyone have old pictures of these spots?
Thanks,
Warren

That was the never-opened Hampden Railroad, built when the NYNH&H controlled the B&M, connecting the NYNH&H at Springfield to the B&M's Central Mass at Whipples.

All of these should be visible on old topo maps at http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/ and current ones at http://www.terraserver-usa.com/.

I concur that what you're seeing along I-90 in East Lee is the ROW of the Berkshire Street Railway line that used to go from Lee to Blandford. It can be clearly seen for a couple of miles, on the left side of Route 20 and on the right side of I-90, which it crosses twice. Just east of the intersection of Routes 20 and 8, it crosses underneath 20 via a concrete overpass (partly filled in). From there it meanders down through the hills to North Blandford, and can be easily traced along the north side of the Lee-Westfield/North Blandford Road. It looks as though it'd make a nice hike, though I've never tried it. Several miles of it are visible. East of North Blandford, it's harder to determine where it went. Old topo maps seem to indicate it wound down into Russell, but I've read several references that say it went toward Huntington. Does anyone out there know the answer?

The private right-of-way of the Huckleberry Line ran to Gore Road and North Street north of Blandford center, and then went east and northeast to Huntington. It's visible on this 1946 map. There's also another possible ROW heading east to and along Stony Gutter Road, and then this 1951 map appears to show some hairpins down the hill into Russell (look for the sharp 90 degree turns in contour lines). There's also something on the north and east sides of Turtle Bend Mountain.

A starting point for the maps to view others

A photo of the Huckleberry Line
Another photo

I found the ROW on the 1946 map --- thanks! I had referred to a 1933 map (I think) previously, and don't recall seeing the dotted line into Huntington. Does this continue to approximately follow the power line? And how much of it, if any, is hikeable?

Another question: What was considered to be the eastern terminus of the Huckleberry? Did it go all the way down to Westfield?

The line from Woronoco to Russell was part of the Western Massachusetts Street Railway, which became part of the Springfield Street Railway (a different company from the Berkshire Street Railway). I'm not sure who owned the line between Russell and Huntington.

The line between Russell and Huntington would have been the Western Mass. Street Railway also. The Western Mass Street Railway took over the Woronco Street Railway and ran from Westfield to Huntington before becoming part of the Springfield System.