Brookline and Pepperell Railroad and Brookline & Pepperell Railroad Company should link here
Ronald Dale Karr apparently details its history in Lost Railroads of New England 1996 excerpted here
Map of 1844 railroad route from Pepperell to East Milton in N.H. Unrelated? how does route compare?
According to an inaccessible link on the Assabet River Rail Trail site "The Brookline & Milford Railroad opened in 1894. It's primary purpose was to haul ice directly to Boston. Passenger service ended in 1926 and freight in 1931."
A film on youtube captures some of what remains and describes the line's history here
Brookline & Pepperell Railroad 1892-1939 / 1942.
An opening day cloth souvenir is extant[1]
Squannacook Junction was a rail intersection from 1892 until 1942. Ice blocks were one of the area's cargoes. According to the 2008 book New Hampshire Rail Trails, "This was the railroad that ice built."[3]
In 1895, the Brookline & Pepperell Railroad Company had a 10.42 mile main line from Pepperell Junction to the state line.[4] In 1906 it was documented on a branch line to Milford, New Hampshire.[5] The junction was later along the Boston & Maine's route from Ayer to West Groton.[6]
It was delineated as part of the border of the West Groton Water Management District in 1911.[7] In the 1915 census it was documented as part of Groton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Society, Brookline Historical (February 1, 2020). "1892 Brookline & Pepperell Railroad Opening Day - Souvenir". Brookline NH Historical Society.
- ^ Cornwall, L. Peter; Smith, Carol A. (November 30, 1989). Names First--rails Later: New England's 700-plus Railroads and what Happened to Them. Arden Valley Group. ISBN 978-0-9621689-0-1 – via Google Books.
- ^ Martin, Charles Fontaine (November 30, 2008). New Hampshire Rail Trails. Branch Line Press. ISBN 978-0-942147-10-0 – via Google Books.
- ^ Commissioners, Massachusetts Board of Railroad (November 30, 1895). "Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners". Wright & Potter, State Printers – via Google Books.
- ^ Railroad, Boston and Maine (November 30, 1906). "Annual Report of the Directors of the Boston and Maine Railroad to the Stockholders" – via Google Books.
- ^ Ayer, Massachusetts
- ^ "Private and Special Statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts". state. November 30, 1912 – via Google Books.
- ^ Statistics, Massachusetts Bureau of (November 30, 1918). "The Decennial Census, 1915". Wright & Potter Print. Company, state printers – via Google Books.