Массачусетс штатындағы бұрынғы теміржол тармағы

Former railway line in Massachusetts, US

The Newton Lower Falls Branch was a short branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad in Massachusetts. The approximately line ran between Riverside station in Newton and Lower Falls in Wellesley, with one intermediate station. The branch opened in January 1847 and immediately saw commuter service. After the Highland branch opened in 1886, the Newton Lower Falls Branch was relegated to shuttle service. A streetcar like electric railcar powered by overhead lines provided all passenger service on the branch from January 1904 to April 1930. The northern half of the branch was relocated in 1926. Passenger service dropped from 20 daily round trips in 1904 to just one in 1950; it ended entirely in 1957. Freight service continued until 1972. Ownership was transferred to the state in two segments in 1973 and 1982. 21st century proposals to convert the alignment to a rail trail resulted in a decade of litigation, which concluded that the line had never been formally abandoned. One section of rail trail opened in 2012; another portion is planned.

The approximately lineefn|name=length|The B&W listed the line as in 1852. B&A timetables gave the Riverside–Lower Falls distance as in 1899, Other sources give various lengths in this range. The line crossed the Charles River again into the Lower Falls section of Wellesley, where the Newton Lower Falls station was located just north of Washington Street. Tracks continued across the street to a freight yard and engine house. After 1926, the line branched off the Highland branch south of Riverside and ran southwest, joining the original alignment at Pine Grove. Passenger trains typically covered the length of the branch in just five minutes. Around 1845, the inhabitants of Newton Lower Falls and Newton Upper Falls requested that the B&W extend a branch to the two villages. The railroad was amenable to the proposal and ordered a survey. By 1846, the railroad approved plans to build a branch to Lower Falls. The Newton Lower Falls Branch opened on January 18, 1847. "Newton Special" commuter service was extended from to Lower Falls. In 1848, it carried 26,381 passengers, most of them traveling between Lower Falls and Boston. By 1850, the branch was served by five daily round trips. It had cost $39,050 to build. Pine Grove station opened by 1856. Riverside station opened near the junction point with the main line around 1860. The Boston and Worcester Railroad merged into the Boston and Albany Railroad (B&A) in 1867. On May 16, 1886, the B&A opened its Highland branch, which also connected to the main line near Riverside. Highland branch and main line commuter service were linked into the "Newton Circuit", while Lower Falls Branch service was reduced to Riverside–Lower Falls shuttle trains. By the turn of the century, the shuttle ran 20 daily round trips (seven on Sundays). The new Newton Lower Falls station was built in 1887; later demolished, it was very similar to the still extant Ashland station. The B&A eliminated grade crossings on its mainline in Newton in 1895–97. The Highland branch crossings were eliminated in 1905–07, but those on the Newton Lower Falls Branch remained. The B&A ended Sunday service on the line around the end of that year. In May 1903, residents appeared before the Massachusetts Railroad Commission to voice issues about the Lower Falls Branch. Their complaints included the lack of Sunday service, long waits at Riverside for connecting trains, the downgrading of Pine Grove station to a flag stop, and poor freight service. At that time, the B&A was studying third rail electrification of the Lower Falls Branch and the Newton Circuit, though it did not plan to construct it for at least several years. In June 1903, the commission ruled that the B&A was not required to operate Sunday service on the line. However, it did require the railroad to resume using a fireman on locomotives on the branch; the practice of only having an engineer was considered unsafe. The B&A also resolved the transfer delays at Riverside. The electrification was intended to reduce the cost of running the shuttle trains. efn|Several sources incorrectly claim that electric service began on February 1, 1900. Power was purchased from the Boston Suburban Electric Company – a holding firm for several streetcar lines that eventually were merged as the Middlesex and Boston Street Railway (M&B) – with electricity supplied from its Newton power station. The company's Newton–Framingham streetcar line on Washington Street, then part of the Newton Street Railway, crossed the line at Lower Falls. The car was locally known as the "Ping Pong". However, the "Ping Pong" remained the sole passenger car on the branch after the test. In February 1926, the state legislature approved plans for the B&A and the Metropolitan District Commission to swap land near Riverside. This allowed the B&A to relocate the northern half of the line to remove tracks from parkland and to avoid replacing the Charles River bridge. The relocation took place later in 1926, leaving the Lower Falls Branch connected to the Highland branch south of Riverside.

The M&B replaced its Newton–Framingham route with buses in late 1929. Its final streetcar service, the Auburndale–Lake Street line, was replaced with buses around April 1, 1930. With power no longer readily available, the B&A switched the line back to steam operation on April 27, 1930. Service was reduced to 7 1/2 round trips at that time. It was further reduced to four daily round trips – two in the morning peak and two in the afternoon peak – by 1934. Saturday service ended in the 1940s; by 1949, Pine Grove was only served on peak direction trips. After a petition from residents, a single round trip for commuters was restored on February 6. Diesel locomotives – typically hauling a single coach – replaced steam locomotives on the branch in April 1951. Route 128 was relocated slightly to the west in the early 1960s during the construction of the Massachusetts Turnpike extension to Boston. A new bridge for the Newton Lower Falls Branch was constructed over the new alignment, while the old alignment became an interchange ramp. In February 1957, the B&A petitioned the state Public Utilities Commission for permission to discontinue passenger service on the Newton Lower Falls Branch. The commission approved the petition that July, citing "meager patronage" and the availability of other nearby stations. Passenger service on the branch ended in August 1957, though freight service continued. efn|A short portion of the former Highland branch near Riverside remained in use for an industrial customer until 1976. This included the section of the Newton Lower Falls Branch north of the Route 128 bridge. In 1975, the United States Railway Association did not recommend that the branch be included in Conrail because of the lack of traffic on the line. On November 1, 1982, Penn Central deeded the portion of the branch south of Route 128 to the Metropolitan District Commission.

A 1996 state study of the MetroWest region identified several disused rail lines, including the Newton Lower Falls Branch, as potential rail trails. Planning for rehabilitation of the Charles River bridge between Newton and Wellesley for trail use began in 2003. The trail proposal proved controversial in Newton Lower Falls – particularly the segment between Concord Street and Pine Grove Avenue, where the right of way is between residential properties. Trail supporters saw it as an opportunity to reconnect the neighborhood with the rest of Newton, which it is separated from by Route 128; opponents claimed it would further divide the neighborhood. Among the supporters was state representative Kay Khan, whose property abutted the right of way. A 2006 lawsuit filed by abutters against the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) – the successor to the Metropolitan District Commission – alleged that the 1982 deed restriction prevented DCR from using the alignment for a trail. DCR argued that the restriction was intended to be a noncompete clause preventing railroad use of the alignment and did not preclude a trail. It was ultimately dismissed in 2015, as the 30 year deed restriction had expired in 2012. Additional lawsuits were filed in 2011 and 2014 by other abutters claiming that the rail easement had reverted back to the adjacent property owners upon abandonment of the line. In 2014, the Massachusetts Land Court found in the latter case that the line had never actually been abandoned under Massachusetts state law, and that whether the line had been abandoned was a federal issue. In 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed a further suit by the 2014 plaintiffs, finding that the federal Surface Transportation Board had sole jurisdiction over railroad abandonments. At the request of the court, the STB filed an amicus curiae brief agreeing that it had sole jurisdiction and that the line had not been abandoned. In response to the controversy, a neighborhood working group was formed in 2009. The group identified 24 potential trail segments – some on streets, some on the railbed, and some on other alignments – that could be connected in various combinations to form a usable trail. The DCR proceeded with the southern portion of the rail trail, between Concord Street and Washington Street, which did not abut residential properties. It allocated state funds for reconstruction of three footbridges over the Charles River, including the 1910 built former railroad bridge, in 2009. Construction took place from late 2010 to May 2011. The bridge and the trail portion opened in May 2012.