Mason Bogie locomotive #6 as built in
1886 .]]
The was an 8.8
Mile (14.2 km)
Narrow Gauge (3 ft) passenger-carrying
Railroad in the
Boston, Massachusetts ,
USA area. It was chartered
May 5 ,
1874 , opened
July 29 ,
1875 , and abandoned
January 27 ,
1940 . A
Ferry connection from the railroad's southern terminus at
East Boston connected to
Rowe's Wharf in the city of
Boston proper, with a connection to the
Atlantic Avenue Elevated (from
1901 to
1938 ). The railroad followed the coastline north-eastwards through the resort of
Revere Beach to the far terminus at
Lynn . A branch split to a loop through
Winthrop .
The rail laid was light, 30-pound (per yard) rail being installed at first, increased to 50-pound in
1885 and 60-pound in
1904 . It was, however, laid from the beginning on
Standard Gauge -sized ties. Given the lightweight rail, the locomotives were small and of standard narrow-gauge dimensions. The vast majority of them were
Mason Bogie s, 11 from the
Mason Machine Works and a further 21 from other builders after Mason closed. Cars were of standard gauge dimensions, however, seating four across.
Between
1896 and
1900 , the part along Revere Beach, formerly running right along the beach, was relocated inland to lie next to the
Eastern Railroad 's Chelsea Beach Branch. The stations were relocated and a new one (Bath House) was built. Revere Street was built later.
The railroad was highly successful, carrying commuters into Boston and the Boston urban population to the seaside resorts. By
1914 over seven million passengers were carried annually, making it one of the most heavily travelled stretches of railroad in North America. With such a traffic density, the expense of electrification could be recouped easily by savings, and in
1928 this happened, the existing cars being fitted with electric motors, trolley poles and control stands and the steam locomotives disposed of. However, the
Great Depression , contracting local industry, and increasing automobile use soon saw ridership declining.
After attempts to find a buyer fell through, the BRB&L filed for bankruptcy in
1937 . Further losses of ridership followed, and in
1939 the management petitioned for abandonment. This was granted, and the railroad ceased operations on
January 27 ,
1940 .
The right of way from East Boston to Revere, a length of 4.3 miles, was utilised in
1952 –
1954 to build part of the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 's
Blue Line Rapid Transit line. The remainder of the right-of-way is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and may be used for further expansion of the Blue Line in future. South of the Blue Line's section, the line passed through where
Logan Airport is now, and through a now-abandoned
Tunnel under a hill.
A number of the passenger cars were purchased by the
East Broad Top Railroad in
Pennsylvania , where they survive.
On
July 1 ,
1891 , the BRB&L merged with the . The BW&S was itself a consolidation on
December 11 ,
1883 of the '''Boston, Winthrop and Point Shirley Railroad''' and '''Eastern Junction, Broad Sound Pier and Point Shirley Railroad'''.
The BW&PS was organized in
1874 and opened a line on
June 7 ,
1877 . This line split from the BRB&L at Winthrop Junction and headed east and south for 2.55 miles (4.10 km) to
Winthrop Center. In
1882 the part heading south was closed and a new line was built east to Ocean Spray and south to
Point Shirley
The EJBSP&PS was chartered
1880 and built a line from the
Eastern Railroad 's Chelsea Beach Branch near
Crescent Beach southeast via eastern Winthrop to
Point Shirley . South of Ocean Spray, this was just east of the BW&PS.
In
1885 , after the merger, sections of line were abandoned. The loop as it existed until
1940 was built in
1888 . It used the full original alignment of the BW&PS (including the
1882 -abandoned section), as well as the extension between Ocean Spray and Winthrop Beach. The rest was built brand new, with a longer route between the split and Ocean Spray to serve Winthrop Highlands, and a new route between Winthrop Center and Winthrop Beach.
This is going clockwise around the loop. The loop tracks split from the main line just north of Orient Heights, turned east and then split with one direction heading east and the other south.
- Hilton, George W. (1990) ''American Narrow Gauge Railroads''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2369-9
- Ronald Dale Karr (1994) ''The Rail Lines of Southern New England: A Handbook of Railroad History''. Branch Line Press . ISBN 0942147022
- Various Sanborn Map s
- Railroad History Database
