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The Granite Railway was one of the First Railroads In The United States , built to convey granite from Quincy, Massachusetts , for construction of the Bunker Hill Monument . The last active quarry closed in 1963 ; in 1985 , Boston 's Metropolitan District Commission purchased 22 Acre s, including Granite Railway Quarry, as the Quincy Quarries Reservation . HISTORY In 1825 , after an exhaustive search throughout New England , Solomon Willard selected the Quincy site as the source of stone for the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown . After many delays, and much obstruction, the Railway itself was granted a charter on March 4 , 1826 , with right of Eminent Domain to establish its Right-of-way . It was designed and built by railway pioneer Gridley Bryant and began operations on October 7 , 1826 . The Railway ran three Mile s (4.8 Km ) from quarries to the Neponset River . Its wagons had wheels 6 Feet (1.8 M ) in diameter and were pulled by Horse s, although Steam Locomotive s had been operation in England for two decades. The wooden rails were plated with iron and were laid 5 feet (1,524 Mm ) apart. In 1830 , a new section of the Railway called the Incline was added to haul granite from the Pine Ledge Quarry to the railway level 84 feet (25.6 m) below. Wagons moved up and down the 315 foot (96 m) long Incline in an endless conveyor belt. The Incline continued in operation until the 1940s . The Railway introduced several important inventions, including Railway Switches , the Turntable , and double-truck Railroad Car s. In addition it was the site of the first fatal railway accident in the United States, on July 25 , 1832 , when the wagon containing Mr. Thomas B. Achuas , of Cuba , derailed as he was taking a tour. PRESERVATION The railway's incline was added to the National Register Of Historic Places on June 19 1973 , and the railway itself was added on October 15 1973 . REFERENCES
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