springfieldunion. western railroad
western, boston and albany, new york central, penn central, conrail, csx transportation

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Beginning in 1833, the Boston & Worcester Railroad, while still under construction itself, received a charter to build a railroad to the Massachusetts border from Worcestor via Springfield. Funds for building the Western proved difficult to raise, and what hurt the project more was the Panic of 1837. Loans were obtained from the state and construction of the route commenced in late 1836. More problems rose when the railroad tried to get permission to make a connection from the state line to Albany, New York. A temporary solution was using the Hudson & Berkshire Railroad. Construction on this line began in 1838, and was completed in 1840, but was lightly built and had many tight curves and difficult grades. A permanent solution came in 1840 when the Western leased the Albany & West Stockbridge Railroad.

Boston & Albany Railroad #600

The Western's line between Worcester and Springfield was opened in 1839. At Springfield, the Western faced a large challenge, the Connecticut River. It took two years to build a span across the river. At the same time of the opening of the section of the railroad, the Western was continuing to build its line from the state line east and from West Springfield west. By the end of 1841 the Western had completed construction. Once completed, the Boston to Albany route was the longest rail line constructed by one company.

Even though the Western was built on a tight budget, the tracks were built fairly well, and this paid off once traffic began to increase. In 1842, the Western began to double track its route, a project which was completed 21 years later. In 1849 part of the Western became Boston's connection to New York City when the Hartford & New Haven Railroad connected in Springfield.

Been built as an extension of the Boston & Worcester, the Western often disagreed on the divison of revenues. The conflict came to an end in 1867 when both lines merged, forming the Boston & Albany Railroad. In 1900, the Boston & Albany was leased to the New York Central and the B&A remained its seperate identity for decades. The Boston & Albany formerly merged into the New York Central in 1961.

The Penn Central was created with the ill fated merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central System in 1968. At the end of the year, by an order of the ICC, the New Haven Railroad was brought into the Penn Central. With three near bankrupt railroads, the Penn Central lasted only 8 years. The Penn Central financially collapsed and declared bankruptcy, with the government responding with the creation of Conrail in 1976.

For the first time Conrail earned a profit in 1981, and the railroad didn't require federal funding following that year. The government sold its shares of Conrail and in 1997 shareholders sold stock in Conrail to Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation. Conrail was divided between Norfolk Southern and CSX, but Conrail still operates lines in New Jersey and around Philadelhia and Detriot on behalf of its owners. In Massachusetts, Conrail is now operated by CSX.

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