Chicopee Falls Branch

Chicopee Falls Branch MILE STATION 0 Chicopee 0.55 Chicopee Center 2.02 Oak Street 2.31 Chicopee Falls

All of the above stations are in Massachusetts. This is another of the numerous short branch lines once owned by the Boston and Maine Railroad that are no longer active. There is an on going effort to convert the right of way to a hiking and bicycle trail. The line dates back to 1846. Most old B&M timetables refer to the station at the end of the branch as “Chicopee Falls”. The employee timetable of Oct. 31, 1971 is a curious exception. It calls this station “Chicopee”. Thus it has two stations on the branch with identical names. Having two stations on the same line with identical names is a major deviation from normal railroad practice. In spite of reducing the name of “Chicopee Falls” to “Chicopee”, it has at least 3 references to “Chicopee Falls”. It refers to the branch as the “CHICOPEE FALLS BRANCH”. In sub header under the branch name it says “Chicopee to Chicopee Falls”. In a note at the bottom of the station list it says “The direction Chicopee to Chicopee Falls is Eastward (Inward).” Below is a link to an article by a local historian written in 2001. http://www.railfan.net/lists/rshsdepot-digest/200108/msg00048.html This article speaks of Chicopee Falls station as still standing. However two reliable listings of standing railroad stations in Massachusetts do not include Chicopee Falls so it has probably been demolished since 2001. It is not included in Gary Lapointe’s web site of still standing Massachusetts stations. It is also missing from John H. Roy’s Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses published in 2007.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

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