Fore River Railroad
The Fore River Railroad (reporting mark FRVT) is a class III railroad in eastern Massachusetts owned by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. It is operated by the Fore River Transportation Company.
 A Fore River Railroad locomotive in Braintree in August 2018 | |||
| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting mark | FRVT | ||
| Dates of operation | 1903–present | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
| Length | 2.7 miles (4.3 km) | ||
| |||
The railroad runs from the Fore River Shipyard in the Quincy Point neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, to the Greenbush Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system. It was constructed in 1902 to serve the Fore River Shipyard.[1] In 2015, the railroad received a $500,000 grant from the state of Massachusetts to improve its tracks.[2]
In 1987 the MWRA acquired the railroad and shipyard. MWRA contracts the operation of the railroad to the Fore River Transportation Corporation. MWRA uses the railroad to transport fertilizer that is produced by a privately owned processing facility, NEFCO Biosolids,[3] from solid sewage waste (sludge).[1] The sludge is transported to NEFCO from the MWRA's Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant via a pipeline system under Boston Harbor that also transports sewage to Deer Island.[4] The railroad also serves a Twin Rivers Technologies plant, shipping fatty acid products from the facility.[2]
History
The Fore River Railroad was originally formed by Thomas A. Watson, telephone pioneer and assistant to Alexander Graham Bell. Wealthy from his telephone inventions, Watson decided to try his hand at shipbuilding, and purchased land at Quincy Point in Massachusetts and built a shipyard. He won a shipbuilding contract from the United States Navy before the shipyard opened.[5] To supply the shipyard, Watson realized a railroad connection was necessary. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad controlled the South Shore Railroad which passed through Braintree, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Quincy Point, but had no interest in building a branch to Watson's new shipyard.[5]
In response, Watson decided to build his own railroad, and a route from the shipyard to the South Shore Railroad line was identified. However, Watson did not charter his railroad, and therefore could not use eminent domain to purchase all of the necessary land; as a result, he "was forced to pay dearly for one parcel needed for the right of way".[5] After the offending property was purchased, construction commenced in 1902, and the first train reached the shipyard in June 1903.[5] The company connected with the New Haven Railroad in East Braintree.[6]
Initially, there was no corporate distinction between the shipyard and the railroad; both were part of the same company. During World War I, the shipyard was purchased by Bethlehem Steel, and saw brisk business constructing warships. A connection was made to the Bay State Street Railway and electrification added to the Fore River Railroad so shipyard workers could take the streetcar directly to the shipyard. This arrangement lasted until shortly after the conclusion of World War I.[5]
Bethlehem Steel formally created the Fore River Railroad in 1919 as a subsidiary. Traffic was modest post-war, until the start of World War II brought increased demand for warships and more business to the shipyard. Bethlehem introduced diesel locomotives in 1946, and the railroad's steam locomotives were all retired the following year.[5] The shipyard continued until the start of the 1960s, at which point business had sharply declined. Rather than close the shipyard, Bethlehem sold it to General Dynamics in 1963. The new owner obtained more contracts from the Navy and the shipyard was once again busy. This continued until 1986, when the shipyard shut down for good.[5] In 1987, the railroad reported an estimated 1,000 carloads of traffic.[7]
While its primary purpose for existing was gone, the Fore River Railroad continued operating to serve a few local industries; these included a soap manufacturer and an oil facility. No longer needing the railroad, General Dynamics leased its operations to the Colorado and Eastern Railroad after closing the shipyard, and the following year sold both the shipyard and the railroad to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The MWRA was interested in the land to support its efforts to clean pollution in Boston Harbor. Conrail took over the railroad's lease in 1988.[5]
Under the MWRA, the Fore River Railroad began hauling sewage sludge and fertilizer produced from the sludge.[1][5] In 1991 the MWRA leased operations to a new company, the Quincy Bay Terminal Company, which was a subsidiary of the New England Southern Railroad. Quincy Bay Terminal operated the line until 2001, when it was replaced by another incarnation of the Fore River Railroad, this time owned by Twin Rivers Technologies, a chemicals manufacturer served by the railroad.[5]
References
- "Fore River Railroad". MWRA.
- "Shipyard railroad receives grant for track upgrades". Trains Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
- "Our Projects: Boston (Quincy), MA; Client: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority". NEFCO.
- "How does liquid sludge get from Winthrop to Quincy fordewatering, drying and conversion to Class A biosolids?" (PDF). NEFCO.
- Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2nd ed.). Pepperell, Massachusetts: Branch Line Press. pp. 388–390. ISBN 978-0-942147-12-4. OCLC 1038017689.
- The Port of Boston, Massachusetts. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1946. pp. 163, 209.
- United States Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies (1988). Department of Transportation and related agencies appropriations for fiscal year 1989: hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, One Hundredth Congress, second session, on H.R. 4794. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 777.
