Massachusetts Central Railroad

The Massachusetts Central Railroad (reporting mark MCER) is a short line railroad in western Massachusetts, USA. It was established in 1979 to provide railroad transportation services between Palmer and South Barre on the old Right of Way (ROW) of the Ware River Railroad.

The old Ware River Railroad was an independent line that ran from Palmer to the Cheshire Railroad in Winchendon and was built in 1868. The first section, from Palmer to Gilbertville, opened in 1870, and the rest three years later.

Until 1873 it was leased to and operated by the New London Northern Railroad, it was eventually taken over by the Boston and Albany Railroad and run as its Winchendon Branch.

The B&A wanted to run the Ware River Line in conjunction with the Monadnock Railroad in order to gain access to the resort areas of Peterborough, NH. When the B&A failed to gain control of the Monadnock, the Ware River Line was not very profitable.

By 1968, the line came under the control of the Penn Central and tracks were abandoned between South Barre and Waterville, splitting the line in two. The Boston and Maine Railroad took over the line from Waterville to Winchendon and operated it until it was abandoned in 1984.

The Penn Central continued to operate the line south of Barre, but in 1975 all service between Gilbertville and South Barre were discontinued. Conrail operated the line between Palmer and Ware and applied for abandonment of the remainder of the line. By 1979, the MCER was formed and resumed operations. The train rarely ran north of Ware until 1999 when new rail customers restored freight service to Barre.

References

• Karr, Ronald D. (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England - A Handbook of Railroad History. Branch Line Press. ISBN 0-942147-02-2. 
• Karr, Ronald D. (1994). Lost Railroads of New England. Branch Line Press. ISBN 0-942147-04-9. 

External links

• Massachusetts Central Railroad Corp.