Newburyport Railroad

The Newburyport Railroad was a railroad that came about from the merger of three small rail companies into one large company to compete with the Eastern Railroad.

The first company was incorporated in 1846 and opened a line from Newburyport on the Eastern to Georgetown in 1849, and west to the Boston and Maine Railroad at Bradford in 1851. This line was called the Newburyport and Bradford.

The second company was the Danvers and Georgetown Railroad, organized in 1851 and opened in 1853, running from the Newburyport Railroad at Georgetown south to Danvers on the Essex Railroad.

Finally, the third company, the Danvers Railroad was incorporated in 1852 and opened in 1855, continuing the line from Danvers southwest to the South Reading Branch Railroad in Wakefield.

The first two companies merged in 1855 to form a Newburyport Railroad. The B&M leased the Danvers Railroad in 1853, and the combined Newburyport Railroad in 1860, making the line from Wakefield to Newburyport the main line and the old line to Bradford a branch.

Like all the other rail lines that ran through Essex County, the Newburyport Railroad slowly became obsolete in the early 20th century, although portions of it survived until the early 21st century.

The B&M did not start abandoning the Newburyport until 1941 when it wiped out the line from Newburyport to Topsfield. The following year it abandoned the line between Georgetown and the Paper Mill in Haverhill. Service to the Paper Mill was run from the B&M's main line until 1982 when all service between the Mill and Bradford ended and the line abandoned. Also in 1982, the line between Topsfield and Danvers was abandoned.

Freight service continued on the line between Wakefield and Danvers until all service stopped about 2001. The line served freight customers on the old Essex Branch from 1985 to 2000 from Danvers Jct to Danversport after a fire destroyed the Waters River Bridge, preventing Guilford from bringing freight in from Salem.

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.  http://www.branchlinepress.com
• Karr, Ronald D. (1994). Lost Railroads New England. Branch Line Press. ISBN 0-942147-04-9.  http://www.branchlinepress.com