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109-656: The Worcester Horse Railway, later the Worcester Street Railway, was formed in 1861 and opened in 1863. It was acquired in 1887 by the Citizens' Street Railway, which opened the previous year. The combined company became the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway. The first electric streetcar line opened in 1891; electric cars replaced horsecars on the system over the next two years. The WCSR expanded its city lines through

218-638: A 1920s gangster-themed restaurant, is located in the Grand Hall. The Cannabis Control Commission established their state headquarters in Union Station in 2019. Amtrak Thruway bus service between Worcester and New Bedford, Massachusetts , connecting with Amtrak trains at Providence , was added in 2023. Worcester Union Station is a proposed intermediate station for East-West Rail , which would provide intercity passenger service between Boston and Pittsfield . From 2000 to 2024, Union Station had

327-570: A 2.4-mile (3.9 km) distance between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street on 24 February 1873. The service was discontinued on 20 November of that year. The Calcutta Tramway Company was formed and registered in London on 22 December 1880. Metre-gauge horse-drawn tram tracks were laid from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat via Bowbazar Street, Dalhousie Square and Strand Road. The route was inaugurated by Viceroy Ripon on 1 November 1880. In 1882, steam locomotives were deployed experimentally to haul tram cars. By

436-629: A 5.15-mile (8.29 km) line between Millbury and the Farnumsville portion of Grafton on August 14, 1897. The Worcester and Suburban began operating the line in February 1898. An extension to the Rockdale village of Northbridge over Providence Road opened on April 11, 1898. Service operated between Worcester and Rockdale. Horsecar A horsecar , horse-drawn tram , horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical),

545-683: A combined capacity of 7 megawatts (9,400 hp), provided 600 volt direct current power to the streetcar lines. The Millbury powerhouse and the Madison Street substation were connected by 13.2 kV transmission lines. Around 1912, the WCSR began using hydroelectric power supplied by the Connecticut River Transmission Company . A switching station at the Millbury plant fed into the Madison Street substation and

654-595: A design of a partly enclosed double-decker carriage hauled by two horses. The last horse-drawn tram was retired from London in 1915. Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century. The last horse used for shunting on British Railways was retired on 21 February 1967 in Newmarket, Suffolk . In the United States the very first streetcar appeared in New Orleans in 1832, operated by

763-452: A double-track loop around Worcester Common . This allowed suburban cars to circle the Common or be through-routed with other lines, rather than the previous time-consuming process of changing ends to reverse direction. A connector was added on Millbury Street near Quinsigamond Village in 1901 that allowed Millbury cars to use the more direct route on Millbury Street and Green Street rather than

872-450: A four-route, 6.60-mile (10.62 km) system. Two routes ran from Union Station to Park Avenue and Worcester Polytechnic Institute via Pleasant Street. Another ran from Rural Cemetery to South Worcester via Grove, Main, and Southbridge streets, and the fourth ran from City Hall to Quinsigamond via Front, Green, and Millbury streets. The Citizen's Street Railway purchased the Worcester Street Railway effective May 31, 1887, and renamed

981-811: A handful of Albany–Boston intercity trains and Worcester–Boston local trains on the B&;A, plus a daily New London round trip. The New Haven and the New York Central merged into Penn Central in 1968-69. Amtrak took over intercity service on May 1, 1971. The B&A intercity service (an unnamed successor to the New England States ) and the New London trip were dropped, though the New Haven –Boston Bay State began operating through Worcester weeks later. Amtrak and Penn Central abandoned

1090-690: A holding company under the direct ownership of the New Haven was vetoed by governor Eugene Foss . In 1913, the railroad succeeded in pushing the Massachusetts legislature to override Foss's veto of a similar bill. Four of the companies owned by the New England Investment and Securities Company were merged into the WCSR on May 3, 1911: the Worcester and Southbridge Street Railway, the Worcester and Blackstone Valley Street Railway,

1199-495: A larger facility off Shrewsbury Street in 1918. Springfield–Boston and Springfield–Providence through freight service, jointly operated with other New Haven-owned systems and the B&W, began in 1921. The Providence through service ended in 1924 when the Milford, Attleborough and Woonsocket Street Railway was abandoned. The B&W, WCSR, and Springfield Street Railway established a joint container freight service in 1926 – just

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1308-538: A line from Worcester to Southbridge via Rochdale and Charlton City . The Worcester and Millbury Street Railway was chartered on May 13, 1892, and opened between Worcester and Bramanville via Millbury in October 1892. On May 12, 1893, the legislature authorized the Worcester, Leicester and Spencer to acquire other companies and change its name to the Worcester and Suburban Street Railway . The company merged with

1417-547: A line on Providence Street, a line to Grant Square, and extension of the Pleasant Street line to Newton Square. Streetcars had a variety of colors and patterns that indicated which lines they operated on. By late 1894, the WCSR operated a 30.51-mile (49.10 km) system, entirely electrified. Other companies serving Worcester and surrounding towns – all of which the WCSR would later acquire – totaled about 28 miles (45 km) at that time. The Worcester Traction Company

1526-523: A line to Grafton via North Grafton – its first line outside Worcester city limits – on December 16, 1898. It featured a lengthy trestle over the Millbury Branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad at Millbury Junction. An extension of the Pleasant Street line to Tatnuck was opened on May 30, 1899, along with a spur on June Street from Pleasant Street to Chandler Street. The Salisbury Street line

1635-562: A museum in Porto Alegre . The Worcester Consolidated Street Railway was the third-largest streetcar system in Massachusetts (after the Boston Elevated Railway and Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway ). It operated a dense network of urban lines in Worcester plus rural lines across Central Massachusetts. At its maximum extent, the rural lines of the system stretched north to Fitchburg , west to Brimfield , south to

1744-402: A nominally-independent subsidiary to skirt state law, it acquired the WCSR and most of the remaining independent lines around Worcester. Several were merged with the WCSR in 1911; by 1912, the WCSR system had been formed from 17 formerly independent companies. The rural network and most of the city network were constructed by 1906, though some city line extensions were built in the 1910s. Despite

1853-464: A public transit mode in Toronto . Electric streetcars later replaced the horsecars between 1892 and 1894. The Toronto Street Railway created Toronto's unique broad gauge of 4 ft  10 + 7 ⁄ 8  in ( 1,495 mm ). The streets were unpaved, and a step rail was employed. The horsecars had flanged wheels and ran on the upper level of the step. Ordinary wagons and carriages ran on

1962-632: A purchase price of $ 134,000 for little more than the rights to build the line, this represented a substantial profit for the sellers. The Springfield and Eastern built east from Palmer , and the Hartford and Worcester west from Fiskdale, meeting at the Stubridge/Brimfield town line near East Brimfield. The latter portion, less than 2 miles (3.2 km) long, cost $ 160,000 to build. The extensions opened on July 5, 1907, inaugurating Springfield–Worcester through service. The Hartford and Worcester

2071-575: A rail hub in the mid-19th century, with seven railroads serving the city: All except the Western and the P&;W used Foster Street station, located just north of Worcester Common . A union station was constructed east of Washington Square in 1875. Designed by Ware & Van Brunt , it was modeled after a Roman basilica and featured a 212-foot (65 m)-tall clocktower. Most railroads in southern New England were consolidated into three systems in

2180-430: A regular route, without the need to be pre-hired. Horsecars on tramlines were an improvement over the omnibus, because the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on iron or steel rails (usually grooved from 1852 on ) allowed the animals to haul a greater load for a given effort than the omnibus, and gave a smoother ride. The horse-drawn streetcar combined the low cost, flexibility, and safety of animal power with

2289-523: A second platform and extending the side platform to full length, the MBTA approved a two-year, $ 4 million design contract in October 2018. Design reached 30% in August 2019. The new 820-foot (250 m)-long island platform has an accessible footbridge at its east end, and stairs and an elevator into a converted storage room to provide direct access from the station building at its west end. A crossover east of

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2398-405: A single high-level side platform several cars long. It was the only station on the line aside from the three limited-service Newton stations that could only be served by one train at a time – all other stations have two side platforms or an island platform . This limited the number of daily trains that could serve Worcester, and caused frequent cascading delays. After years of discussion about adding

2507-541: A spur on Pleasant Street opened on November 3. The company was a financial failure; after a failed reorganization, it was seized for insolvency on April 25, 1866. The legislature approved the formation of the Worcester Street Railway on April 12, 1867, to purchase the property and franchise. The Pleasant Street line was soon removed. The older company was merged into the Worcester Street Railway on December 23, 1867. The company did not resume service on

2616-689: A top speed of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h), it was the fastest streetcar line in the state when it opened. The company interchanged freight with the Webster Branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad at Oxford Heights . An associated trolley park in Auburn, Pinehurst Park, opened in August 1902. The Overlook Hotel in Charlton, also connected to the line, opened in July 1903. Despite these advantages,

2725-559: A total of 252.07 miles (405.67 km). Approximately one-third of the track mileage was inside the city of Worcester, with two-thirds making up the rural lines. As with most rural streetcar lines in New England, the company's lines outside Worcester were more similar to extended city lines than to true interurbans . They operated largely on public roads rather than on private right-of-way, with accordingly slow speeds, and used zone-based fares rather than distance-based fares . By 1912,

2834-471: A track connection was completed there, allowing through service to Worcester City Hall over WCSR tracks. The Fitchburg and Suburban Street Railway was organized on March 29, 1898. It opened between Fitchburg and Leominster via South Street and Merriam Avenue on July 16, 1898. A short crosstown line was built in Leominster in 1899. The Pleasant Street portion of the line opened on November 29, 1899, and

2943-678: A wheel to travel along the wire. In late 1887 and early 1888, using his trolley system, Sprague installed the first successful large electric street railway system in Richmond, Virginia . Long a transportation obstacle, the hills of Richmond included grades of over 10%, and were an excellent proving ground for acceptance of the new technology in other cities. Within a year, the economy of electric power had replaced more costly horsecars in many cities. By 1889, 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents. Many large metropolitan lines lasted well into

3052-476: A year before low revenue prompted the latter two companies to abandon freight service entirely. Staring in 1893, the main powerhouse for the city lines was a 5.65-megawatt (7,580 hp) steam generating plant located on Fremont Street in Worcester. With the expansions and acquisitions of the early 20th century, the WCSR had additional steam generating plants for suburban lines located in Millbury, Holden , Charlton City , Berlin , Northborough, and Leominster by

3161-633: Is a railway station located at Washington Square in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts . It is the western terminus of the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line and a stop for the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited service. A bus terminal adjacent to the station is the hub for Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) local bus service; it is also used by PVTA , MART , Peter Pan , and Greyhound intercity buses. Worcester became

3270-460: Is an animal-powered (usually horse ) tram or streetcar. The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport , which developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s , using the newly improved iron or steel rail or ' tramway '. They were local versions of the stagecoach lines and picked up and dropped off passengers on

3379-793: The New England States and the Boston section of the Wolverine . Joint New Haven–B&M service between New York City and Maine ( Bar Harbor Express , Down Easter , East Wind , and State of Maine Express ) passed between the two railroads at Worcester. Passenger service slowly declined during the 20th century. Local service to New London, Connecticut , on the N&;W ended in 1928, though it resumed in 1952. Local service to Winchendon and Ayer ended in 1953, to Providence around 1957, and to Albany in 1960. New York–Maine intercity service also ended in 1960, leaving Worcester served by only

Worcester Consolidated Street Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue

3488-593: The Huguenot , originally belonged to the Worcester and Southbridge Street Railway . Almost all streetcars acquired by the WCSR after 1910 – and about 100 acquired before then — were produced by the Osgood Bradley Car Company , which had its headquarters in Worcester. Ten more cars were delivered from Osgood Bradley in 1920, and an additional ten in 1924. The final streetcars purchased by the WCSR were 50 lightweight 44-seat city cars in 1927. Only

3597-640: The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in May 1908 that the New Haven must fully divest from the streetcar systems by July 1909. The New Haven then attempted to use its substantial political power to simply legalize its ownership. A 1912 bill to consolidate its Massachusetts holdings into the Worcester, Springfield and Berkshire Street Railway (similar to its previous creations of the Connecticut Company and Rhode Island Company ) as

3706-586: The New York, Providence and Boston Railroad system including the P&W in 1892, the Old Colony Railroad system including the F&;W in 1893, and the New York and New England Railroad system including the N&W in 1898. Construction of a new Union Station on the southwest side of Washington Square began in 1909 as part of a grade separation project. The new station opened on June 4, 1911. It

3815-643: The Pontchartrain Railroad Company, followed by those in 1832 on the New York and Harlem Railroad in New York City . The latter cars were designed by John Stephenson of New Rochelle, New York , and constructed at his company in New York City. The earliest streetcars used horses and sometimes mules, usually two as a team, to haul the cars. Rarely, other animals were tried, including humans in emergency circumstances. By

3924-473: The Rural Cemetery . It initially had storage for about 200 streetcars and 50 buses; the garage was substantially expanded by 1932. Gates Lane carhouse closed in February 1928. After 1940, all streetcars operated from Market Street and all buses from Grove Street. The WCSR also had a number of smaller carhouses across its rural system, most inherited from the lines it acquired. Like many street railways,

4033-587: The Swansea and Mumbles Railway in Wales , using specially designed carriages on an existing tramline built for horse-drawn freight dandies . Fare-paying passengers were carried on a line between Oystermouth , Mumbles and Swansea Docks from 1807. The Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad (1809) carried passengers although its main purpose was freight. In spite of its early start, it took many years for horse-drawn streetcars to become widely acceptable across Britain;

4142-540: The Yucatan , which sported over 3,000 kilometers (1,900 mi) of such lines). Surviving examples may be found in both Brazil and the Yucatán, and some examples in the latter still use horsecars. Problems with horsecars included the fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which

4251-539: The České Budějovice - Linz railway . Europe saw a proliferation of horsecar use for new tram services from the mid-1860s, with many towns building new networks. Tropical plantations (for products such as henequen and bananas ) made extensive use of animal-powered trams for both passengers and freight, often employing the Decauville narrow-gauge portable track system. In some cases these systems were very extensive and evolved into interurban tram networks (as in

4360-638: The 1890s and acquired several smaller companies. The New Jersey-based Worcester Traction Company acquired the WCSR in 1894. Other companies built a network of rural streetcar lines in the 1890s and 1900s, connecting Worcester with smaller cities and towns across Worcester County . A syndicate purchased the WCSR and some of the rural lines in 1900; they were merged in 1901 under control of the Worcester Railways and Investment Corporation. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (New Haven) began buying up New England streetcar companies in 1904. Using

4469-459: The 1910s. These were smaller plants intended for low-frequency suburban services, with ratings of 225 kilowatts (302 hp) to 800 kilowatts (1,100 hp). The Leominster facility also had 500 kilowatts (670 hp) of hydroelectric generating capability. Distributing substations were located in Oxford , Webster, Leicester, and Sturbridge ; a fifth at Charlton City was added in 1913. In 1911,

Worcester Consolidated Street Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue

4578-896: The 1924 and 1927 cars remained in use after 1939. In the 1930s, they were painted with orange with a wide cream stripe around the windows. From 1907 to the 1920s, a test car owned by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute was based in the Institute's Electrical Engineering Building, served by a spur from the Salisbury Street line. It operated across the New England street railway system performing electrical continuity testing. The WCSR acquired its first 80 buses from 1925 to 1931. Most had 29 seats and were manufactured by Yellow Coach (later part of General Motors ). Ten Mack buses were acquired in 1933, followed by 15 from Yellow Coach in 1934. Between 1934 and 1940,

4687-602: The 20th century; the last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule tram in Celaya, Mexico , survived until 1954. A few original horsecar lines have survived or have been revived as tourist attractions, and in recent years several replica horsecar lines have been built. Below is a list of locations around the world with operational horsecars that are open to the public. Union Station (Worcester, Massachusetts)#The second Union Station Union Station

4796-456: The Acre neighborhood opened within the next year. On May 7, 1896, the state legislature gave permission for the company to change its name and extend to Leominster . The name change to Leominster and Clinton Street Railway was approved by stockholders on May 27. The extension to Leominster opened on June 20, 1896, making the line 12 miles (19 km) long. The Worcester and Clinton Street Railway

4905-673: The American George Francis Train first introduced them to Birkenhead Corporation Tramways ' predecessor in Birkenhead in 1860 but was jailed for "breaking and injuring" the highway when he next tried to lay the first tram tracks on the roads of London . An 1870 Act of Parliament overcame these legal obstacles by defining responsibilities and for the next three decades many local tramway companies were founded, using horse-drawn carriages, until replaced by cable , steam or electric traction. Many companies adopted

5014-627: The Connecticut River Transmission Company). The Worcester Horse Railway was chartered by an act approved by the state legislature on April 6, 1861, with capital of $ 100,000. Its first horsecar line ran from Webster Square through downtown to Bell Hill via Main Street and Lincoln Street , with a spur on Front and Grafton streets to the Western Railroad station . The line opened on September 1, 1863;

5123-568: The Connecticut state line at Webster , southeast to the Rhode Island state line at Blackstone , and east to Hudson and Marlborough . The system covered an area about 30 miles (48 km) east–west and 40 miles (64 km) north–south. In 1918, near its peak, the company owned 209.97 miles (337.91 km) of streetcar lines, leased 28.81 miles (46.37 km), and operated over 13.29 miles (21.39 km) owned by other companies for

5232-559: The Marlborough and Westborough Street Railway, and the Worcester and Holden Street Railway. This was the second of the system's two major consolidations. By 1912, the WCSR system had been formed from 17 formerly independent companies. The Southbridge and Sturbridge Street Railway was organized on February 18, 1896. It opened a 7.44-mile (11.97 km) line between Fiskdale and Sandersdale in its namesake municipalities on August 29, 1896. The Worcester and Southbridge Street Railway

5341-402: The New Haven's early optimistic predictions, the street railway industry began a steep decline in the late 1910s. The WCSR cut almost all of its suburban and rural lines – which were subsidized by the busier city lines – between 1924 and 1930. The company began buying buses in 1925 to replace unprofitable streetcar lines and expand into new territory. In 1927, the New Haven took direct ownership of

5450-566: The New Haven-controlled Springfield and Eastern Street Railway sought permission to extend east from Monson to Fiskdale to connect with the Worcester and Southbridge. The two companies sparred over the rights to construct their respective lines in Brimfield. In January 1906, the New Haven purchased the Hartford and Worcester plus its planned Connecticut connections from the Boston and Worcester interests. With

5559-463: The Overlook Hotel were sold to a group of investors. The two smaller lines were merged into the Worcester and Southbridge on January 9, 1905. In December 1911, after consolidation with the WCSR, the New Haven built a spur track in western Southbridge to allow interchange with its Southbridge Branch . The Hartford and Worcester Street Railway was organized on March 5, 1903. By April 1905, it

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5668-414: The WCSR bought 97 American Car and Foundry (ACF) buses. By 1941, the WCSR owned 154 buses, which were painted reddish-orange below the windows and cream above. Postwar, the company purchased new buses from several different manufacturers; the older buses were retired by the end of the decade. As ridership dropped, the bus fleet was reduced from 237 in 1948 to 164 in 1953. The Worcester Bus Company replaced

5777-406: The WCSR modernized its power system. The Millbury powerhouse was expanded with a 5-megawatt (6,700 hp) steam turbine ; a second turbine of the same rating was installed in 1913. The Fremont Street powerhouse was relegated to auxiliary use. A new distribution substation – then the largest substation in New England – was constructed on Madison Street in Worcester. Its four rotary converters , with

5886-410: The WCSR occurred in 1900–01 and in 1910–11. The first began in the second half of March 1900, when a syndicate acquired control of six suburban street railways around Worcester: The Worcester, Leicester and Spencer Street Railway was organized on March 7, 1891. It opened from Salem Square to Leicester on August 18, 1891, with the full route to Spencer opened on September 8. It was the first line in

5995-477: The WCSR was originally built solely for passenger service; freight and express service was only operated from 1912 to 1927. Freight and express business was managed by another New Haven subsidiary, the Electric Express Company, though the WCSR owned the equipment. The WCSR and the Boston and Worcester Street Railway (B&W) built a freight house on Green Street in 1912; it was replaced with

6104-596: The Water Street portion about a month later. The Clinton and Hudson Street Railway was organized on May 24, 1899. It opened between Clinton and Hudson via Berlin on April 18, 1900. The Concord, Maynard and Hudson Street Railway opened east from Hudson around October 1, 1901. It soon leased 0.35 miles (0.56 km) of track between Wood Square and the Hudson railroad station; Clinton service thereafter terminated at Wood Square, with passengers given free transfer over

6213-568: The Worcester and Marlborough, and the Leominster and Clinton were merged with the WCSR on February 23, 1901. In July 1901, a group represented by Vermilye and Company created the Worcester Railways and Investment Corporation as a holding company for the WCSR and associated lines. It was backed with capital of $ 6 million. Its acquisition of the WCSR was the largest financial transaction in Worcester up to that time. The Worcester Traction Company, no longer possessing any street railways,

6322-466: The Worcester and Millbury on January 18, 1895, and the renaming took effect on January 31. The Worcester and Marlborough Street Railway was chartered on April 26, 1897 and opened in stages that year. The segment between St. Anne's Cemetery in Shrewsbury (about 1 ⁄ 3 mile (0.5 km) east of Lake Quinsigamond) and the center of Northborough opened on June 30, with a short extension to

6431-480: The Worcester and Southbridge went bankrupt in August 1903. It was placed into receivership along with the Worcester, Rochdale and Charlton Depot on August 29. A separate receiver for Pinehurst Park and the Overlook was appointed on September 2. The receivers soon found evidence of financial misdeeds by Wilford A. Bailey, treasurer of the Worcester and Southbridge. Bailey had used funds from the street railway to build

6540-589: The Worcester area to use electric power, as the initial segment to Leicester opened two weeks before the Consolidated's first electric line. The line ran primarily on the Upper Post Road between Spencer and Webster Square; within Worcester it followed Cambridge, Exeter, Fremont, Canterbury, Hammond, Southbridge, and Portland streets. A branch from Webster Square to Leesville (Hadwen Park) was added in 1892 or 1893. The company also planned, but never built,

6649-560: The Worcester, Rochdale and Charlton Depot – began service on July 21, 1902. The Worcester, Rochdale and Charlton Depot was originally single track and made two sharp turns in the Jamesville section of Worcester. It was straightened and double-tracked in 1903. The Worcester and Southbridge was well built, with over half its length on private right-of-way. It ran southwest through Auburn , Oxford , and Charlton to Southbridge. A carhouse and powerhouse were located at Charlton City. With

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6758-415: The broad lower step inside. This necessitated a wider gauge. This broad Toronto gauge is still used today by the Toronto streetcar system and three lines of the Toronto subway . The Metropolitan Street Railway operated a horsecar line in then-suburban North Toronto from 1885 until the line was electrified in 1890; this horsecar line also used Toronto gauge. The first horse-drawn trams in India ran

6867-413: The carhouse directly from Main Street. An second carhouse was located on Curtis Street near Webster Square by the 1890s. In 1901–02, the WCSR built Gates Lane carhouse about 1 ⁄ 2 mile (1 km) to the west. It was enlarged in 1912 to a capacity of 170 streetcars. In 1927–28, as part of the New Haven's modernization program , the company built a new carhouse and bus garage on Grove Street near

6976-540: The city center, though some terminated at City Hall or Union Station . Hourly overnight service was run on some of the city lines. In 1916, the WCSR operated 40 streetcar routes: The base fare for the city lines was seven cents from 1869 to 1881, with an additional five cents charged for transfers. It was reduced to five cents with free transfers in 1881. The base fare was increased to ten cents in February 1921. It increased to 15 cents (or two rides for 25 cents) in 1950; by that time, transfers cost five cents. The discount

7085-454: The company and made improvements to the city system. The WCSR entered foreclosure in 1931; it was sold the next year and reorganized as the Worcester Street Railway. Many of the city lines were replaced with buses in the 1930s. Conversion of the remaining five streetcar routes was delayed by material rationing during World War II. It eventually took place in November and December 1945. Due to postwar ridership losses and increased operating costs,

7194-447: The company had 34.6 miles (55.7 km) of private right-of-way, representing about 15% of the system. After the 1909–1911 elimination of most grade crossings in Worcester , the WCSR had 15 grade crossings of mainline railroads, of which three were industrial spur tracks. The company carried 69.8 million passengers in 1918. Worcester City Hall was the center of the system, with almost all routes passing by it. Most routes passed through

7303-479: The company was nearly liquidated in 1952. It was sold that December and renamed Worcester Bus Company the next year. Public subsidies began in 1973. The public Worcester Regional Transit Authority took over the system in June 1978 and the Worcester Bus Company was closed. Several former powerhouses, substations, carhouses, and waiting rooms from the streetcar system remain extant. The final streetcars were sold to Brazil and operated there until 1970; two are preserved at

7412-455: The complex grew to occupy much of the block by the early 1890s. Several of those buildings were replaced in 1893 by a new two-story carhouse, measuring 128 by 300 feet (39 m × 91 m), which was designed for the new electric streetcars. Another expansion in 1903 included an office building designed by Frost, Briggs & Chamberlain that fronted on Market Street. The Romanesque Revival structure had an archway for streetcars to enter

7521-502: The early twentieth century. New York City had a regular horsecar service on the Bleecker Street Line until its closure in 1917. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas , until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1983. Toronto 's horse-drawn streetcar operations ended in 1891. In other countries animal-powered tram services often continued well into

7630-458: The east shore of Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury, opened in May 1902. The city council approved WCSR plans for a line on Bloomingdale Road (now Franklin Street) in December 1901 over a competing proposal from the People's Lake Line Street Railway. It opened in November 1902 along with a line on Belmont Street between Lincoln Square and Bell Pond. An extension of the Quinsigamond line on Greenwood Avenue opened on November 23. A line on Hamilton Street

7739-444: The efficiency, smoothness, and all-weather capability of a rail track. Animal power at the time was seen as safer than steam power in that early locomotives frequently suffered from boiler explosions . Rails were seen as all-weather because streets of the time might be poorly paved, or not paved at all, allowing wagon wheels to sink in mud during rain or snow. In 1861, Toronto Street Railway horsecars replaced horse-drawn omnibuses as

7848-515: The end of the 19th century the company owned 166 tram cars, 1000 horses, seven steam locomotives and 19 miles of tram tracks. In 1900, electrification of the tramway and reconstruction of its tracks to 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) ( standard gauge ) began. In 1902, the first electric tramcar in India ran from Esplanade to Kidderpore on 27 March and on 14 June from Esplanade to Kalighat . The Bombay Tramway Company

7957-479: The equipment dated from the earlier years of the company and its acquired lines ; only 112 of those 547 streetcars were built after 1910. The oldest cars were single- truck cars, many converted from horsecars. The WCSR began buying double-truck cars around 1892, and all cars purchased after 1902 were double-truck. Interior lengths of the closed cars varied from 18 feet (5.5 m) to 36.5 feet (11.1 m); open cars had seven to fifteen rows of benches. A parlor car ,

8066-501: The five smaller distributing substations. Substations in northern Worcester, Fitchburg, Leominster, Berlin, Northborough, and West Boylston supplied the northern suburban lines. With the addition of hydroelectric power, the older steam generating plants were reduced to reserve status. By 1934, the company no longer produced its own power; all electricity was purchased from the New England Power Company (successor to

8175-490: The fleet of gasoline buses with cheaper-to-operate diesel buses over the following decade. It also introduced a new color scheme: green below the windows and cream above, with a silver roof. The main Worcester carhouse and maintenance facility, the Market Street carhouse, was located near Lincoln Square in the block bounded by Main, Market, Union, and School streets. A carhouse and stables were established there by 1870;

8284-795: The grade crossing of the Agricultural Branch in Northboro to transfer between streetcars. In March 1898, the state gave permission for the street railway to cross the railroad. On October 17, 1900, four of the companies were merged as the Leominster and Clinton Street Railway : The Clinton Street Railway was organized on April 26, 1893. It opened a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) line in Clinton on September 2, 1893. The 2.4-mile (3.9 km) line ran between Lancaster Mills and South Lancaster via downtown Clinton. A short extension south to

8393-470: The lake on July 11. It opened east to Marlborough on July 18, and a branch from Northborough to Westborough opened on August 11. Connection into Worcester was delayed by reconstruction of the Lake Quinsigamond causeway. Temporary track across part of the causeway was used in July. Through service between Worcester and Marlborough began on August 12, 1897. Passengers initially had to walk across

8502-599: The later 19th century. Long rivals, the B&W and Western merged in 1867 to form the Boston and Albany Railroad , which became part of the New York Central Railroad system in 1900. The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) acquired W&N successor Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad in 1886, and the Fitchburg Railroad system including the Boston, Barre and Gardner in 1900. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired

8611-436: The law. The New England Investment and Securities Company announced in October 1906 that it had acquired majority control of the Worcester Railways and Investment Corporation. It also acquired most of the remaining independent suburban lines around Worcester, as well as the networks surrounding Springfield and Pittsfield , in the mid-to-late 1900s. Despite the New Haven's maneuvering and attempts to conceal ownership of stock,

8720-671: The leased section. In November 1900, the syndicate agreed to purchase the WCSR from the Worcester Traction Company and merge it with the suburban lines. Contrary to previous rumors of Standard Oil , the Montana Copper Kings , or the Worcester Traction Company being behind the syndicate, it was revealed to be businessmen from Worcester and Boston. The consolidation brought about changes in routes, including additional through services, and fares were reduced for some suburban trips. The Worcester and Suburban,

8829-406: The main station building, using a small side building as a ticket office. The last commercial tenant left Union Station in 1972, and the structure fell into disrepair. The Bay State was discontinued in May 1975. Commuter rail service between Worcester and Framingham (with no intermediate stops after 1960) was not subsidized by the MBTA; with just ten riders per day riding from Worcester, service

8938-516: The mid-1880s, there were 415 street railway companies in the US operating over 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of track and carrying 188 million passengers per year using horsecars. By 1890 New Yorkers took 297 horsecar rides per capita per year. The average street car horse had a life expectancy of about two years. The first horse-drawn rail cars in Continental Europe were operated from 1828 by

9047-500: The park and hotel and had forged the signatures of other company officials. Bailey's unusually heavy spending on the line's construction and rolling stock was also blamed for the bankruptcy. Claims against the bankrupt companies were settled at half value in early 1904. The New Haven purchased the Worcester and Southbridge; the Worcester, Rochdale and Charlton Depot; and the Southbridge and Sturbridge in May 1904. Pinehurst Park and

9156-460: The project was announced. A $ 44.4 million construction contract was approved on October 27, 2021. Notice to proceed was given on November 29, 2021, with completion then expected in December 2023. The temporary platform was constructed over the weekend of March 12–13, 2022, and entered service on March 14. Contrary to previous plans, the entire new platform was built at the same time. Construction

9265-436: The remaining lines, which caused the state supreme court to appoint a receiver . The property and franchise were sold at auction on August 24, 1869, and a new Worcester Street Railway was formed. The main line was extended north to Adams Square in 1881 – the first extension of the company – creating a 4.90-mile (7.89 km) system. The Citizens' Street Railway was formed on February 27, 1886. By that September, it operated

9374-526: The route over Vernon Hill via Upsala Street. Tracks across Vernon Square were added in 1902, allowing Upsala Street cars to reach downtown via Green Street. The tracks on Water Street, built by the Worcester and Millbury in 1892, were removed. A short connector on Aitchison Street between the Lake View line and Shrewsbury Street was also built in 1901. Several new city lines also opened in 1902. The Lake Shore line, which followed South Quinsigamond Avenue along

9483-472: The station was also built. The full length of the new platform has a canopy. In 2019, construction was estimated to cost between $ 40 and $ 48 million. Plans at that time called for a temporary platform east of the I-290 overpass to be used while the west half of the new platform was constructed; the west half would then be used while the east half was built. In October 2020, $ 29.3 million in federal funding for

9592-565: The station, with five bus ports, was added at a cost of $ 5.2 million and opened in August 2006. In April 2012, the Worcester Regional Transit Authority broke ground on a new regional transit hub adjacent to Union Station. The cost was $ 14 million, with $ 10 million coming from the Federal Government and the rest coming from the state. The new hub opened in May 2013. Luciano's Cotton Club,

9701-498: The streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles (19 km) a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. Horsecars were largely replaced by electric-powered streetcars following the invention by Frank J. Sprague of an overhead trolley system on streetcars for collecting electricity from overhead wires . His spring-loaded trolley pole used

9810-413: The system as the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway (WCSR) on June 10. Several extensions were opened over the next three years. The WCSR was relatively late to use electric power. The first electrified service was a line to Lake Quinsigamond via Shrewsbury and Belmont streets, which opened on September 4, 1891. It was followed by a line from Main Street to Laurel Hill on December 30, 1891. At first,

9919-523: The two electric lines did not share tracks with the horsecar lines. The company's first power station, the Fremont Street station, was completed in 1893. The system was quickly converted to electric streetcars; the company owned 397 horses on September 30, 1893, and just six horses a year later. The final horsecars ran in November 1893. Several expansions were completed during this period, including

10028-569: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Some peak-hour MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line service was extended to Worcester on September 26, 1994. Off-peak service was gradually added; weekend service began on December 14, 1996. Union Station was acquired by the Worcester Redevelopment Authority in 1994 and completely renovated at a cost of $ 32 million. The station

10137-605: Was also completed in 1902. The only substantial extension in 1903 was in Leominster, where a 1.29-mile (2.08 km) addition to the crosstown line (forming a loop) opened in September. The Tatnuck line was extended west by 691 feet (211 m) on October 28, 1904. In 1904, under the presidency of Charles Sanger Mellen , the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (New Haven) began buying up street railways in southern New England to reduce competition and feed traffic to its railroad lines. A holding company, Consolidated Railways,

10246-422: Was controlled by the same interests as the Boston and Worcester Street Railway. They intended it to be the Massachusetts portion of an ' air line ' following a nearly-direct course between Hartford, Connecticut , and Worcester, with a branch from East Brimfield to Springfield . Boston–Springfield and Boston–Hartford through services were planned at about half the fare of the steam railroads. Within several months,

10355-535: Was cut back to Framingham on October 27, 1975. Amtrak began operating a Boston-Albany section of the Lake Shore Limited four days later. Amtrak constructed a small station building on the east side of Interstate 290 in 1975 or 1976. Boston-New Haven ( Inland Route ) service was restored under the Bay State name in 1984, and ran in various forms until the early 2000s. The abandoned Union Station

10464-424: Was designed by Watson & Huckel in a French Renaissance Revival style. Two 175-foot (53 m)-tall towers of white marble flanked the main entrance. The main waiting room featured an elliptical arched roof with stained glass. The towers were removed in 1926 due to structural issues. Although primarily served by local trains, Worcester was also a stop for intercity services. On the B&A, these included

10573-438: Was dissolved by its stakeholders in late 1901. The Boston and Worcester Street Railway opened on July 1, 1903, using WCSR trackage within Worcester and part of Shrewsbury. It was the only streetcar line entering Worcester that was not eventually leased or purchased by the WCSR. Several modifications to the city lines were completed in 1901–02. On November 21, 1901, the WCSR completed the installation of track and switches to form

10682-525: Was eliminated in April 1952, establishing a straight 15-cent base fare. Another increase in December 1955 created a 20-cent fare with a three-for-50-cents discount. That changed to four-for-75-cents in May 1958. Fares reached 25 cents by 1966 and 40 cents by 1973. In 1918, the company operated 547 streetcars: 321 closed cars, 187 open cars, and 39 unpowered trailer cars. Other equipment included 20 freight cars, 50 work cars, 33 snowplows, and 2 locomotives. Most of

10791-422: Was extended to Forest Street on June 11. A branch on Maywood Street from Park Avenue to Columbus Park (Lovell Street) opened on November 30, 1899. The Southbridge Street line was extended from Stearns Square to Hope Avenue in 1900. The first decade of the 20th century was a "period of rapid consolidation" for the street railways in Massachusetts as the city systems purchased suburban lines. Major consolidations with

10900-473: Was operated by the Worcester and Southbridge. It was transferred to the Worcester and Southbridge for $ 140,000 and merged with it on May 6, 1910. The Blackstone Valley Street Railway was organized in 1893 to build a line between Millbury and Northbridge . Partially complete and not yet opened, it entered receivership in late 1896. The Worcester and Blackstone Valley Street Railway was chartered on June 9, 1897, to take over its property and franchise. It opened

11009-541: Was organized in New Jersey on December 24, 1894, and soon acquired the entire capital stock of the WCSR. It obtained ownership of the company's power station and was criticized for selling electricity and renting property to the WCSR at inflated rates. The Traction Company's stock was heavily watered . The city investigated the Traction Company in 1897. It found that only a small part of the Traction Company

11118-527: Was organized on January 4, 1901, to build a line between its namesake cities. It was intended as part of a through route between Worcester and Hartford, Connecticut – which did not have a direct railroad line between them – that would also include the Southbridge and Sturbridge. The Worcester and Southbridge obtained control of the Southbridge and Sturbridge in 1901 and began operating it in January 1902. The Worcester, Rochdale and Charlton Depot Street Railway

11227-425: Was organized on July 12, 1901. It was intended to construct a line from Charlton Depot to Worcester through Rochdale , with a branch from Rochdale to Leicester. However, the only portion actually constructed was 1.52 miles (2.45 km) on Stafford, James, and South Ludlow Streets within Worcester. This served as part of the Worcester and Southbridge, which operated the line. The Worcester and Southbridge – including

11336-465: Was organized on March 3, 1898. It opened between Adams Square (Brittan Square) in Worcester and near Lancaster Mills in Clinton via Main Street / Boylston Street on December 11, 1898. In Clinton, the company used the tracks of the Leominster and Clinton Street Railway, terminating at Clinton House (High Street at Church Street). Passengers had to change to WCSR cars at Adams Square until April 1899, when

11445-411: Was owned by Worcester residents and that it had mislead the public about the sources of funding for the system's electrification. The WCSR leased three other rail companies in Worcester in 1895–1896: Expansion of the WCSR itself also continued. An extension of the Pleasant Street line to Richmond Heights was completed by 1896, as was trackage on Franklin Street and Salem Street downtown. The WCSR opened

11554-413: Was restored and renovated by Finegold Alexander & Associates . The Grand Hall (the original waiting room), had its elliptical stained-glass ceilings, interior marble columns, and mahogany wood trim restored. Fiberglass towers were constructed to replace those removed in 1926. Amtrak and MBTA service began using Union Station on June 20, 2000. An intercity and local bus terminal on the west side of

11663-787: Was set up in 1873. After a contract was signed between the Bombay Tramway Company, the municipality and the Stearns and Kitteredge company, the Bombay Presidency enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874 licensing the company to run a horsecar tram service in the city. On 9 May 1874 the first horse-drawn carriage made its début in the city, plying the Colaba – Pydhone via Crawford Market , and Bori Bunder to Pydhonie via Kalbadevi routes. The initial fare

11772-418: Was three annas (15 paise pre-decimalisation), and no tickets were issued. As the service became increasingly popular, the fare was reduced to two annas (10 pre-decimalisation paise). Later that year, tickets were issued to curb increasing ticket-less travel. Stearns and Kitteredge reportedly had a stable of 1,360 horses over the lifetime of the service. The first tram services in the world were started by

11881-584: Was used for the purchases. The New Haven began attempting to acquire the Worcester Railways and Investment Corporation in 1905 and made an offer in March 1906. A 1906 Massachusetts law prohibited railroads from acquiring other corporations – even indirectly – without legislative approval. On June 21, 1906, the New Haven created the New England Investment and Securities Company (NEISCo) as a "voluntary association" ( trust ) in an attempt to circumvent

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