USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume III > Part 38
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The seven pioneer and distinct railroads, diverging from Boston irregularly to all points of the compass, and the main trunks upon which were engrafted all the railroads in the State, continued entirely independent of one another for nearly half a century. And each had a distinct passenger station for a decade or so longer. The stations fifty years ago were excellent buildings, one or two of them architecturally ambitious, of which the town was reasonably proud. The Worcester and Western station, or the Boston and Albany after 1869, at the corner of Beach and Lincoln streets opposite the United States Hotel, was then classed as old and a landmark. Sixteen years after, to be exact, in 1881, it was succeeded by a modern structure occupying a block bounded by Kneeland, Lincoln and Utica streets. This new building was pronounced to be attrac- tive in its general appearance, while "convenient in its arrangements for passengers as well as for the prompt dispatch of trains without confusion." The "ladies' room" was especially effective with its unusually comfortable furnishings, and its "three large fire- places fifteen feet in height, built of McGregor freestone-a recognition of the æsthetic tendencies of the times." The train-house opening directly from the vestibule, was exceptionally long and wide for that day. The Old Colony station, neighboring the Worcester, on Kneeland Street at the corner of South Street, was a plainer structure externally, but with an inviting interior. ' The Boston and Providence station fifty years ago was on Pleasant Street by Park Square, a quaint structure, the entrance from the street through a gate-way-perhaps the gate-way was an earlier affair, my memory may be at fault-in the arch over which used to hang a bell, which in the early railroad days rang fifteen minutes before the departure of a train. This station of the 'fifties was succeeded by a station of the 'seventies remarkable for its artistic beauty as well as for its adaptability to the uses for which it was designed. Indeed it was one of the "show" buildings of the then fairly developed Back Bay quarter upon the edge of which it stood. Although surpassed in size by a few structures of the kind, it was one of the longest passenger stations in the world. A great marble hall in the centre of the spac- ious head-house, imposing in its general effect and magnificent in its architectural beauty, was the strikingly effective feature of the interior. From this hall opened the large and well-appointed waiting rooms, dining-rooms, baggage-rooms, and so forth; while from a fine gallery surrounding it at a height of twenty-one feet, access was given to a trav- elers' reading-room, a billiard-room, and to the offices of the company. The long train- house, with monitor roof, opened from the farther end of the central hall, approached
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by a dignified flight of steps the width of the building, it being below the level of the head-house. The façade of the handsome exterior facing Columbus Avenue close beside Park Square, was marked by a lofty and finely proportioned tower, high up in which was a tower-clock illuminated at night. The architects of this noble station were Pea- body and Stearns. It cost nearly a million dollars. The Boston and Providence in the 'seventies, with its connection, one of the trunk lines to New York, had become one of the richest railroad corporations in Massachusetts. In the late 'nineties, or early in the 'twenties, this beautiful building was demolished, and in its stead was erected the gloomy and depressing "Back Bay" station on Dartmouth Street, south of Copley Square.
The other stations, all on the north side of the city-the Boston & Maine facing Haymarket Square, and the Fitchburg, the Eastern and Lowell in a row on Causeway Street-were all well arranged, and two of them notable structures fifty years ago. The Maine station stood on the line of the Boston end of the old Middlesex Canal. It was a plain roomy building, without the customary division of head-house and train- house; and being at the junction of two streets and Haymarket Square, it was excep- tionally bright and airy. Its site is now covered by the Emergency Branch of the Boston City Hospital. The Fitchburg was the most impressive from its fortress-like aspect, with its massive walls and battlemented towers of undressed granite. It was built in 1847, five years after the completion of the road, and apparently to last for centuries. It was historic as well as the oldest of the Causeway Street row, not from its connection with railroads, but with art. For it was in a great hall in the upper part of the building that Jenny Lind, brought out by Phineas T. Barnum, the showman, was heard in two great concerts by audiences of four thousand people on each occasion, in October, 1850. . Previous to the erection of this station, the terminus of the Fitchburg had been in Charlestown. The massive structure remains with slight change in its exterior, a sort of annex to the present North Station, utilized for offices of the freight depart- ment. The Eastern station was the least pretentious in the row. It had been erected in 1863 after the destruction by fire of the former station, and was small and inadequate for the immense business which the Eastern had at that time built up. It was of brick with central tower, upon which was a clock which could be seen from several approaches, and was depended upon by patrons of all the stations of the row. The Lowell station was one of the showiest and largest in the country. It was seven hundred feet long, and had a front on Causeway Street of two hundred and five feet. It was built on a large scale with a view to much more extensive business than the Boston and Lowell alone-the shortest of the initial railroads, only twenty-six miles long-or with its then northern connections, was doing, the expectation being that other roads would seek accommodation in it. While substantial in build, and elaborate in ornamentation, this new station lacked the architectural beauty and refinement of Peabody and Stearns' Providence station. The lofty central hall of the head-house, from which opened the various rooms for passengers,-itself also arranged for a waiting room,-and above the offices of the company, was a notable feature of the interior. Another was the great arch of the train-house with a clear span of one hundred and twenty feet without any central support. The station of the Boston, Hartford & Erie, to become the New York & New England in 1873, was a low, rambling building with an over-hanging roof, similar to country stations, where is now the modern South Station.
These separate stations of the initial railroads were discarded with the establish- ment of the two great terminals of today-the South Station and the North Station. The South Station was the first to be built and occupied in 1899. It faces a square laid out during its construction, to which was given the name of Dewey by an emotional
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city government after the reception of the naval hero of Manila in Boston, and extends its long lengths on the Summer Street Extension and Atlantic Avenue. If you will have statistics, here they are : total length on three streets, twenty-one hundred and ninety feet; maximum length of the main station, eight hundred and fifty feet, maxi- mum width, seven hundred and twenty-five feet; length of the trainshed, six hundred and two feet; total area of trainshed and head-house, thirteen acres; main waiting- room, sixty-five feet by two hundred and twenty-five feet. The curved roof is the feature of the trainshed. This is supported on huge cantilever trusses, the trusses being supported on two lines of columns which extend down the full length of the station. The extreme height of the trainshed is one hundred and twelve feet; the middle span is two hundred and twenty-eight feet wide, the two side spans, one hundred and seventy- one feet wide. The central part of the building is five stories, the first story given to station uses, the others for offices of the companies here housed. The ground upon which the building stands is all "made" land. The total area of the site is about thirty- five acres. As originally designed, it was a "double-deck" station. The trains were to be separated into two classes, the express or long distance, and the suburban. The long distance was to be handled on the upper deck; the suburban on the lower. The suburban was to be upon two loop lines laid some fifteen feet below the level of the main platform. The traffic was to enter and leave by an inclined subway leading down beneath the main floor, where the tracks were to form two separate loops swinging around underneath the main platform and leaving by the same incline as that by which they entered. But this scheme was never carried out. The North Station was a patchwork affair-clever patchwork, however, in which were utilized the old Eastern station at one end and the Lowell station at the other, with a brave exterior show of ornamented stone columns between. Its internal arrangement is similar to that of the South Station, but on no such elaborate scale. The South Station is occupied by the New York, New Haven & Hartford combinations, and the Boston & Albany. The North Station, by the Maine, the Eastern Division of the Maine, and the Fitchburg Railroad, which is a part of the Boston & Maine.
The Period of Consolidations-The multiplication of the number of railroads during the era of rail expansion was a perfectly natural feature of the development. Railroads were built, for the most part, to connect one town with another, and, in Eastern Massachusetts, with Boston as the great port, the metropolis and natural outlet for the productions of the State. There was a very real need for better modes of transporta- tion, but the novelty of the form of locomotion, and success of the first little systems, led to the conviction in the minds of men, that the rail- road was the panacea for all the ills that were suffered by isolated com- munities. Bits of railroads were constructed between towns of the smallest population and their ways often led through sparsely peopled districts. Seldom was a region so rapidly supplied with transportation as that adjoining Boston. Money was lost, for the section through which a railroad was built had to subscribe a large percentage of the means expended in the construction. And railroad building was at that time an unknown science, mistakes were plentiful, costs ran far beyond expec- tation or reason. The seven or eight roads whose tracks converged on
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Boston compacted an industrial section the like of which could not be found in this country. This condition holds even today. Within a fifty- mile radius of Boston there is a greater railroad mileage, per square mile and per capita than within any other fifty-mile radius in the world. The whole eastern part of Massachusetts is covered with a network of rail- roads with branches running in every direction.
The day of the separate short railroad passed ; their ends were joined or connecting links created. After the Civil War, came parallel con- struction in the endeavor to so lap another line that its business could be stolen. Competition became ruinous, both the competition in build- ing and for freight and passenger traffic. Roads that had started out well, capable of making money even on the large capitalization with which they were burdened, became losing investments. These condi- tions carried over into the 1880's and 1890's, and carried bankruptcy in their train. About 1875, began that era which Hale, the "Father of American railways," were he alive, might denominate the "Consolidation Epoch." The railroads had to get together, had to limit competition, for they were facing inevitable disaster. Consolidation was the remedy. It was used too vigorously, perhaps; made too raw and nauseous to be swallowed by the people without resentment and strenuous objections ; but it was the remedy, and proved successful.
The Old Colony Railroad, as we have seen, was the earliest example of a Boston road's growth by consolidation. Policy, rather than compe- tition, determined its management, and by 1880, it had control of a greater trackage than any other line. It was also a payer of dividends. In 1888 the road absorbed, by lease, the Boston and Providence with all of this line's connections. By this coup, the Old Colony reached New York by one of the best of the all-rail lines leaving Boston, taking rank as the second largest railroad system in New England. In the nineties, the Old Colony was itself absorbed, becoming a part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford.
The Boston and Maine, which started in 1841 as a branch of the Lowell and Boston, remained a rather insignificant factor in the trans- portation schemes of its home city until it gathered in the Eastern in 1884, the first of the original roads to lose its identity. It already had combined with the Boston and Portland, and had its rails as far as Ber- wick Junction, where it joined the Eastern and the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth, this line being leased and run by the Eastern and the Maine. The consolidation gave it ownership of the rails into Portland. Three years later (1887) the Boston and Maine took over the famous Boston and Lowell. By this time the Lowell had far outgrown its early twenty-six miles of track, for it included the Nashua and Lowell, the
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Keene Branch, the Northern New Hampshire, the Central Massachusetts and the Boston, Concord, and Montreal. By this absorption, the Boston and Maine had connections with New York by way of the leased Wor- cester and Nashua, and the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington via the Central Massachusetts. By the various acquisitions and leases, the Boston and Maine went to the front rank as the largest New England road.
The Maine was in turn, 1909, absorbed by the New York, New Haven and Hartford, which latter road included the Boston and Maine, the Fitchburg, 1900, the Old Colony, and the New York and New England, giving it a practical monopoly of the transportation systems of New England. The principal exception, out of Boston, was the Boston and Albany, itself a consolidation of the Boston and Worcester and the Western (January, 1868). These two roads which should have been one from the beginning, did finally see the light and join hands. It was the making of both roads, and the union of the twain had a regenerating effect.
The Boston and Maine in Relation to New England-There have always been truly great railroad men guiding the destinies of the Boston and Maine, such as James T. Furber, its general manager from the time of the absorption of the Eastern and Lowell systems until his sudden death in 1892; Colonel John W. Sanborn who succeeded Mr. Furber as general manager; and Daniel W. Sanborn, the general superintendent. Lucius Tuttle was connected successively with the Eastern, the New York and New England and the Lowell, Canadian Pacific, New York, New Haven and Hartford, all in increasingly important official positions until he became, in 1893, the president of the Boston and Maine until his retirement in 1909, after the merger of the road with the New Haven, a merger for which he was largely responsible. This merger was of short duration, for a legislative enactment of a year or two later compelled the New Haven to surrender its lease of the Boston and Maine. Lucius Tuttle was succeeded in the presidency by Charles S. Mellen, whose name and fame are too well known to need comment. Mr. Mellen had his headquarters in Boston during the early years of his work in the railroad expansion of the New England lines. He was connected with the Boston and Maine.
The Boston and Maine had always been a railroad having a distinct and often difficult place in the transportation affairs of Boston. It was, and still is, the great system leading out to the North. The country through which it traveled was one never largely populated, nor a region making any rapid growth. Financially, it has always had to be conser- vative, but in other of its policies an advanced position has been taken.
Met. Bos .- 68
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Eleven branches and trunk lines enter New Hampshire, which, with transverse lines, have made what might have been an unaccessible State easily reached and visited. The delightful climate of the White Moun- tains and many picturesque towns have been opened to the vacation- ist, these visitors constituting an important part of the traffic of the road. The Mt. Washington Railroad, from base to summit, a distance of about four miles and reaching an altitude of over six thousand feet, is one of the most remarkable bits of railroad engineering in the world. The Boston and Maine has not merely been instrumental in opening up this vacation region, but has advertised its beauties and possibilities.
Vermont, rich in natural resources both in land and waterpower, in recent years a land of the vacationist, has two trunk lines running through it, and is brought into direct connection with Boston. Maine is, of course, on the first trunk line of the system.
One trunk line of the Boston and Maine runs along the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine until it joins the Maine Central at Portland. Another trunk line runs farther inland; a third traverses the Merrimac Valley, serving the cities and towns famous for their textile and other industries, until it makes connections with lines going into Canada and on to the far West. From Portland, branches reach out along the Androscoggin and Penobscot rivers into the lumbering and potato dis- trict. The freight possibilities are considerable, but at present the annual migration of thousands of summer visitors to this playground of the East, with the attendant prosperity and activities of the region, forms probably the principal source of revenue to the Boston and Maine from its more northern lines.
The freight termini of the system center principally in Charlestown, Somerville and East Cambridge. The passenger terminal is the North Station. Between the two connections are made over a series of bridges, costly to maintain, but which are about to be replaced by a better system. The road maintains motor truck deliveries, particularly for perishables to South Boston and parts of the city proper. A fruit auction is also a feature of the Charlestown freight yards. By switching service all the other terminals can be reached by the Boston and Maine, so that it sup- plies excellent, quick and direct service, not only between Boston and the neighboring states, but also with the Canadian roads for more lengthy hauls. The road has also among its properties, the Hoosac Terminal with its five large piers, freight sheds and grain elevator, and the Mystic Wharves, comprising seven piers with freight sheds, coal pockets and a grain elevator.
The Boston and Albany-The Boston and Maine lost its identity for a time when it was absorbed in 1909, by the New York, New Haven and
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Hartford. This New Haven System already included the Old Colony, the New York and New England, and with the Fitchburg, acquired through the Maine, had a practical monopoly of the transportation sys- tems of New England. There was one notable exception, the Boston and Albany, which for some time maintained its independency, and even later did not become a part of the New Haven. The Boston and Albany was itself a consolidation of the original Boston and Worcester and the Western, made in January, 1868. As we have seen, both these roads should have been one from their inception, but it was some years before they saw the light, ceased their competition and joined hands for the benefit of both. The consolidation indirectly had a regenerating effect upon the commerce of the metropolis. In 1869, after a long and costly legal battle, the Boston and Albany succeeded in gaining the control of the Grand Junction road, by means of which it reached the Boston docks. During that same year, it became a party to arrangements with western roads by which materials from the West could be shipped through to Europe by way of Boston at the same rate as held by way of New York. It brought about an immediate revival of ocean shipping in the port. "In 1867 no steamer sailed regularly from Boston to any foreign port; during 1880 no less than three hundred and thirty-three steamers cleared from it." Exports increased, the Hub awoke from its sleep to go actively into a movement for the improvement of the harbor and the multiplica- tion of wharves which even the depression in finances after the close of the Civil War did not quench. The Grand Junction at the present time is somewhat too circuitous a means of connecting the terminal of the road with shipping for the advantages of all concerned, but it is effective if not efficient. The Boston and Albany is still the most direct route to upper New York State and the West, but since becoming a part of the New York Central does not carry the amount of through freight from distant stations which it formerly did. The recent (1927) enlargement of the Hoosac Tunnel, however, opens the line to the use of the largest type of locomotives and freight cars, so that the future will see a return of this road to its place as a great through railroad system, an important factor in the port development of Boston.
The Boston and Albany has two large freight yards, one in the heart of the business district of the city with four freight-houses and a delivery yard capable of holding three hundred cars. The other is located in East Boston, where recently was completed an automobile freight house and unloading platform which can accommodate twenty-eight freight cars. A branch of the Boston and Albany extends through many of the most important outlying industrial towns of the city within nine miles, and serves a number of industries, of which more than two hun- dred have side track facilities. Fast freight and passenger service is
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maintained to western points. Through cars loaded at Boston are carried over the road at a schedule calling for their arrival at Chicago on the fourth day and St. Louis on the fifth. The Grand Junction wharves, owned by the Boston and Albany, comprise six piers with warehouses and a large grain elevator.
The New Haven System-In 1909, the Boston and Maine was taken into that greatest of New England's consolidated systems, the New York, New Haven and Hartford. This road, although not started until 1873, became the largest of those doing business in New England. It soon was, and now is, the principal carrier of all the lines leading out of Boston. It so happened that the intensive development of transporta- tion in this section of the United States was due to the initiative of the New Haven corporation. It did for the Northeast what Boston and other money did for the West-rebuilt and remodeled inadequate lines, con- solidated competing or parallel roads, reorganized and reëquipped the various parts, spending money as it never had been spent before. Its reward, and its main work were the movement of the greatest concen- tration of passenger traffic to be handled by any railroad in this country. And along with this enormous passenger traffic, there was also a tremen- dous volume of freight to be carried, for its tracks were laid through what was one of the greatest concentration of manufacturing then extant. The climax in consolidation was reached in 1909. By some this consoli- dation was considered too complete and aroused in the minds of many a fear lest what amounted to a monopoly and was likely to be misused had been established. This condition did not last very long, for the government took a hand in the proceedings, splitting the system into less cumbersome parts, and the conditions ruling during and after the World War ended the so-called monopoly.
Because of the importance of this road, both now and from its begin- nings, the following written by Sylvester Baxter in "The Outlook" in 1908, is worth the attention as giving a picture of the New Haven just prior to the absorption of the Boston and Maine. He wrote :
At that time the New Haven had already become a big consolidated system. "Big" well characterizes a New England railway operating more than four thousand miles of track. Considering density of population served, intensity of traffic, frequency of train movements, and volume of business, this is the equivalent of at least a sixteen thousand mile system beyond the Mississippi. The New Haven holds the record among American railways for the largest dividends declared consecutively through a long period-dating from the organization of the company as the New York, New Haven & Hartford in 1873. Consequently the inertia of "Let well enough alone!" has been difficult to over- come, but it was seen that not to develop the traffic possibilities of the property by liberal expenditures backed by the highest engineering skill and administrative ability would mean atrophy. In 1903 the capital stock was $70,897,300. The stockholders had
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