I
F YOU QUIZ any railfan from New En- gland, you’ll quickly learn there’s no shortage of railroad action in eastern Mas- sachusetts. On the freight side of the coin, CSX Transportation, Pan Am Railways, and Providence & Worcester are the common an- swers, while passenger fans think of Amtrak and the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA). But to the east of the city of Worces- ter, and connected to CSX’s Boston Line in North Grafton, is shortline Grafton & Upton Railroad, an operation that has been quite ac- tive in recent years. With the goal of reviving a nearly dead rail line, the current owner- ship has been actively wooing and attracting new businesses to receive and ship by rail over the past half dozen years. The “shortest shortline” as Tony Roman, the G&U’s gener- al manager, describes the railroad has been steadily bringing rail traffic back to the sce- nic line between North Grafton and Hopedale (and eventually Milford).
A Colorful History
The G&U has gone through a number of transformations over the years. Chartered in 1873 as the narrow gauge Grafton Centre Railroad, the line connected Grafton with the Boston & Albany Railroad at North Grafton. Conversion to standard gauge came in 1887, and the name was changed to Grafton & Up- ton in 1888. The line was extended to Milford and a connection with what would become the New Haven Railroad by 1890. The Upton Street Railway was absorbed in 1902, adding electric operations to the mix. The Draper Company, a large textile mill located in near- by Hopedale, purchased the railroad and op- erated it as a subsidiary for many years. Passenger service was abandoned in the
48 MARCH 2015 •
RAILFAN.COM
1920s, though partial electric operations continued until 1946. Diesels arrived in the 1950s, and the entire line was upgraded with heavier rail to compensate. Draper sold the railroad to Rockwell International in 1967. The G&U once again changed hands and was sold to a local trucking company in 1979. Traffic levels fluctuated in the 1970s and declined through the recession years of the 1980s. The line to Hopedale was abandoned in 1988, and operations retrenched to the yard at Grafton. The railroad’s future pros-
TOP: Snaking through the woods of Grafton, Grafton & Upton Train GU1 approaches Sibley Street on March 27, 2014.
ABOVE: One of the more picturesque locations along the line is near the green in the center of Grafton. Train GU-1 led by F7A No. 1501 rolls across two grade crossings on October 9, 2013. THOMAS NANOS PHOTOS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72