Hamilton/Wenham station

Hamilton/Wenham station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Hamilton and Wenham, Massachusetts. It serves the Newburyport Branch of the Newburyport/Rockport Line and is located just south of the intersection of Bay Road (MA Route 1A) and Walnut Road, straddling the Hamilton–Wenham town line, with the southern end of the platform geographically in Wenham.

Hamilton/Wenham
Hamilton/Wenham station in May 2017
General information
Location	Bay Road at Walnut Road Hamilton, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°36′36.36″N 70°52′28.16″W
Line(s)	Eastern Route
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Parking	194 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	5
History
Opened	December 18, 1839[1][2]
Rebuilt	July 10, 2002[3]
Previous names	Hamilton & Wenham[4]
Passengers
2018	262 (weekday average boardings)[5]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station North Beverly toward North Station Newburyport/​Rockport Line Ipswich toward Newburyport
Location

History

An Essex Branch train at Wenham station in January 1892

Service to the Hamilton/Wenham area began on December 18, 1839 when the Eastern Railroad was extended through the station on its way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.^[1][2] The station has seen continuous service ever since. By the early 20th century, the station was used as a turnback point for some trains, and it remained so for decades.^[2] The town of Hamilton purchased the station in the early 1960s and demolished it to make room for a parking lot. The former freight house was converted to a taxi stand and waiting room.^[6]

When the newly formed MBTA began subsidizing commuter rail service in 1965, Hamilton was the outer limit of the MBTA funding district.^[7] On January 18, 1965, most Boston and Maine Railroad commuter services outside the MBTA district - except for a handful of locally subsidized trips - were discontinued. Hamilton-Wenham became the outer terminus for 21 round trips to Boston; the only service beyond was a single Newburyport round trip, subsidized by Newburyport and Rowley.^[2] After a subsidy agreement was reached - and a lawsuit from the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway resolved - full service was extended from Hamilton-Wenham to Ipswich on June 28, 1965.^[7][8] Until 1971, some rush hour trips of the route 451 bus (itself transferred from the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway to the MBTA in 1970) served Hamilton/Wenham.^[7]

The 1862-built freight house burned down in late 2000.^[9] The former depot building (which had been destroyed by vandals by 1977^[10]) and platform were located on the west side of the single track. The accessible mini-high platform was adjacent to the Route 1A crossing, causing the road to be blocked whenever a train was in the station. In 2002, a new platform was constructed on the east side of the tracks some 350 feet (110 m) to the south, allowing the road to remain open while trains are stopped. The new platform opened on July 10, 2002.^[3] The former platform was removed soon afterwards.

Branches

A trolley at Asbury Grove. The 1894 introduction of this trolley line caused the decline and abandonment of the B&M's parallel branch line.

Two branches were built from the station in the 1870s. The Asbury Grove Branch ran 1.1 miles (1.8 km) northwest to Asbury Grove Camp Meeting Ground, a Methodist church meeting area, starting in August 1871.^[11] It never saw regularly scheduled passenger service, but instead was used for special summer-only trains to the camp.^[12] A parallel trolley line was constructed in 1894, vastly reducing demand for the branch line. In 1896, Willow Street (which crossed the branch near the station, and was used by the trolley line) became a public street. The state legislature refused to approve a grade crossing, which were very controversial at the time. The B&M, hardly interested in the non-longer-profitable branch, abandoned it in 1901.^[8]

The Essex Branch ran 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast from Hamilton-Wenham to Essex and Conomo starting in 1872. The line originally had four stations: Miles River (at Bridge Street), Woodbury (at Essex Street), Essex Falls (at Apple Street), Essex (at Shepard Drive).^[1][12] In 1887, the branch was extended 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east to Conomo station at Southern Avenue.^[12] The Interstate Commerce Commission denied the B&M's 1926 request to abandon the branch, but allowed closure of the Essex - Conomo section in 1927. The remainder had limited commuter service; most traffic was wood for shipbuilding and ice from Chebacco Lake. The Great Depression destroyed the shipbuilding demand, and the advent of electric refrigerators eliminated the need for natural ice. The B&M applied for abandonment in August 1942; the request was approved that November, and the rails were removed in December 1942 as scrap steel for the war effort.^[11] Only the Conomo depot, now a private residence, remains extant.^[9]

References

1. "Transportation" (PDF). Town of Hamilton. July 2002. pp. 122–123. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
2. Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 75–77. ISBN 9780685412947.
3. "New MBTA Commuter Rail Stations Open; Train Service Expanded" (PDF). TRANSreport. Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization. August 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
4. T Commuter Rail System, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, 1975 – via Wikimedia Commons
5. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
6. Glynn, Robert E. (October 6, 1962). "Passengers Will Find Gift Shops, Laundries Replacing Rail Depots". Boston Globe. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
8. Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1986). Boston's Commuter Rail: Second Section. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 10. ISBN 9780938315025.
9. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 144, 311. ISBN 9780942147087.
10. Henry, Alan P. (August 10, 1977). "There's no depot like an old depot". Boston Globe. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Karr, Ronald Dale (2010). Lost Railroads of New England (Third ed.). Branch Line Press. pp. 92, 106, 137. ISBN 9780942147117.
12. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 255–263. ISBN 0942147022.

External links

Media related to Hamilton/Wenham station at Wikimedia Commons

• MBTA - Hamilton/Wenham