Connecticut Valley Street Railway

The Connecticut Valley Street Railway was an interurban streetcar and bus system operating in Greenfield, Massachusetts as well as surrounding communities with connections in Deerfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Montague, North Amherst, Northampton, and Whately.

Connecticut Valley Street Railway
The car barn and offices of the Connecticut St. Rwy, on Deerfield Street, Greenfield, July 1912
Overview
Owner	Connecticut Valley Street Rwy. Co.
Area served	Greenfield Deerfield Hadley Hatfield Montague Millers Falls North Amherst Northampton Whately
Transit type	Light rail Interurban (1895–1924; 1934)[a] Bus (1918–, as FRTA)
Operation
Began operation	June 24, 1895[2]: 906  1918 (bus)[3]
Ended operation	April 1, 1924 (franchise)[4] July 7, 1934 (rail system)[3]
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge[2]: 906

Not to be confused with the Connecticut Valley Railroad, now operated as the heritage line Valley Railroad.

History

1910 map of the Connecticut Valley Street Railway and Northern Massachusetts Street Railway

Originally the street railway began as two companies, both founded in 1895, the Montague Street Railway Company and the Greenfield and Turners Falls Street Railway Company. From their inception, both companies shared common directors and within a year of their founding both would merge, taking on the latter's name.^[5][6][7] The company would assume the Connecticut Valley Street Railway Company name with the addition of the Northampton & Amherst and the Greenfield & Northampton Street Railway companies in 1905.^[8] With the growth of jitneys in the early 1910s, the company became the first street railway in New England to begin a bus service, seeking to compete with these new fleets.^[3]

Following a period where the system became unprofitable, its company went into receivership, closing the railway on April 1, 1924. Within a week of this however, the system was sold to the towns of Greenfield and Montague in a joint municipal purchase of its assets for $75,000.^[1][9] The resulting municipal authority became known as the Greenfield and Montague Transportation Area (GMTA), a predecessor of the Franklin Regional Transit Authority, and the first public transportation authority in the Commonwealth.^[10][11] With growing costs and declining revenue the GMTA switched over to buses entirely, with the last trolley operating on the evening of July 7, 1934.^[3][12]

Notes

1. System continued as public system owned by municipalities until July 7, 1934.^[1]

References

1. "Agreement for Buying Trolly Line; Selectmen and Receiver Abercrombie of Connecticut Valley Agree on $75,000 as Price". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. April 8, 1924. p. 8.
2. Poor, H. V.; Poor, H. W. (1901). "Street Railways in Massachusetts". Poor's Manual of Railroads. Vol. XXXIII. New York: American Banknote Company.
3. Wright, Henry Andrew (1949). The Story of Western Massachusetts. Vol. II. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 603, 624.
4. "Railway Discontinued". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. October 28, 1923. p. 58. The report filed with the supreme court by D. P. Abercrombe, receiver for the Connecticut Valley street railway, which recommends that the lines now controled [sic] by the company be operated until April 1, 1924...
5. "The Franklin Road- The Route to be Taken by the Montague Street Railway - The Temporary Directors and the Subscribers". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. March 21, 1895. p. 3. The articles of incorporation of the new street railway company, organized at Turners Falls Tuesday, were published yesterday. The name of the company is to be the Montague street railway company.
6. "[The hearing...]". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. February 28, 1895. p. 7. The hearing before the selectmen of Montague to consider the petition of the Greenfield and Turners Falls street railway company to lay their tracks in the streets of Montague will be held in Hibernian hall at Turners Falls at 2 p. m. tomorrow.
7. "Greenfield - New Cases Entered in Court". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. February 4, 1896. p. 7. There will be a hearing before the street railway committee at the state-house today on the matter of consolidating the Greenfield and Turners Falls and Montague street railway companies.
8. "Massachusetts notes". Vermont Phœnix. Brattleboro, Vt. May 5, 1905. p. 10. The stockholders of the Northampton & Amherst Street Railway company, with which the Greenfield & Northampton and Greenfield & Turners Falls companies have been merged, have completed the organization and adopte the name of the Connecticut Valley street railway company.
9. "Expect Consent of Utilities Board; Greenfield and Montague Officials at Boston to Get Authority to Take Over Trolly Line". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. May 9, 1924. p. 7.
10. "Turners Falls; Greenfield System is Paying its Way; Report for August and September Shows Balance on Hand of $51.43". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. November 7, 1924. p. 3.
11. Environmental Impact Station and Section 4(f) Evaluation; Route 2- Greenfield, Gill, Erving, Wendell, Orange, Massachusetts. U.S. Department of Transportation. May 10, 1982. p. 30.
12. Kellogg, Lucy (1954). History of Greenfield: Shire Town of Franklin County. p. 2199. The trustees early in 1934 voted to eliminate electric trolley cars and substitute gasoline-powered busses. By July 7, 1934, the substitution had been completed and the last trolley laboriously climbed Bank Row to close an era...