1873 **BOSTON HARTFORD & ERIE RAILROAD CO.** BOND COUPON+GPAPHIC "VIGNETTE"!

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JANUARY, 1873 (TINY: 2 5/8" x 1 5/16") ~BOSTON HARTFORD AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY~ .00 BOND COUPON (NUMBER 11) ... 7809 NATIONAL BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK ... WITH BEAUTIFUL GRAPHIC}}} VIGNETTE!
"148" year old Railroadiana Scripophily history with "steam locomotive" vignette!
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New York and New England Railroad
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New York and New England Railroad
1871 Map of New England railroads
Overview
Dates of operation
1846–1898
Successor
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
Technical
Track gauge
4 ft
8
+
1
⁄
2
in
(
1,435 mm
)
standard gauge
Share of the New York and New England Railroad Company, issued 6. March 1893
The
New York and New England Railroad
was a major railroad connecting southern
New York State
with
Hartford, Connecticut
,
Providence, Rhode Island
, and
Boston, Massachusetts
. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the
Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad
, which had been formed by several smaller railroads dating back to 1846. After bankruptcy in 1893, the New York and New England Railroad was reorganized and became known as the
New England Railroad
before its 1898 lease to the competing
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
. Today, most of the original New York and New England lines have been abandoned; however a portion in Massachusetts is now part of the
MBTA's
Franklin Line
providing commuter rail service to
South Station
in
Boston
. The
Connecticut Southern Railroad
operates freight service on a small portion of the former NY&NE line near
East Hartford
and
Manchester, Connecticut
. Other portions in Connecticut and Rhode Island have been converted to
rail trails
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
West from Providence: 1846-1863
[
edit
]
The corridor from
Providence, Rhode Island
west into
New York
was originally chartered as three companies. The
Providence and Plainfield Railroad
, chartered in June 1846, would run from Providence to the
Rhode Island
/
Connecticut
state line. The
Hartford and Providence Railroad
, incorporated in May 1847, would continue west to
Hartford, Connecticut
, and the
New York and Hartford Railroad
, chartered and incorporated in May 1845, would continue to the
New York and Harlem Railroad
at
Brewster, New York
. In 1849, the two Connecticut companies merged to form the
Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad
, with a modified charter to continue past Brewster to
Fishkill, New York
on the
Hudson River
, and in 1851 the Rhode Island company was merged into it. Later that year the first section opened, from Hartford east to
Willimantic
. Extensions opened east to Providence in 1854 and west to
Waterbury
in 1855. The HP&F went
bankrupt
on January 1, 1858, and was run by the
trustees
until 1863, when it was leased by the newly formed Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad.
Southwest from Boston: 1847-1867
[
edit
]
1867 New Haven, Middletown and Boston Railroad map
At the
Boston
end, the earliest predecessor was the
Norfolk County Railroad
, chartered April 24, 1847. The line from the
Boston and Providence Railroad
's branch at
Dedham, Massachusetts
southwest to
Walpole
opened on April 23, 1849, and an extension to the
Providence and Worcester Railroad
in
Blackstone
opened May 16. The company went
bankrupt
soon after. The short
Medway Branch Railroad
was leased in 1851, opening December 29, 1852.
On May 1, 1849 the
Southbridge and Blackstone Railroad
was incorporated to extend the line west from Blackstone to
Southbridge
. On its way to
Douglas
, this railroad passed through
Ironstone
, where there was a factory that made Kentucky Blue Jeans, and a nearby iron forge. The
Midland Railroad
was incorporated May 2, 1850 to build a new entrance to Boston, merging with the existing one south of Dedham. The two companies were consolidated with the Norfolk County Railroad on December 12, 1853 to form the
Boston and New York Central Railroad
, which had the intent of continuing southwest through
Connecticut
all the way to New York City. The first section of this extension was incorporated in May 1853 as the
East Thompson Railroad
, forming the Connecticut portion of the Southbridge and Blackstone.
The extension from Blackstone southwest to
Mechanicsville, Connecticut
on the
Norwich and Worcester Railroad
was completed in 1853. In January 1855 the new main line to Boston was opened, but was closed six months later until December 1856 because of an
injunction
due to the danger of the numerous
grade crossings
. The new line ran to a terminal at the foot of
Summer Street
in downtown
Boston
via
South Boston
. The full line was first operated as one on June 1, 1855, but again failed quickly. On August 6 operations were restarted on only the original Dedham-Blackstone line, operated by the
Boston and Providence Railroad
as a branch. On March 2, 1857 the
trustees
took
repossession
, ending the operation by the B&P. The East Thompson Railroad leased the line, reopening it again in full for about a year before another failure. At that time, all but the original Dedham-Blackstone line and Medway Branch were closed until 1867. The closed lines were sold in November 1858 to the Midland Railroad, but were not operated due to bad condition. The
Midland Land Damage Company
tried again in 1862, changing its name to the
Southern Midland Railroad
in 1863 without success.
Combined routes from Providence and Boston: 1863-1898
[
edit
]
New York and New England Railroad's
White Train
between New York and Boston, c. 1890
In May 1863, the
Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad
was chartered to take over operations of the failed lines and continue the line west to
Fishkill, New York
, with a
car float
from there to the
Erie Railroad
at
Newburgh
. It quickly leased the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad from its
trustees
, giving it a line from
Providence
west to
Waterbury
. In September of that year it acquired the former Boston and New York Central Railroad, but did not operate it yet; the old Norfolk County Railroad continued operations by its
trustees
.
In the meantime, the
New York and Boston Railroad
had built a line from
Brookline, Massachusetts
(outside
Boston
) southwest to
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
, crossing the Norfolk County Railroad in
Blackstone
. On January 4, 1865 the BH&E absorbed that company, making its Woonsocket Division. On December 13 of the same year, various
Erie Railway
men were elected to the BH&E board, placing it under partial control of the Erie.
On February 11, 1867 the BH&E leased the Norfolk County Railroad, finally reopening the full line from
Mechanicsville
to
Boston
. That same year, the branch to
Southbridge
(part of the original Southbridge and Blackstone charter) opened. The
Norwich and Worcester Railroad
was leased in 1869, finally giving it a route to Boston, using the N&W from the Providence line at
Plainfield
north to the old Norfolk County Railroad at Mechanicsville. In August 1872 a direct connection from
Willimantic
on the line to Providence northeast to Mechanicsville opened, completing the direct line to Boston. The Willimantic stop also afforded a transfer to the
New London Northern Railroad
for
Palmer, Massachusetts
and
Brattleboro, Vermont
to the north, and for
New London
to the south.
By 1869 the BH&E leased the
Dutchess and Columbia Railroad
, which was building a line roughly southwest-northeast in
Dutchess County, New York
. The BH&E planned to build west to the D&C at the future
Hopewell Junction
, but was not able to complete the line and lost the lease in 1870.
On September 9, 1872 the
Long Island Rail Road
's
Boston Express
began operations, using the BH&E from
Norwich
(at the south end of the N&W) to Boston. This was later replaced around 1891 with the
Long Island and Eastern States Express
, using the
Danbury and Norwalk Railroad
from
Wilson Point
to the BH&E (then the NY&NE) at
Hawleyville
(east of
Danbury
).
The
New Haven, Middletown and Willimantic Railroad
was leased in 1873, giving a line to
New Haven
. Later that year, the BH&E went bankrupt and was reorganized April 17 as the
New York and New England Railroad
; the N&W lease was kept but the NHM&W lease was forfeited (prior to its opening August 12), becoming part of the
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
system in 1879.
Note: Various sources note the Boston Hartford & Erie as failing and falling into receivership in 1870, yet it was during the
Panic of 1873
that 89 of the country's 364 railroads went bankrupt. The New York and New England Railroad Company was chartered by special act of the Massachusetts legislature on April 17, 1873. Such was the mess of the Boston Hartford & Erie's mortgages and land titles that the NY&NE did not enter into possession of any of the BH&E "system" until sometime in 1875.
Alvin F. Harlow
in
Steelways of New England
states that the NY&NE did not get possession of the Hartford Providence & Fishkill line until 1877.
Through its entire existence (1873–1895) the NY&NE was always bedeviled by uncertainty in its land titles. Symptomatic of this: the million common stock of the NY&NE originated as the ,000,000 principal amount of the "Berdell Bonds"; the chartering legislation said the NY&NE was to "succeed to the rights of the Berdell Bondholders". There was a 10% assessment levied on the Berdell Bondholders as part of the chartering legislation, which also appropriated the necessary monies for the state to pay its assessment on its million of Berdell Bonds. For some reason ,000 of Berdell bonds were never issued so for years the NY&NE had .999 million of common stock outstanding.
Through all this the receivers of the BH&E and the later management of the NY&NE continued to hold on to the BH&E's Norwich & Worcester lease which was a major part, if not the principal prop to the entire system's existence. The N&W and its related Norwich Line steamers (passenger and freight) made money, enough that the NY&NE could afford to pay 8% (reduced from 10% by negotiation ca. 1885) on the N&W's capital stock.
In 1881 the extension from
Waterbury
west to
Hopewell Junction
on the
Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad
opened. Along with
trackage rights
over the ND&C southwest to
Beacon
, and a short line built by the NY&NE to the
Hudson River
at Beacon, this completed the main lines from Boston and Providence to the Hudson River, where a
train ferry
took cars to the
New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad
's
Newburg Branch
at
Newburgh
. Part of the line in New York was built along the never-used grade from the failed
Putnam and Dutchess Railroad
.
Also in 1881 the
New York, Westchester and Putnam Railway
was completed, running north and east from New York City to the NY&NE at
Brewster
. This company had been previously involved with the BH&E in building a through line between New York and Boston, even being called the
New York and Boston Railroad
at first, and with its opening such a through line was formed. For some time such a traffic arrangement was made, lasting through the NYW&P's absorption into the
New York Central Railroad
in 1894.
Poughkeepsie Bridge
The
Poughkeepsie Bridge
opened in 1888, providing a fixed crossing of the
Hudson River
at
Poughkeepsie
, north of the NY&NE car float at Beacon. The
Central New England and Western Railroad
, which owned the bridge, chartered the
Dutchess County Railroad
in 1890 and completed it in 1892, providing a branch from the bridge to the NY&NE at
Hopewell Junction
.
There was a December 31, 1883/January 1, 1884 receivership that got referred to at the time as the "Midnight Receivership" which featured the NY&NE officers trying to find a federal judge to issue a receivership order before the end of the year. This receivership was over by 1886.
Cyrus W. Field had become a major figure behind the NY&NE by 1886 but after the state of Massachusetts refused to sell him the million in stock it held (instead disposing of the shares to a rival group because of concern about Field's close association with Jay Gould) Field sold his holdings in the NY&NE. The Massachusetts sale of NY&NE stock was part of a deliberate policy on the part of Massachusetts to get out of owning railroads; the sale of the Hoosac Tunnel line to the Fitchburg in 1887 was also done under this policy, a declared policy of
Massachusetts Governor Andrew
.
Jabez A. Bostwick
The new NY&NE President in 1887 was
Jabez A. Bostwick
, a Standard Oil partner of John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller's brother William sat on the board of the New Haven. With Rockefeller lieutenants in both camps one wonders whether the NY&NE-NYNH&H "rivalry" may have been a Standard Oil "Divide & Conquer" policy to get low rates and other benefits out of both roads who together controlled nearly all rail business in New England south of the
Boston and Albany Railroad
(running through Massachusetts from Boston to Worcester, to Springfield, Pittsfield and on to
Albany, New York
).
The final bankruptcy of the NY&NE happened on December 27, 1893 and the company was reorganized on August 26, 1895 as the
New England Railroad
; Stuart Daggett in Railroad Reorganization states the 1895 NY&NE reorganization featured a hefty 20% assessment on NY&NE common. The
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
leased the company for 99 years from July 1, 1898 at 3% on the preferred (normal dividend) and common stock. The New England Railroad was merged into the New Haven in 1908.
Many sources state that most of the NE stock had early on been acquired by the New Haven, probably bought in 1895 when NY&NE stockholders who did not want to forfeit their shares for non-assessment dumped their shares on the market. Baker in Formation of the New England Rail Systems claims there was a mini-Northern Pacific type corner in 1894 in NY&NE common when parties "Friendly" to the Boston & Albany tried to buy controlling influence in the NY&NE and the New Haven had to buy a large position in NY&NE common. Both parties apparently wound up together buying more NY&NE common than actually existed; worse, the New Haven had had to pay high prices for near worthless shares.
The most well-known and prestigious train of the New York & New England Railroad was the
New England Limited of 1891
, a crack Boston - New York passenger train. In 1891, the Pullman Palace Car Company refitted the train with luxurious new cars decorated in white and gold, inspiring the advertising department to call it the White Train and folks along the line to call it the Ghost Train as it sped through their towns after dark. It caught the romantic imagination of New Englanders and even after it was long gone,
Lucius Beebe
, a Bostonian and noted railroad writer, felt compelled to memorialize it.
[2]
[
page needed
]
Famed author
Rudyard Kipling
memorialized the train in a popular verse:
Without a jar, or roll, or antic,
Without a stop to Willimantic,
The
New England Limited
takes its way
At three o'clock each day,
Maids and Matrons, daintily dimited,
Ride everyday on the
New England Limited
;
Rain nor snow ne'er stops its flight,
It makes New York at nine each night,
One half the glories have not been told
Of that wonderful train of white and gold
Which leaves each day for New York at three
Over the N.Y. & N.E.
[3]
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad: 1898-1969
[
edit
]
Much of the major foundation of the line of the NY & NE was the legacy of the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad, whose
mainline
ran from Providence, Rhode Island, west to Plainfield, Connecticut, to Willimantic, to Vernon, to Hartford, to Waterbury, to New Britain, to Danbury, and finally to Brewster, NY.
[4]
Until 1955 the NY, NH & H ran passenger trains from Boston to
Blackstone
, to Putnam, joining the above line at Willimantic and continually finally to Waterbury. This included the weekday limited stops
Nutmeg
train.
[5]
The last remnant of service on this line was a Hartford-Waterbury segment that ended in the 1960s.
[6]
As time passed and sections were abandoned, the former NY&NE main lines became minor branches. In 1965, the city of
Bristol, Connecticut
paid million to build a new spur (partially using a segment of the pre-
Pequabuck Tunnel
mainline) to a new General Motors plant on Chippens Hill to convince the company to keep its operations in the city.
[7]
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