Fairhaven Branch Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Fairhaven Branch Railroad was a short-line railroad in Massachusetts
. It ran from West Wareham
on the Cape Cod main line of the Old Colony Railroad
, southwest to Fairhaven
, a town across the Acushnet River
from New Bedford
.
bought the line in 1861, including its ferry
terminals at New Bedford and Fairhaven, which afforded connections to Woods Hole and Marthas Vineyard. The railroad was merged into the Old Colony Railroad in 1883, four years after the Old Colony leased the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad
, the successor to the New Bedford and Taunton.
On March 1, 1893 the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
(better known as the "New Haven") leased the massive Old Colony system, which by then included the Boston and Providence Railroad and everything substantially east of it, as well as long branches northwest to Fitchburg
and Lowell
. Along with the lease of the New England Railroad in 1898, this gave the New Haven a virtual monopoly on rail transport in New England
south of the Boston and Albany Railroad
.
Beginning in the 1920s, automobiles and improved highways began to provide major competition to the New Haven. The company began cutback on operations of many branch lines. The New Haven's freight operations declined on the Fairhaven Branch. The railroad tried a couple of times in the 1940s to end service and abandon the Fairhaven Branch, but vocal shipper protested. Finally, in 1953, the Interstate Commerce Commission formally granted the abandonment.
A small portion of the line, from Tremont Jct. to a Sand Pit in Marion was used until 1976. The tracks on that portion of line remain intact.
Part of the old right-of-way is in use as the Phoenix Bike Trail.
. Born in 1840, he was the son of a former ship's captain and grocer in Fairhaven. After graduating from high school in 1857, "Hen" Rogers hired on with the Fairhaven Branch Railroad as an expressman
and brakeman
. He worked for three or four years, carefully saving what he could from his meager earnings.
In 1861, he pooled $600 in savings with a partner's $600, borrowed another $600, and they used their stake to build a small oil refinery near Oil City
in the newly-discovered oil
fields of western Pennsylvania
. Eventually, Henry Rogers rose within the growing petroleum industry
to become one of the three key men in John D. Rockefeller
's Standard Oil trust. One of the wealthiest persons in the United States, he had active interests in petroleum, natural gas, copper, and coal enterprises.
Rogers was also involved in many railroads as a director and investor. He was a director of the Sante Fe, St. Paul, Erie
, Lackawanna, Union Pacific
, and several other large railroads. He also involved himself in at least three West Virginia
short-line railroad projects, one of which would grow much larger than he probably anticipated.
Rogers and West Virginia coal developer and manager William Nelson Page planned and built the 450 miles (724.2 km) long Virginian Railway
(VGN), which was financed at a cost estimated at $40 million almost entirely from his personal fortune. In April 1909, he traveled with his close friend, Mark Twain
, to Norfolk, Virginia
for a completion celebration and banquet. The next day, they began a tour of the new route, with major stops in Virginia at Victoria
and Roanoke
, and at Princeton, West Virginia
. The following month, Rogers suffered a massive stroke and died in New York City
at age 69. His body was transported by railroad back home to Fairhaven for internment in the family mausoleum in Riverside Cemetery.
The mausoleum is patterned after the Temple of Minerva
in Athens, Greece. His first wife, Abbie, and several family members are also interred there.
In Fairhaven, the Rogers family's gifts are located throughout the town. These include Rogers School, Town Hall, Millicent Library
, Unitarian Memorial Church and Fairhaven High School. An inscribed granite column on the High School lawn is dedicated to Rogers.
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It ran from West Wareham
West Wareham, Massachusetts
West Wareham is a census-designated place in the town of Wareham in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,908 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Wareham is located at ....
on the Cape Cod main line of the Old Colony Railroad
Old Colony Railroad
The Old Colony Railroad was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. It operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod...
, southwest to Fairhaven
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located on the south coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean...
, a town across the Acushnet River
Acushnet River
The Acushnet River is the largest river, long, flowing into Buzzards Bay in southeastern Massachusetts, in the United States. The name "Acushnet" comes from the Wampanoag or Algonquian word, "Cushnea", meaning "as far as the waters", a word that was used by the original owners of the land in...
from New Bedford
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
.
History
The Fairhaven Branch Railroad (FBR) was incorporated in 1849, chartered in 1851, and built from 1852 to 1854. The New Bedford and Taunton RailroadNew Bedford and Taunton Railroad
The New Bedford and Taunton Railroad was originally incorporated at the Old Colony Railroad Corporation in 1838 as an extension of the Taunton Branch Railroad between Taunton, Massachusetts and New Bedford. The name was changed to New Bedford and Taunton Railroad in 1839 before service began in 1840...
bought the line in 1861, including its ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
terminals at New Bedford and Fairhaven, which afforded connections to Woods Hole and Marthas Vineyard. The railroad was merged into the Old Colony Railroad in 1883, four years after the Old Colony leased the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad
Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad
The Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was formed in 1876 as a consolidation of the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad with the New Bedford Railroad....
, the successor to the New Bedford and Taunton.
On March 1, 1893 the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
(better known as the "New Haven") leased the massive Old Colony system, which by then included the Boston and Providence Railroad and everything substantially east of it, as well as long branches northwest to Fitchburg
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Fitchburg is the third largest city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,318 at the 2010 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private elementary and high schools.- History :...
and Lowell
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
. Along with the lease of the New England Railroad in 1898, this gave the New Haven a virtual monopoly on rail transport in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
south of the Boston and Albany Railroad
Boston and Albany Railroad
The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail and CSX. The line is used by CSX for freight...
.
Beginning in the 1920s, automobiles and improved highways began to provide major competition to the New Haven. The company began cutback on operations of many branch lines. The New Haven's freight operations declined on the Fairhaven Branch. The railroad tried a couple of times in the 1940s to end service and abandon the Fairhaven Branch, but vocal shipper protested. Finally, in 1953, the Interstate Commerce Commission formally granted the abandonment.
A small portion of the line, from Tremont Jct. to a Sand Pit in Marion was used until 1976. The tracks on that portion of line remain intact.
Part of the old right-of-way is in use as the Phoenix Bike Trail.
Henry Huttleston Rogers
Notable among the early employees of the FBR was Henry Huttleston RogersHenry H. Rogers
Henry Huttleston Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the oil refinery business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil....
. Born in 1840, he was the son of a former ship's captain and grocer in Fairhaven. After graduating from high school in 1857, "Hen" Rogers hired on with the Fairhaven Branch Railroad as an expressman
Expressman
An expressman refers to anyone who has the duty of packing, managing, and ensuring the delivery of any cargo on board a train.During the 19th century, an expressman was someone whose responsibility it was to ensure the safe delivery of a train's gold or currency, which was secured in the "express...
and brakeman
Brakeman
A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job it was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The advent of through brakes on trains made this role redundant, although the name lives on in the United States where brakemen carry out a variety of functions...
. He worked for three or four years, carefully saving what he could from his meager earnings.
In 1861, he pooled $600 in savings with a partner's $600, borrowed another $600, and they used their stake to build a small oil refinery near Oil City
Oil City, Pennsylvania
Oil City is a city in Venango County, Pennsylvania that is known in the initial exploration and development of the petroleum industry. After the first oil wells were drilled nearby in the 1850s, Oil City became central in the petroleum industry while hosting headquarters for the Pennzoil, Quaker...
in the newly-discovered oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
fields of western Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Eventually, Henry Rogers rose within the growing petroleum industry
Petroleum industry
The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...
to become one of the three key men in John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
's Standard Oil trust. One of the wealthiest persons in the United States, he had active interests in petroleum, natural gas, copper, and coal enterprises.
Rogers was also involved in many railroads as a director and investor. He was a director of the Sante Fe, St. Paul, Erie
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
, Lackawanna, Union Pacific
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
, and several other large railroads. He also involved himself in at least three West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
short-line railroad projects, one of which would grow much larger than he probably anticipated.
Rogers and West Virginia coal developer and manager William Nelson Page planned and built the 450 miles (724.2 km) long Virginian Railway
Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
(VGN), which was financed at a cost estimated at $40 million almost entirely from his personal fortune. In April 1909, he traveled with his close friend, Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, to Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
for a completion celebration and banquet. The next day, they began a tour of the new route, with major stops in Virginia at Victoria
Victoria, Virginia
Victoria is an incorporated town in Lunenburg County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,821 at the 2000 census.- History :Lunenburg County in the Southside region was established on May 1, 1746 in Great Britain's Virginia Colony from Brunswick County...
and Roanoke
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
, and at Princeton, West Virginia
Princeton, West Virginia
Princeton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 7,652 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 111,586. It is the county seat of Mercer County...
. The following month, Rogers suffered a massive stroke and died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at age 69. His body was transported by railroad back home to Fairhaven for internment in the family mausoleum in Riverside Cemetery.
The mausoleum is patterned after the Temple of Minerva
Minerva
Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...
in Athens, Greece. His first wife, Abbie, and several family members are also interred there.
In Fairhaven, the Rogers family's gifts are located throughout the town. These include Rogers School, Town Hall, Millicent Library
Millicent Library
Millicent Library in Fairhaven, Massachusetts was donated to the town by the family of Millicent Gifford Rogers, the youngest daughter of Abbie Gifford and wealthy industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers. Young MIllicent had died of heart failure in 1890 when she was barely seventeen years old...
, Unitarian Memorial Church and Fairhaven High School. An inscribed granite column on the High School lawn is dedicated to Rogers.