Cape Main Line
railway line in the United States of America
The Cape Main Line (formerly known as the Cape Cod Railroad) is a railroad in southeastern Massachusetts, running from Pilgrim Junction in Middleborough across the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge, where it splits towards Hyannis in one direction and Falmouth in the other. It was incorporated in 1846 as the Cape Cod Branch Railroad to provide a rail link from the Fall River Railroad line in Middleborough to Cape Cod. Currently, freight service on the line is operated by the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad, with passenger service by the Cape Cod Central Railroad and CapeFlyer.
History
Cape Cod Branch Railroad, 1846–1853
Among the proponents of the Cape Cod Branch Railroad were Col. Richard Borden of Fall River, who saw the new line as an opportunity to bring more traffic and business through his hometown. He was at one time president of the Bay State Steamboat Company, which together with the Old Colony Railroad formed the noted "Fall River Line". He was later elected president of the Cape Cod Railroad.
On January 26, 1848, the first 14.7-mile (23.7 km) segment of the railroad was opened between Middleborough and Wareham. By May 1848 an additional 12.9 miles (20.8 km) was opened to Sandwich, enabling unimpeded transit between Boston and Sandwich, thus serving the needs of the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company. In 1853, the extension of the line to Hyannis was started, reaching West Barnstable on December 22, 1853.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cape Main Line” is railway line in the United States of America. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cape, Main and Line, not as a finished interpretation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cape Main Line” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.