Chelsea Branch Railroad Remains/Route

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CheapLeak

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Hi al. I’m trying to find really any evidence of this railroad and its route. Here’s what I have so far:

  • Route was similar to the BRB&L main line
  • Bought by the Eastern Railroad in the 1880s
  • Abandoned around 1892?
The only physical evidence I know of is where it branched off of the eastern route main line. Any information anyone has would be appreciated, thank you.
 
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According to Robert Dale Kerr's excellent book "The Rail Lines of Southern New England" The Chelsea Beach Branch opened in 1881. Was operated only in summer months for beach crowds. It formed a loop paralleling the main line with the northern junction at the Revere/Saugus line (Saugus River Jct) and the southern at Oak Island Grove. The southern end was extended about a mile or so to a junction north of Revere, Discontinued in 1891. Most of the line remaining in place for another 35 years except for a portion that was used for the relocated BRB&LRR. His book listed stations at Revere, Crescent Beach, Oak Island, Point of Pines and Saugus River Jct,....4.5 miles in length. Rail lifted in 1926.
 
GP40MC said:
According to Robert Dale Kerr's excellent book "The Rail Lines of Southern New England" The Chelsea Beach Branch opened in 1881. Was operated only in summer months for beach crowds. It formed a loop paralleling the main line with the northern junction at the Revere/Saugus line (Saugus River Jct) and the southern at Oak Island Grove. The southern end was extended about a mile or so to a junction north of Revere, Discontinued in 1891. Most of the line remaining in place for another 35 years except for a portion that was used for the relocated BRB&LRR. His book listed stations at Revere, Crescent Beach, Oak Island, Point of Pines and Saugus River Jct,....4.5 miles in length. Rail lifted in 1926.
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Thank you!
 
Maroon is the Eastern Railroad and the Chelsea Beach Branch. Purple is the Boston, Winthrop and Shore Railroad. Blue is the BRB&L, including the 1890s realignment.

1708665518036.png
 
The EGE said:
Yes, slowly working through all of New England. I plan to release it as kml/shapefile for others once it's in a reasonable state of completion.
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That's great, I'm looking forward to seeing it. I was sort of half-assedly working on something like this a while ago, basically cleaning up the MassGIS railroads data set, but didn't get very far.
 
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