|
 The
Old Colony Railroad
has been around
long before South
Station graced
downtown Boston.
But its history
has had more starts
and stops than
the “Local.”
Almost 175 years ago, the Old Colony Railroad, linking Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island to Boston, represented the pinnacle of train travel. Well-managed and maintained, the Old Colony served its passengers and stockholders well.
Toward the end of the 19th century, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad struck a deal signing a 99-year lease guaranteeing dividends of seven percent on Old Colony stock .
The New Haven sank money into the operation to improve the system and to consolidate the various train depots serving Boston into one facility - South Station. The Old Colony lines were relocated and expanded over the next few decades continuing to serve south shore communities all the way to Cape Cod.
But, around the end of the first World War, the landscape was shifting. More people were working downtown in the big city - and trains could no longer service them. Little by little the Boston Elevated Company began providing service and many of the Old Colony stops were shut down.
The expensive rental charges for the Old Colony and the losses during the depression helped force the New Haven into bankruptcy in l936. A close look at the books showed the Old Colony $2 million in the red.
 To
stem the losses,
a reorganization
plan called for
reducing Old Colony
service by over
250,000 miles
annually and abandoning
88 stations. The
Old Colony was
broken down into
three branches
- the Boston Group,
the Cape Group
and Western Group.
Eliminating the
Boston Group could
save over a million
dollars.
Various reorganization plans continued to be filed and debated, changed and rethought.
Cutbacks in service were at the core - and even though reduced schedules went into effect in l940 - it looked as if the Old Colony had survived. But, the line was not out of the woods, because later that same year, the New Haven’s reorganization plan, which was finally approved, did not include the Old Colony.
Proponents of the Old Colony fought back once again, stressing the importance of the railroad in the impending war effort and succeeded in getting the line put back into the New Haven plan. In l941, The Old Colony received a two-year stay of execution and a chance to prove its viability.
The New Haven’s bankruptcy reorganization plan took effect in l947. To make a go of the Old Colony, it called for a 40 percent hike in fares. A year later, still with huge deficits, severe cutbacks in service were recommended. By late February of l948, the announcement was finally made - the Old Colony passenger service would indeed end on October 1.
So it was back into the political arena with another state commission formed to try to assuage those on the South Shore.
Those residents were still opposed to extending rapid transit into their communities, fearing the financial burden it might place on them. The privately owned Old Colony was still a better alternative - and they held out hope, used some pressure - and the New Haven put off the shutdown for another year.
Meanwhile, the changes afoot at the top level at the New Haven , putting financier Frederic C. Dumaine, Sr. in charge, would keep the Old Colony on tenderhooks. Fear heightened when Dumaine killed the proposal to extend public transit to the South Shore.
Then, in l951, Frederic Dumaine, Sr.,died, leaving the New Haven in the hands of his son Frederic “Buck” Dumaine, Jr.. A supporter of passenger service, his reign brought some hope to the Old Colony. He added routes, invested in new equipment, upgraded the rails and launched an aggressive marketing campaign.
But stockholders were unhappy with Buck’s free spending ways and a cohort of Buck’s father, Patrick McGinnis, seized control of the New Haven in l954. By late l955, the New Haven had slipped into disrepair and the trains rarely ran on time.
McGinnis was soon run out of town to be replaced by George Alpert. But, the mess he inherited was even worse than imagined - with $50 million missing from the books. At the same time, Boston was struggling with the excessive debt of the rapid transit lines and a great deal of political pressure was being applied to extend service to the South Shore, replacing the Old Colony - and increasing revenues to the transit lines.
Bickering continued and what came out of the contentious debate on Beacon Hill was a subsidy for the lines to Greenbush, Plymouth and the Cape. But, in exchange, the lines to Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River would fall by the wayside.
However, the subsidy would not be renewed. New highways were feeding in and out of Boston and support was lacking, so the New Haven finally accomplished what it had tried to do so many times before - and the Old Colony commuter line was shut down on June 30, 1959.
To help solve the commuter problems, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) was created. In l965, the MBTA took title to the Old Colony main from Boston to South Braintree and began the extension of the rapid transit lines.
In the 80s the Southeast Expressway was in desperate need of repair. And the highway work would cause incredible congestion when two lanes would be eliminated.
Solution? It was time to put the Old Colony back on track. And, on September 30, l997 the Old Colony pulled out of the station one more time, bringing commuter rail back to portions of the South Shore.
This article originally appeared in the September 1999 edition of South Station’s STATION BREAK newsletter.
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