Plimptonville
The bare platform at Plimptonville station in December 2012
General information
Location185 Plimpton Street
Walpole, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°09′31″N 71°14′12″W / 42.15856°N 71.23665°W / 42.15856; -71.23665
Line(s)Franklin Branch
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Other information
Fare zone4
History
OpenedApril 23, 1849
ClosedDecember 14, 2020
Previous namesTilton(s), Plympton(s), Plimpton(s)
Passengers
201812 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Former services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Walpole
toward Forge Park/495
 Franklin/​Foxboro Line Windsor Gardens
toward South Station
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Walpole
toward Blackstone
 Midland Line Norwood Central
toward Boston

Plimptonville station was an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Walpole, Massachusetts. It was located near the Neponset River next to a small dirt parking lot between Plimpton Street and the tracks. It was a flag stop on the Franklin Line, and received the least service of any MBTA station, with just one round trip per day, consisting of an inbound morning train and an outbound evening train at the height of rush hour. Ridership on that round trip averaged just 12 passengers daily by a 2018 count.[1]

Station design

Plimptonville had one of the smallest station facilities on the MBTA Commuter Rail system: an approximately 10-foot (3.0 m)-wide low-level asphalt platform next to the single track, with a small gravel parking lot.[2]

History

Plimptonville station on an early postcard

The Norfolk County Railroad was built through East Walpole beginning in 1846; it opened on April 23, 1849.[3][4][5] Three stops were located in Walpole: West Walpole, Walpole, and Plimpton(s) – also spelled Plympton(s) – adjacent to the Plimpton Iron Works near East Walpole.[4][5][6] Commuting from the station to Boston was possible beginning in 1850.[3] After several reorganizations and mergers, the line became part of the New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) in 1873.[3]

The station was renamed to Tilton(s) by the 1870s after the mill village changed names.[7][8] A small station building, no longer extant, was located on the northwest side of the tracks.[9] Double-tracking through the station to Walpole was completed in 1881.[3] The NY&NE was taken over by the New Haven Railroad-controlled New England Railroad in 1895; the new railroad was leased by the New Haven in 1898.[3] Around 1894, the name was changed again to Plimptonville (sometimes spelled Plymptonville).[10][11][12]

MBTA era

The 1964-formed MBTA began subsidizing service on the route on April 24, 1966; it became the Franklin Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system.[3] The station had become less important under public ownership due to its lack of parking, rural location, and proximity to the well-used Walpole station. Additionally, the station was in the middle of a single-track section of the line, severely limiting the number of trains that can stop. The MBTA closed the stop on February 1, 1981 due to budget cuts, but soon reopened it due to protests by riders.[13] The single round-trip served a small but dedicated contingent of riders.[2] A planned project to double-track the line through the station was announced in November 2019.[14]

The station was closed again on January 23, 2021[15] as part of the MBTA's "Forging Ahead" initiative, due to low ridership, operational impacts, and availability of alternatives, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  2. 1 2 Homan, Nate (December 12, 2018). "The Track Least Traveled". DigBoston.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 43–46. ISBN 9780685412947.
  4. 1 2 Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 291–293. ISBN 0942147022.
  5. 1 2 Broomer, Kathleen Kelly (February 2016). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  6. ↑ Barrett, Richard C. (1996). Boston's Depots and Terminals. Railroad Research Publications. p. 215. ISBN 1884650031.
  7. ↑ "Tilton Sta. and East Walpole". Atlas of Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Comstock and Cline. 1876 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  8. ↑ "Atlas Plate No. 15". Topographical Atlas of Massachusetts. Walker Lithograph & Publishing Co. 1891 – via David Rumsey Map Collection.
  9. ↑ "Plate 42: East Walpole". Atlas of Norfolk County. E. Robinson. 1888 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  10. ↑ "Plate No. 15". Atlas of Massachusetts. George H. Walker & Co. 1904 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  11. ↑ "Walpole". Boston Globe. August 18, 1893. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Last Week of 'Capt. Paul'". Boston Globe. December 16, 1894. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Protestor stops Walpole line MBTA train". Boston Globe. February 3, 1981. pp. 17, 18 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  14. ↑ "FMCB Approves Franklin Line Double Track Phase 2 Work and Phase 3 Preliminary Design Work" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 18, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Franklin Line 2021 Winter Schedule" (PDF).
  16. ↑ "Forging Ahead".

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