Windsor Gardens
An outbound train at Windsor Gardens station in December 2012
General information
LocationEngamore Lane
Norwood, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°10′19″N 71°13′11″W / 42.17189°N 71.21973°W / 42.17189; -71.21973
Line(s)Franklin Branch
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Other information
Fare zone4
History
OpenedMarch 29, 1971[1]
Passengers
2018257 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Walpole
toward Forge Park/495
 Franklin/​Foxboro Line Norwood Central
toward South Station
Foxboro
Terminus
Location

Windsor Gardens station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Franklin/Foxboro Line station in southern Norwood, Massachusetts. The station has a single side platform serving a single track; it is not accessible. The only entrance to the station is from an adjacent apartment complex; use of the station is not restricted to residents of the complex, though there is no public parking.

A station serving the South Norwood area was opened on the Norfolk County Railroad in 1849, with two more added on a separate line in 1892. The three stations closed in 1938 as part of the 88 stations case. The line became part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system in the 1960s and 1970s. Windsor Gardens station opened on March 29, 1971, to serve the apartment complex, which opened in 1962.

Station design

Windsor Gardens station is located in the South Norwood neighborhood of Norwood, Massachusetts, just north of the Walpole border. It is located off Engsmore Lane within the Windsor Gardens apartment complex, though use of the station is not restricted to residents. There is no public parking or bicycle facilities at the station; there is pedestrian access through the complex from Walpole Street.[3] The station has a single side platform, about 350 feet (110 m) long, on the west side of the single track of the Franklin Branch. The low-level platform is not accessible.[4][3] The station has two small shelters for passengers, but no station building.[5][6]

History

Former stations

The former East Walpole freight house

The Norfolk County Railroad opened through South Dedham (now Norfolk) on April 23, 1849.[7]: 43  Winslow(s) station (also called Durfees and South Dedham–East Walpole), located at Washington Street, opened that year.[8][9]: 356 [10][11]: 154  The line went through several operators in its early decades, with the New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) taking over in 1875.[7]: 44  The Washington Street grade crossing adjacent to the station was replaced by a railroad bridge and road underpass in 1897.[12]

The Old Colony Railroad extended its Wrentham Branch north to Norwood Central in February 1892.[9]: 366  Among the stations on the extension were Morrills, located at Morse Street adjacent to the George H. Morill Printing Ink Works in Norwood, and East Walpole (also called Bird Mills) at Washington Street in Walpole.[8][9]: 365 [13] The Old Colony became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H) in 1893, followed by the NY&NE (as the Midland Division) in 1898.[7]: 9 

Winslows, Morrills, and East Walpole stations were closed on July 17, 1938, as part of the 88 stations case, which included the termination of all Wrentham Branch passenger service. This left no stations on the Midland Division between Norwood Central and Plimptonville.[14][15] The three station buildings are no longer extant, though an 1890s-built freight house at East Walpole has been repurposed for commercial use.[5]

Windsor Gardens

One of two shelters at the station

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was founded in 1964 to subsidize suburban commuter rail service. MBTA subsidies for Midland Division service began in 1966.[1] The NYNH&H merged into Penn Central at the end of 1968. In January 1973, the MBTA purchased the Penn Central commuter rail lines; Midland Division service became the Franklin Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system.[1]

The first part of the 676-unit Windsor Gardens apartment complex opened in 1962.[16] After several years of negotiations, Windsor Gardens station opened on March 29, 1971 to serve the complex.[1][17] It was initially served by two daily round trips; a local official expected it to "lift a mile of traffic off the Southeast Expressway a day".[17] The station was featured in advertisements for the complex; a promotion with free tickets was used to attract residents later in 1971.[18][19]

By 1983, the station had nearly 400 daily riders.[7]: 0  Harbor station – a similar station in Gloucester which also served a single apartment complex – was in use from 1977 to 1985 but failed to attract riders.[7]: 0 [1] Accessible mini-high platforms were added to several Franklin Line stations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but Windsor Gardens was not made accessible.[3][20][21] A planned project to double-track the line, announced in November 2019, would add a second track (and possibly a second platform) at the station.[22] Windsor Gardens became a flag stop for all trains effective October 11, 2021.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  2. ↑ Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
  4. ↑ Held, Patrick R. (2010). "Massachusetts Bay Colony Railroad Track Charts" (PDF). Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 116, 150–151. ISBN 9780942147087.
  6. ↑ Godwin, Ariel (April 27, 2011). "Inventory of Park-and-Ride Lots at MBTA Facilities". Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association.
  8. 1 2 Norwood including East Walpole, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Sanborn Map Company. July 1923. pp. 14, 23, 24.
  9. 1 2 3 Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. ISBN 9780942147124.
  10. ↑ Barrett, Richard C. (1996). Boston's Depots and Terminals. Railroad Research Publications. p. 215. ISBN 9781884650031.
  11. ↑ Kennedy, Charles J. (Summer 1962). "Commuter Services in the Boston Area, 1835-1860". The Business History Review. 36 (2): 153–170. doi:10.2307/3111453. JSTOR 3111453. S2CID 154294514.
  12. ↑ McGinley Hart & Associates (October 1988). "Historic Structure Inventory Form". MBTA Historical Property Survey, Phase II – via Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System.
  13. ↑ Fanning, Patricia J. (2002). Norwood: A History. Arcadia Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 9781439630556 – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ "New Haven Announces Changes in Timetables". Boston Globe. July 13, 1938. pp. 1, 2 – via Newspapers.com. (part 2, part 3) Open access icon
  15. ↑ "Would Close 93 Stations". Boston Globe. June 28, 1938. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  16. ↑ "676 Units for Norwood Gardens". Boston Globe. September 16, 1962. p. A-47 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 "Norwood to Boston in few steps now reality". Boston Globe. April 11, 1971. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Penn Central Stops Here [Advertisement]". Boston Globe. October 17, 1971. p. B-58 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Winning Commuter Tickets Drawn". Boston Globe. October 31, 1971. p. A-57 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Notice to Bidders". Boston Globe. June 29, 1990. p. 55 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  21. ↑ "Notice to Bidders". Boston Globe. April 28, 1989. p. 60 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  22. ↑ "FMCB Approves Franklin Line Double Track Phase 2 Work and Phase 3 Preliminary Design Work" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 18, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Franklin Line 2021 Fall/Winter Schedule" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 11, 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 2, 2021.
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