Ware River Rail-Trail
Currently open for public use as a
State-owned Trail from Coldbrook to Baldwinville.
Trail is blocked by the Route 2
embankment 0.9 miles north of Templeton. Informal detours are available.
Currently open for public use on an informal basis
from the outskirts of
Baldwinville to the outskirts of Winchendon
Mileage Chart and Detailed Trail Information
The following railroad mileage chart also serves as a table of
contents for the detailed rail-trail information and associated pictures. Each
page begins with the historic name of the former railroad station, and continues
with available information about the trail on either side of that railroad
station, to a point roughly half-way to the next railroad station.
* = Railroad Miles from Palmer
Miles and station names from B&A Employee Time Table
No. 88 effective May 12, 1918, as provided by Ronald Groves, Webmaster of the Boston
& Albany Railroad WebPage.
The Webmaster was pleasantly surprised that almost all of
the Coldbrook-Winchendon trail was open and usable during his field checks of
July 24 & August 28, 2000 despite the fact that the line south of Waterville had been abandoned more than thirty years ago.
One on-road detour is necessary through the village of Baldwinville, and another
on-road detour is required to bypass the massive State Route 2 embankment that
totally blocks the trail.
Accordingly, 'street-legal' trail users are currently able to
plan a continuous rail-trail journey from Westmoreland and Hinsdale via Keene
NH, and separately from Jaffrey NH south through Winchendon MA to Coldbrook
Station near South Barre MA. Even better yet, the planned extension
of the Mass Central Rail Trail to South Barre MA will enable trail users to continue east to
Oakdale Station on the northern outskirts of Worcester.
Indeed, rail-trail enthusiasts that like to promote grand plans
should be able to fantasize about an inverted 'T' shaped trail system with a
cross-bar that extends from the Boston area to Northampton MA, with a leg north
to Winchendon and thence via Keene NH to Brattleboro VT or Cold River NH
(near Bellows Falls VT). This fantasy should also include the choice of another
route via Jaffrey NH to Hillsboro and possibly Henniker.
Note that the existence of the North-Central Pathway between
Gardner and Winchendon enables a 'hook-shaped' rail-trail trip northwest from
Gardner to Winchendon then south through Baldwinville and Templeton to Cold
River. Hikers can plan on using the Montachusett
Regional Transit Authority Link Route busses to reach Gardner from the
MBTA
commuter train station at Fitchburg, and to return to Gardner and that train
station from Winchendon, Waterville, Baldwinville, and Templeton. However this
possibility is not available to bikers because of the absence of
bike racks on the MRTA busses!
Trail ownership and maintenance
The Massachusetts Department
of Environmental Management owns the railroad bed south of Baldwinville and
manages it as a multi-use trail. Unfortunately, no information about this trail
could be found on its Web Site.
The Coldbrook
Snowmobile Club provides maintenance and local coordination of the official
trail as well as the following bypasses:
Rail-trail users that appreciate the efforts of the Coldbrook
Snowmobile Club are urged to join the organization and to participate in
projects that are related to the Rail-trail and associated four-season multi-use
trails. More information about this organization can be found on its Web Site.
Contact information is as follows (from Snowmobile
Association of Massachusetts Web Site):
Coldbrook
Snowmobile Club
28 Laurelwood Rd.
Rutland, MA. 01543
Dean Zuppio 508.886.6752
Meetings: 1st Monday of the month (non-holiday)
Coldbrook Country Club in Barre.
Relevant books
The 12.1 mile section of trail from Coldbrook to Templeton is described in Great
Rail Trails of the Northeast by Craig Della Penna. The information
includes a historical background of the trail as well as a detailed description
keyed to bicycle odometer readings from the author's in person trip down the
trail. This book is out-of-print, but many bookstores still have copies for
sale.
Railroad Abandonment Summary
| Item |
From |
To |
Year |
RR |
Miles |
| 275 |
South Barre |
Waterville |
1968 |
PC |
22 |
| 305 |
Waterville |
Winchendon |
1984 |
B&M |
2 |
PC = Penn Central Railroad
B&M = Boston & Maine Railroad
From the "Directory of Rail Abandonments 1848-1994" in the book Lost
Railroads of New England, 2nd Ed. by Ronald Dale Karr, published by Branch
Line Press in 1996.
Brief History of the Railroad
A brief history of the Ware River Railroad was published as
Article #36 in The Rail Lines of Southern New England by Ronald Dale
Karr, published by Branch Line
Press in 1995.
Montachusett
Regional Transit Authority operates 'Link route 3' on weekdays between
Gardner and Winchendon via Baldwinville, with the strong possibility that the
bus will stop on signal at any of the rural intersections on Route 202 between
Baldwinville and Winchendon. MRTA also operates 'Link Route 2' on
weekdays between Gardner and Orange via Templeton with the strong possibility that the
bus will stop on signal on Route 2A at the rail-trail crossing (former railroad
depot) near Templeton. Link route busses connect in Gardner each other and also
for with rush-hour runs to Fitchburg to connect with MBTA
Commuter Trains to Boston. Connections with Franklin
Regional Transit Authority 'Link Route 1' at Athol and Orange for service to
Greenfield. Note
that MRTA busses do not accommodate bicycles!
This page was updated on April 01, 2001
by Kenyon F. Karl <[email protected]>.
Unintentional errors are likely!
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