Fairhaven Branch Railroad

Beginning in the 1920s, automobiles and improved highways began to provide major competition to the New Haven. The company began cutback on operations of many branch lines. The New Haven's freight operations declined on the Fairhaven Branch. The railroad tried a couple of times in the 1940s to end service and abandon the Fairhaven Branch, but vocal shippers protested. Finally, in 1953, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) formally granted the abandonment.

The Fairhaven Branch was formally abandoned between Fairhaven and Marion on April 2, 1953. Between 1953 and 1968, the New Haven moved boxcars and covered hoppers of sand from the WHIBCO sand pit in Marion. In 1969, the Penn Central Railroad, created out of a merger between the New Haven, New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads, took over operations of the New Haven and hauled the loads of sand the 2.5 miles between the sand pit and Tremont Junction, where they would be picked up by the Cape Cod local freight. This continued until 1973, when the Penn Central abandoned the rest of the line to Tremont.

On March 7, 1992, a passenger excursion run by the Cape Cod Railroad ran down a short portion of the overgrown and dilapidated Fairhaven Branch. The train was only able to go so far because of dense overgrowth and poor track conditions. This would be the last passenger train on the Fairhaven Branch, and the last train the branch would ever see.

Proposals to convert the line to a rail trail began in the 1970s.[1] In 1996, a local resident built a narrow wooden bridge across the outlet channel of Eel Pond in Mattapoisett, enabling use of a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) section of the former right-of-way for recreation. He and others built a series of replacement bridges across the widening channel, with the last completed in 2010.[2] In 1999, 3.1 miles (5.0 km) of the former line from the Fairhaven terminus to the Mattapoisett town line was converted to the Phoenix Rail Trail (named after nearby Fort Phoenix).[3] The first 1 mile (1.6 km) of the Mattapoisett Rail Trail was completed in 2010, extending the trail to Mattapoisett Neck Road.[1] That year, Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School students rebuilt the bridge over the Mattapoisett River, allowing use of a further 0.4 miles (0.64 km) of unpaved right-of-way.[4]

The next 1.28 miles (2.06 km) in Mattapoisett from Mattapoisett Neck Road to Depot Street is expected to be completed in 2021.[5] In January 2019, the state received a $9 million federal CMAQ grant to fund construction.[6] In February 2019, MassDOT awarded a $7 million contract for the construction, with notice to proceed given in late March.[7][8] The cost of the section, which is significantly higher than most rail trail construction, is due to the environmental difficulty of constructing a trail through sensitive wetlands.[1]

The Marion Pathway, constructed largely on the railroad right-of-way, is planned to be completed from Point Road through Marion Center to the Mattapoisett town line in 2021.[9] Mattapoisett plans to complete an additional 0.5-mile (0.80 km) connecting segment to reach Industrial Drive from the Marion line; the state awarded $110,000 in construction funds in July 2020.[10] As of November 2020, the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) section along Industrial Drive was expected to begin construction in spring 2021.[11] The remaining section through Mattapoisett will be completed at a later date.[9]

Fairhaven station around 1880. The locomotive pictured is OCRR #7, The "Northern".

Tremont station at West Wareham

In total, there were 5 stations along the Fairhaven Branch. The first station was the Fairhaven passenger station on Railroad Wharf. This was the main railroad station for Fairhaven. Passengers disembarking from the Fairhaven-New Bedford Ferry that operated from Railroad Wharf (and was owned by the Fairhaven Branch Railroad) and from the Union Street Railway could connect with trains to all points from here. The station also featured a telegraph office with a full-time telegraph officer. Today, the location of the station and the yard at Railroad wharf is occupied by The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority maintenance facility. Prior to that, it was used for the second half of the 20th century by the Hathaway-Braley Company as a wharf.

The second station on this line was a small flag stop station at Sconticut Neck Road. This station was primarily to serve the growing summer population in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Passengers could get off here and take the trolley down Sconticut Neck to Wilbur's Point and other summer colonies on the Neck.

Mattapoisett was the next station on the line. It was located on Railroad Avenue. Today, the station no longer stands, but a stone whistle post and a stone foundation for what was likely a signal stand remain today, sitting in the front yards of homeowners on Railroad Avenue, which was once the right-of-way.

Marion, the next station on the line, is the only stop with a station that survives today. Located on Route 105, it serves the community today as a daycare and restaurant.

The last stop on the line was West Wareham, or more commonly referred to as Tremont. This is where the Fairhaven Branch spurs off from the Cape Cod main line. From here passengers would disembark and await a train to Boston, or Cape Cod, depending on their destination. At this location, trains would drop their passengers; locomotives would (in earlier years) use a turntable to turn around; and from there would pick up the waiting passengers and return down the branch. As an interesting side note, one sign on one side of the passenger station said "West Wareham", while to sign on the opposite side said "Tremont".

The entire line was in Bristol County and Plymouth County, Massachusetts