Narragansett Pier Railroad

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Narragansett Pier Railroad
A Narragansett Pier Railroad train
Overview
Key peopleRowland G. Hazard
William Sprague IV
Elisha R. Potter
Reporting markNAP
Dates of operation1876–1981
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification1902-1920 (Peace Dale to Narragansett Pier)
Length8 miles (13 km)

The Narragansett Pier Railroad (reporting mark NAP) was a railroad in southern Rhode Island, running 8 miles (13 km) from West Kingston to Narragansett Pier. It was built by the Hazard Family of Rhode Island to connect their textile mills in Peace Dale and Wakefield to the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad at Kingston Station as well as to ocean-going steamboats at Narragansett Pier. The railroad was operated by the Rhode Island Company between 1911 and 1920; otherwise it remained independent. Passenger service ran on the line from 1876 to 1952; the line continued freight operation as a Class III railroad until 1981. Most of the right-of-way has been converted to the William C. O'Neill Bike Path.

History[edit]

Background and formation[edit]

The Narragansett Pier Railroad was the brainchild of Rowland G. Hazard, an industrialist and member of the prominent Hazard family. In the late 1820s, he and his brothers inherited a mill in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, founded by his father Rowland Hazard in the early 1800s.[1] The Hazards at first focused on relatively inexpensive wool and cotton products, but focused exclusively on high-quality wool products after an 1845 fire destroyed the factory and necessitated rebuilding; Rowland G. Hazard's strong abolitionist sympathies harmed the sale of cotton products in the slaveholding southern states. While the mill had long used water power from the Saugatucket River, not long after the rebuild steam power started to be used instead. The boilers required coal, imported to the coastal town of Narragansett Pier 4 miles southeast by ships and then brought to the mill by wagons, which was neither efficient or cheap for the mill. Narragansett Pier itself was growing as a coastal resort, but with the nearest rail line being on the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad (commonly known as the Stonington Line, for its western terminus in Stonington, Connecticut) at West Kingston, visitors were required to take a stagecoach the remaining 8 miles to the town, which depressed potential traffic. This missing rail link also hampered the mill's ability to import and export materials and finished wool products. The solution for all of these issues was a new railroad, and Rowland G. Hazard set about organizing one with industrialist and politician William Sprague IV, receiving legislative approval for a new charter in 1868.[1]

Construction[edit]

While a survey was completed for the proposed railroad promptly after Hazard and Sprague obtained their charter, neither party had ever built a railroad before, and Sprague's eponymous Sprague Company was devastated by the Panic of 1873. By the time the economy began to recover, the Hazards could count on only a handful of small industries in Wakefield and several hotels in Narragansett Pier as partners in their railroad venture. With the original charter set to expire in 1875 and no progress in construction made, Rowland G. Hazard reorganized the company at a late 1874 meeting in Peace Dale. The primary issue to be settled was the route of the railroad, with two routes available that either bypassed or entered downtown Kingston. Kingston native Elisha R. Potter provided an additional $15,000 in funding to support the more expensive downtown Kingston routing, but when the stockholders held a meeting on January 26, 1876, to decide on a route, the option bypassing Kingston was the clear victor.[1] The Stonington Line also agreed to subscribe $15,000 towards the line's construction between 1875 and 1876, in hopes that the opening of the new railroad would provide more business.[2] The company ran its first train on July 17, 1876.[1]

Operation by the Hazard Family[edit]

By September, the Boston Evening Transcript reported the opening of the railroad to Narragansett Pier "has had a marked effect on this very popular seaside resort", including the demise of the stagecoach previously used by visitors from points west or south.[3] The introduction of fast transportation to the resort town prompted a boom in construction of hotels and casinos.[4] Travelers from Providence could reach Narragansett Pier in approximately 80 minutes' time.[5]

In 1890 the railway transported more than 100,000 passengers and several thousand tons of freight and luggage. An express train needed 13 minutes from Kingston to Narragansett.[6]

The Narragansett Pier Railroad was compelled by complaints to reduce its passenger fares in 1901, though passengers continued to complain that the railroad required long layover times for travelers connecting with trains to and from Providence. The Manufacturers and Farmers Journal reported that the company's trains routinely departed more than a half an hour past their scheduled times, made worse by the fact that the trip to Narragansett Pier was only a matter of minutes; the newspaper derided the railroad as "the South County monopoly".[7] The monopoly allegation was also made in 1898 by proponents of a new steamboat wharf in Narragansett Pier that would connect to Providence, who pointed to the railroad's high rates (at the time 50 cents between Kingston and Narragansett pier) and surcharges on coal shipments.[8] The wharf was ultimately built by the Providence, Newport and Fall River Steamboat Company despite strong opposition from the railroad and some residents; however, it only lasted until 1905.[9]

Electric trolleys of the Sea View Line at Sea View station

The railroad arranged with the Sea View Railroad to add overhead wire between Peace Dale and Narragansett Pier and allow the latter to run its trolleys on the line, which began in 1902.[4]

By 1910, the railroad was no longer profitable and the Hazard family was looking for a way to exit. They found a buyer in the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (the New Haven), which was fearful of the Southern New England Railway and its plans to build a competing rail line in the area; were the Southern New England to buy the Narragansett Pier, it would have an outlet to Narragansett Bay. While the threat of this happening was rather remote, purchasing the Narragansett Pier was small change for J. P. Morgan, whose interests controlled the New Haven. The Narragansett Pier Railroad was therefore made a subsidiary of the Rhode Island Company, also controlled by Morgan. The Rhode Island Company was having issues turning a profit, and the loss-generating Narragansett Pier Railroad did not help matters; there wasn't enough money to properly maintain the railroad and matters deteriorated further when the railroad was nationalized by the United States Railroad Administration as a wartime measure in 1918. When the USRA returned the nation's railroads to their previous owners in 1920, the Rhode Island Company was bankrupt, the New Haven was desperately trying to avoid following suit, and the Narragansett Pier Railroad was given back to the reluctant Hazard family.[1] The Sea View trolleys also ceased using the Narragansett Pier Railroad at this time.[4]

The president of the Narragansett Pier Railroad, Nathaniel T. Bacon, purchased the bonds of the Sea View Railroad in September 1920.[10] The railroad experimented with a gas-electric railcar that could potentially run on both the Sea View and the Narragansett Pier.[11] However, Bacon sold it for scrap two months later when a financing plan with the towns along its route fell through.[12] With the end of trolley service, the New Haven agreed to run a dedicated freight car between Providence and Kingston daily for traffic along the Narragansett Pier Railroad route.[13]

The Rhode Island legislature passed a law in April 1920 allowing the towns of Narragansett and South Kingstown to directly subsidize the railroad as well as exempt it from local taxation, and also ordered the state's Public Utilities Commission to allow the railroad to reduce or eliminate unprofitable services.[14] As authorized by the act, the town of Narragansett agreed in June 1920 to suspend the railroad's taxes for five years.[15] Despite this, the railroad announced its intention to shut down entirely on March 20, 1921, citing competition by cars and trucks and a loss of $15,000.[16] Subsequently, the towns of Narragansett and South Kingstown agreed to provide a combined total of $15,000 of aid for the railroad in May 1921, enough to cover the company's deficit from the previous year.[17]

The railroad acquired a Mack-Brill railbus in 1921 for use along its main line during non-peak times when passenger demand was insufficient for a locomotive-hauled train to be profitably operated.[18] Placed into service on June 9, 1921, the railbus proved both reliable and highly economical, with a cost per train-mile less than one quarter that of a steam locomotive with two passenger cars.[19][20] The enhanced service frequencies enabled by the gas-powered railbus prompted an increase of over 10,000 passengers in one year, prompting the company to order a second one in 1922.[21]

Company finances were harmed by the Great Depression throughout the 1930s.[22] The railroad entered receivership on February 1, 1936, along with its bus subsidiary the South County Transportation Company. T. G. Hazard, Jr, asked for receivership and stated the railroad could not pay its expenses. The railroad's superintendent assumed the position of receiver.[23][24] Hazard stated that the railroad had continued running chiefly to provide its employees with jobs, and stated his hope that another company would purchase the railroad.[25] A surge in traffic brought by World War II helped bring the railroad back from the brink, but following the war the same trends harming the railroad's business - namely the closure of local mills and increased use of automobiles - resumed.[22]

The former Peace Dale station, now privately owned

A road-rail bus (capable of operating on both roadways and railroad tracks) was purchased from the Arcade and Attica Railroad in March 1941 following an overhaul by that railroad's maintenace workers.[26]

American Associates ownership[edit]

American Associates, the family trust of Royal Little, personally purchased the railroad from the Hazard Family in April 1946.[1][27] Little was also the founder and owner of Textron, then a textiles company.[4] Little had both a home and an office in Narragansett, and following the purchase Textron announced plans to use the railroad's station in Narragansett Pier as a sewing plant.[28]

The company's road-rail bus broke one of its axles in June 1952 and was not repaired. Passenger service was subsequently officially terminated at the end of that year. With passenger service gone, only minimal freight traffic was carried to and from Narragansett Pier. At the behest of the State of Rhode Island, which was building a highway crossing the railroad right-of-way near Narragansett Pier, the now seldom-used segment beyond Wakefield was abandoned, shortening the line to approximately five miles in length.[4] Unfortunately for the state, by the time the Interstate Commerce Commission gave the railroad permission to abandon the segment, work on the bridge had progressed to the point it was cheaper to complete it than to abandon its construction.[29]

Later owners[edit]

Narragansett Pier Railroad 38 in 1959
Narragansett Pier Railroad 40 with a passenger excursion in 1965

Little decided to sell the railroad in 1953, and found a buyer in the Wakefield Branch Company, a lumber yard and active rail customer along the line, which paid $12,000 to take over.[4] The railroad's new owner inherited a company in financial trouble and purchased the line to save it.[22] The largest single customer was a fish-processing facility located in Galilee which shipped "liquified fish guts" in tank cars for reuse as fertilizer.[1] Under Wakefield Branch Company ownership, the railroad directed some attention to improving its physical plant, including purchasing a new diesel locomotive in 1958.[1] Another change of ownership took place in 1964, with J. Anthony Hanold becoming the line's new owner. Hanold brought back passenger service in the form of excursion trains run on weekends and holidays. Regular excursions included a 1928-built flatcar converted into a gondola and a former Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) combination baggage and passenger car built in 1905. A second passenger car from the B&M was also obtained in the hopes of its restoration, and the railroad acquired an observation car from New Brunswick for use on charters. Additionally, the railroad converted the 1876-built Peace Dale station into a museum with a variety of railroad-related exhibits and opened the company's roundhouse and a freight station to visitors.[22] Unfortunately for the company, the excursions were not successful at salvaging the company's finances. Since the railroad no longer reached Narragansett Pier, there were no major attractions for tourists on the line, and cost-cutting meant that the vegetation along the line had become overgrown, making sightseeing near impossible.[1]

During the 1970s, freight traffic consisted of fertilizer, lumber and building products.[30] In 1971, the line changed hands again when a duo of Illinois industrialists, Grant Veitsch and Theodore Leviton, took over from several businessmen from New Haven, Connecticut. The pair announced plans to establish a facility to train new locomotive engineers.[31] The new owners once again revived excursion trains, in hopes of offsetting declining freight business; local schools also expressed interest in sending students to school via train instead of bus. Complaints from local residents about the smell forced the fish plant to truck fish to Maine for processing, and the railroad was unable to get Penn Central to cooperate in shipping salt to a railroad-owned distribution facility in Wakefield.[32]

By 1977, the railroad was owned by John Miller, a dentist who lived in Newtown, Connecticut, and planned to turn the railroad into a museum. Miller announced his intention to acquire a steam locomotive from a New York railroad museum for passenger excursions. At this point, trains ran only once or twice per week for freight service, and the railroad was losing money, though this was mitigated by fellow railfans doing much of the railroad's labor on a volunteer basis.[33] Miller decided to sell the line at the end of 1979, stating that while he had enjoyed running the railroad, it was too far of a drive from his western Connecticut home and that all remaining freight customers had ended their rail service. He sought a buyer for $100,000, the price he had paid to buy the line, and would otherwise sell the company's real estate for development and scrap its remaining equipment.[34] Miller found a potential buyer in California group B-J-T Industries, which expressed interest in buying the line and resuming both freight and passenger business, and announced it was negotiating with Miller in May 1980.[35]

The railroad's final owner was Anthony Guarriello, who purchased it solely to remove its trestles through Peace Dale that he considered an impediment to traffic. The entire remaining line was abandoned in 1981, though several pieces of its equipment were saved, including a caboose transferred to the Valley Railroad in Connecticut, and a diesel locomotive that ended up in Micaville, North Carolina.[1]

Legacy[edit]

Wakefield station seen along the William C. O'Neill Bike Path

Most of the former right-of-way has been converted into the William C. O'Neill Bike Path (formerly known as the South County Bike Path), which initially opened in 2000 and since 2010 terminates under a mile from Narragansett Pier.[4] The railroad's two-stall roundhouse in Peace Dale still stands.[30] The Peace Dale and Narragansett Pier train stations are also preserved.[4]

Station listing[edit]

Station[4] Miles (km) Comments
Kingston 0 (0)
Goulds 3 (4.8)
Peace Dale 4 (6.4) Preserved station
Rodman Crossing-Wakefield 5 (8) Preserved station
Sprague Park 6 (10)
Narragansett Pier 8 (13) Preserved station

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Heppner, Frank H. (2012). Railroads of Rhode Island: shaping the Ocean State's railways. Charleston, SC: History Press. pp. 126–133. ISBN 978-1-60949-333-2.
  2. ^ Babcock, Samuel D. (October 1, 1876). Annual Report of the Directors of the New York, Providence & Boston R.R. Co. to the Stockholders. Westerly, Rhode Island: G.B & J.H. Utter. p. 8.
  3. ^ "Narragansett Pier". Boston Evening Transcript. September 1, 1876. p. 6.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2nd ed.). Pepperell, Massachusetts: Branch Line Press. pp. 154–156. ISBN 978-0-942147-12-4. OCLC 1038017689. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  5. ^ "Local News". Providence Evening Press. July 18, 1876. p. 2.
  6. ^ Sallie W. Latimer: Narragansett By-the-Sea. Arcadia Publishing, 1. Juli 1997
  7. ^ "The Pier Railroad Again". Manufacturers and Farmers Journal. August 1, 1901. p. 6.
  8. ^ "Proposed Pier Line". Manufacturers and Farmers Journal. March 3, 1898. p. 6.
  9. ^ "Pier Dock to be Abandoned". Manufacturers and Farmers Journal. February 23, 1905. p. 10.
  10. ^ "Traction Syndicate Thought to Have Bought Control of Rhode Island Company". Providence News. September 4, 1920. p. 13.
  11. ^ "New Type of Car May Solve Consolidation Problem of Pier and Sea View Railroads". Providence News. September 10, 1920. p. 1.
  12. ^ "Owner to 'Scrap' Sea View Road". Evening Tribune. Providence. November 5, 1920. p. 2.
  13. ^ "Daily Freight Car". Evening Tribune. Providence. November 17, 1920. p. 12.
  14. ^ "Westerly". Norwich Bulletin. April 26, 1920. p. 6.
  15. ^ "Local Laconics". Norwich Bulletin. June 23, 1920. p. 7.
  16. ^ "Baby Railroad to Give Up Ghost". The Boston Globe. March 21, 1921. p. 7.
  17. ^ "Helping The Railroad". The Hartford Courant. May 12, 1921. p. 10.
  18. ^ "New Type Car for Pier Road to Save Costs". Providence News. July 8, 1921. p. 14.
  19. ^ "Gasoline Cars May Supplant Trains on Branch Railways". The Kansas City Post. February 19, 1922. p. 7.
  20. ^ "Mack Truck Enters the Railroad Field". The Wall Street Journal. October 10, 1922. p. 15.
  21. ^ "Another Gas Car for the Narragansett Pier Road". Evening Tribune. Providence. June 28, 1922. p. 3.
  22. ^ a b c d Young, William B. (May 15, 1966). "Clear the Track for the 'High Society' Line". The New York Times. p. 4 – via Proquest.
  23. ^ "Narragansett Pier Line in Receivership". The Day. 1936-02-01. p. 15. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  24. ^ "Tiny Railroad Bankrupt". The Waterbury Democrat. 1936-02-01. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  25. ^ "Court Appoints Receiver for Narragansett Road". Newport Mercury. 1936-02-07. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  26. ^ "This Trolley Runs on Road and Rails". The Buffalo News. 1941-02-28. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  27. ^ "Old Railroad Changes Hands". St. Albans Daily Messenger. 1946-04-02. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  28. ^ "Textron Plans Factory in Narragansett". Transcript-Telegram. Holyoke, Massachusetts. 1946-06-14. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  29. ^ "Build Bridge Over Abandoned Railroad". The Day. New London, Connecticut. Associated Press. July 29, 1953. p. 8.
  30. ^ a b Lewis, Edward A. (1975). American Short Line Railway Guide. The Baggage Car. p. 87.
  31. ^ "Narragansett Pier Railroad is Purchased". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. January 16, 1971. p. 16.
  32. ^ Ross, Kenneth (October 29, 1972). "Short-Line Railroads, Tho Small, Are Colorful". Chicago Tribune.
  33. ^ "Historic R.I. Rail Line to Get 1923 Steam Engine". Nashua Telegraph. June 13, 1977. p. 15.
  34. ^ "Dentist Selling His Railroad". Bangor Daily News. December 28, 1979. p. 2.
  35. ^ "Classy Railroad Revived". The Hanford Sentinel. UPI. May 10, 1980. p. 2.
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