History of the FBRR

The Fairhaven Branch Railroad (FBRR) was incorporated in 1849, chartered in 1851, and built from 1852 to 1854. The New Bedford and Taunton Railroad bought the line in 1861, including its ferry terminals at New Bedford and Fairhaven, which afforded connections to Woods Hole and Marthas Vineyard via steamship. The railroad was merged into the Old Colony Railroad in 1883, four years after the Old Colony leased the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad, the successor to the New Bedford and Taunton. Some sites to see nowadays are the Phoenix Rail Trail which runs from Fairhaven to the site of the Mattapoisett Station, the Marion Train Station, located at 381 Front St, Marion, MA, the Sippican River bridge, which spans the Sippican River, and the tracks that still remain that go from the site of the Tremont station to Fearring Hill Rd, Wareham Mass.

The promoters of the Fairhaven Branch Railroad rapidly pushed forward the work of construction. On Saturday, April 9th, and on Sunday, April 10, 1853, about one hundred Irish laborers arrived in Fairhaven, armed and equipped with barrows, picks, shovels, and other implements of railroad construction. Shanties were erected along the line of the contemplated route, and work began on Monday, April 11, 1853. Cars ran through from Fairhaven to Mattapoisett on the morning of Thursday, April 20, 1854 for the first time. The great event was celebrated by a Ball at Mattapoisett. The last rail on the road was laid on Monday, August 14, 1854. The construction of the Fairhaven Branch, Tremont Line, was not accomplished without accidents. On Monday, August 21, 1854, about 6 P. M., Mr. Briggs, one of the overseers, boarded a dirtcar, not knowing that the pin which prevented tipping and dumping had not been properly fastened. He was precipitated upon the track. One leg was cut off and the other frightfully mangled, from which he did not recover. Regular trains began running on Monday morning, October 2, 1854. A train, with the president of the Company and other officials, passed over the Road on the afternoon of the preceding Saturday. This Road, with a trackage of a little more than fifteen miles, beginning at the wharf and terminating at the Tremont Works, East Wareham, had way stations at Mattapoisett and Sippican. Nearly two hundred passengers passed over it, forty-five of whom were brought from the Vineyard by Steamer Metacomet and bound for Boston. The conductors on the Branch were Stoddard, Judd and Manter. The travel during the first twelve days, averaged 260 passengers per day, making a total of 3,120 passengers for two weeks. The tooting of the locomotives, the ringing of the bells, and the sight of the moving engines were novelties to many equines. On Saturday, April 21, 1855, Capt. Arthur Cox was severely injured by the upsetting of his carriage at the Fairhaven railroad station, when the horses became frightened. An old, three-story, wooden building, the flooring between the first and second stories of which was removed so that the train might enter and exit, was used as a depot. Part of this wooden structure, used for the first depot, was used previously as a sail-maker's 10ft, that of Hitch, Taber & Company. The 10ft was afterwards located in the stone factory once a ship chandlery. The locomotives, on the Fairhaven Branch, had both names and numbers, at least until all the town fathers were adequately honored. The locomotive "Gibbs," named in honor of William L. B. Gibbs, brand-new in 1854, was used until the last part of the year 1879. It went to Tremont, with the train, on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 4, 1855, in twenty eight minutes, and the locomotive "Fairhaven'' returned in twenty five minutes. The "Fairhaven'' was put on the Branch on Friday, October 13, 1854 when fresh from the factory. Other locomotives were the "Kingston," the "T. B. Wales," the "Charles L. Wood," the "Bay State" and the "Cohasset." Eighteen years after the incorporation of the Branch, the Standard described one of the iron horses as follows: "NEW LOCOMOTIVE. Locomotive No. 385, from the Rhode Island Locomotive Works, arrived in Fairhaven last evening (Wednesday, January 31, 1872), in charge of Mr. Drake, for use on the Fairhaven railroad. The engine weighs twenty-seven tons. His name, "Charles L. Wood," is neatly painted in black letters on the cab, and at the rear of the tender is "C. L. Wood," in a monogram which requires some study before the letters "ood" are found." Under the 29th of June, 1872, we find: "Steam power has been availed of, for discharging coal from vessels at the Fairhaven Railroad Wharf. The apparatus is driven by the engine in the repair shop through a line of shafting which extends along the south side of the depot. Additional side tracks for coal cars have been laid and the road now has excellent wharf facilities." Wood for Fuel. - Let it be remembered that the locomotives which were used on the Fairhaven Branch, established in 1854, were fitted to burn wood as fuel, and were not altered for the consumption of coal until 1860. At that time it was considered remarkable for the engine "Richard Borden," which drew the express train to Boston, to make the trip in one hour and fifty five minutes. The coal-burning locomotive was featured in the newspapers of December 1856. In February, 1881, we waited in vain for the incoming train. Because an insufficient supply of coal had been loaded on the tender, the iron steed refused to budge beyond Hammond's Crossing. The entire train crew were forced to forage for rails and fences, managing thus to tease the obdurate "horse" to move toward Fairhaven, arriving one hour late. Two Stations Destroyed by Fire. - The destruction by fire of this Fairhaven railroad station occurred on January 21, 1858. By May of that year a new station was completed. About a year and a half later a heading appeared in The Daily Mercury as follows: "Another Great Fire! Burning of the Fairhaven Depot. Loss about $10,000." At 2:30 o'clock on the morning of August 30, 1859, flames were discovered belching forth from the station of the Fairhaven Branch Railroad, which reduced to ruins the building and its contents. This fire, like the depot fire of 1858, was of incendiary origin. On August 31, 1859, they purchased Seth S. Swift, a small building which was removed from Main Street, near Bridge Street, to the depot site, to be a ladies' waiting room and ticket office until the new depot was ready. This building was built for A. T. West and occupied as a grocery store for a short time. At a meeting of the directors of the Fairhaven Branch Railroad held on October 1, 1859, the proposals for building a new depot were examined, and the plan advertised was considered too expensive. However, within four days of the above announcement the new depot was awarded to Henry Pierce, architect, of New Bedford. The dimensions were reduced to be 125 feet long and 50 feet wide. It was to be near the landing with a projecting roof, extending to the landing, to afford complete shelter to passengers to and from the ferryboats and cars. This substantial, brick depot, the foundation of which was laid on Wednesday, October 12, 1859, was completed on December 19th of that year. Thirty men were employed to expedite the construction. This description tallies with the memories of many of the citizens. With a proposal accepted by the officials of the railroad, up went the brick station, the only one known by anyone now living, which stood for three score and ten years; then down it came in 1929, as we all remember, the passenger service being discontinued. Our Fairhaven Branch Railroad, of approximately fifteen miles, took us to Tremont, and on to Boston. Under the date of Saturday, August 24, 1867, we read: - "A STATION WITH TWO NAMES. The railroad station at the junction of the Cape Cod and Fairhaven Branch Railroad is, for the perplexity of travellers, named West Wareham on one side and TREMONT on the other. The tickets and advertisements of each road are printed according to its own ideas of a suitable name for the place." On Thursday evening, October 15, 1868, 14 years after the completion of the Road, the locomotive, when about one mile this side of Marion, ran into a herd of cows, killing two and breaking the legs of two others, proving conclusively that track pasturage was extremely hazardous. On Friday, July 15, 1870, Church Holmes, watchman at the Fairhaven depot, was presented with the sum of $96 by his Fairhaven friends, to replace a cow killed by the locomotive the preceding week. Mr. Seth H. Keith made the presentation speech. In 1858, Leonard Briggs was working for Paulding's Fairhaven Branch Railroad Express. In 1872, Mr. Briggs became a freight handler. He was drowned on Sunday, September 29th of that year, aged 41. Mr. George A. Jenney who married Sarah F. Pierce in 1873, became a freight handler in 1874, serving in that capacity for more than thirty-five years. Mrs. Jenney died in May, 1889, in her 37th year. Mr. Jenney died in August 1913, aged 63. The telegraph office at the depot of the Fairhaven Branch Railroad was ready for business on February 28, 1879, with Mr. Jotham Goodnow as telegrapher, followed by Mary Butler in the following year. In June, 1879, the gates at the Main Street crossing were erected. In July, five years before, the railroad gates were placed at the New Bedford bridge crossing. Gasoline-propelled passenger cars were operated on the Fairhaven Branch in January 1922. More Fatalities. - Several tragic accidents have occurred on the Fairhaven Branch. Omitting those of recent years, we mention that of Nathan Millett, brakeman, who was knocked from the train at the Sconticut Neck Bridge on November 28th, and died on December 5, 1867. On Sunday, May 25, 1873, Mr. Alexander Bannon was injured by the handcar which passed over him on the Fairhaven Branch. He died the following Saturday night. In July 1889, Benjamin F. Shurtleff, aged about 36, met his death in a railroad accident at Mattapoisett. Mr. Shurtleff and Gertrude E. Bentley were married in October, 1885. In the spring of 1879, the Relief Engine Company of Oxford Village organized with the following officials: Foreman, Joseph C. Omey; 1st Assistant, Henry T. Willcox; 2d Assistant, Edgar C. Taber; Clerk, Benjamin F. Drew. On July 7, 1872, a special meeting of Relief Engine Company, No.5 was held and resolutions adopted on the death of one of their members, Joseph Eldredge, the notice of the meeting being signed by A. G. Bourne, Clerk. Ansel G. Bourne, bookkeeper at the Tack Works, died in January 1885, the only son of Anselmn D. and Sarah H. Bourne, aged 31. There was a particular reason for summoning the members to a special meeting, unknown to most of Fairhaven's citizenry. On Wednesday evening, January 31, 1872, a new locomotive of 27 tons, for the Fairhaven branch, arrived in Fairhaven with "Charles L. Wood" neatly painted on the cab. It was also known as No. 385. On the morning of Saturday, July 6, 1872, this same locomotive with eleven flat cars, two box cars, one baggage car and two passenger cars slowly left the Fairhaven depot bound for Mattapoisett and stations beyond. It arrived at Mattapoisett without mishap, and left that station for Marion, but about three quarters of a William P. Jenney House -Faced Union Street, Northwest Corner of Green Street mile the other side of Mattapoisett the train ran into a herd of eleven cows. The engine was thrown from the tracks, tipped over on its side, and the forward end of the boiler penetrated the bank. The tender was thrown completely over the engine. Eight flat cars were hurled from the track and piled upon and around the engine. The freight and passenger cars and occupants were uninjured. As soon as possible the passengers rushed to the immediate scene of the disaster, finding the engineer, Henry Waldron, and the fireman, Joseph Eldredge, covered with debris. Mr. Eldredge, who had nearly every bone in his body broken, it was said, showed faint signs of life, but Mr. Waldron had been scalded, to death. Both lived in Fairhaven and Mr. Waldron had been on the road, which opened in 1854, for 15 years. Five cows were killed. The jury for the inquest was made up of I. F. Terry, James S. Robinson, James I. Church, Tucker Damon, Jr., and Bartholomew Taber. The flag of the Relief Engine Company was placed at halfmast, as was the one on Eureka Lodge, and the one on the ferryboat "Union." Mr. Waldron was in his 56th year and Mr. Eldredge was only 30 years of age. The loss to the company was estimated to be $8,000. Ferryboats. - "Acushnet," "Fairhaven," "Union," "Agnes," "Weetamoe," "Zephyr," "Fairhaven" (1896), "Yvonne," and "Winifred." - Under the date of May 6, 1833 the Mercury carried the following: - "NOTICE. The sloop boat Helen, Capt. Benjamin Kempton, will commence running this day, (Monday, May 6, 1833) as a regular Ferryboat, between New Bedford and Fairhaven, every morning at sunrise, and continue to run through the day until 8 o'clock P.M., stopping 10 minutes on each side of the river. Fare 6¼ cents." In another column this is added: - "Ferryboat. It will be seen by an advertisement that a ferryboat for passengers has commenced running between New Bedford and Fairhaven. The undertaking promises to be of public advantage in facilitating the intercourse between the two places, and we doubt not will' meet with liberal encouragement. We learn that the fullest confidence may be placed in the skill of those to whose management the enterprise has been entrusted." The first ferryboat, as we understand the term, that plied between Fairhaven and New Bedford, was called the Acushnet. This was in the early thirties. The precise facts are these: -"The Acushnet, a fine vessel of about 70 tons, intended as a steamboat for the transportation of passengers, etc., between New Bedford and Fairhaven.