Athol Junction is a place in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, named after the rail line that split off to

Athol, Massachusetts Athol (, ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,945 at the 2020 census. History Originally called Pequoiag when settled by Native Americans, the area was subsequently settled by five families in ...

, before The

Quabbin Reservoir The Quabbin Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in Massachusetts, United States, and was built between 1930 and 1939. Along with the Wachusett Reservoir, it is the primary water supply for Boston, to the east, and 40 other cities and ...

was flooded. It is located next to

I-291 Interstate 291 is the designation for two Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 91: *Interstate 291 (Massachusetts), a connector to Interstate 90/Massachusetts Turnpike in Springfield *Interstate 291 (Con ...

and the tracks now are used for the industrial park and extend to Indian Orchard before stopping. When the line was active the tracks extended over the

Chicopee River The Chicopee River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving wat ...

, into

Ludlow, Massachusetts Ludlow is a New England town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,002 as of the 2020 census, and it is considered part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located just northeast of Springfield ...

, and on to Athol. The Athol and Enfield Railroad and the Springfield and North-Eastern Railroad were chartered in 1869, and succeeded by the Springfield, Athol and Northeastern Railroad in 1872, opening in 1873 as a branch from Athol Junction in Springfield to the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad in Athol. The B&A bought the line in 1880. The majority of the line was closed in the 1930s due to the formation of the

References

* {{Coord, 42, 7, 53.64, N, 72, 33, 31.23, W, display=title Economy of Springfield, Massachusetts Boston and Albany Railroad Rail junctions in the United States