The Cape Cod Central Railroad is a
heritage railroad
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
located on
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. It operates on a rail line known as the
Cape Main Line, which is owned by the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Sessio ...
. The line was previously owned and operated by the
Cape Cod Railroad, the
Old Colony Railroad, and later the
New Haven Railroad, each of which operated passenger trains on the line from 1854 to 1959. Although its
namesake
A namesake is a person, place, or thing bearing the name of another. Most commonly, it refers to an individual who is purposely named after another (e.g. John F. Kennedy Jr would be the namesake of John F. Kennedy). In common parlance, it may ...
is the former
Cape Cod Central Railroad (1861–1868), the two companies are unrelated.
Services
Founded in 1999, it operates a variety of excursion trains from downtown
Hyannis to the
Cape Cod Canal during spring, summer, and fall. Recently, it has expanded its service in a limited capacity to offer rides that travel the reverse of the normal route. It also offers special trains that travel to
Wareham. Most of their trips are made during the Scallop Festival or during the summer when the Family Supper Train and Scenic Train depart together from Buzzards Bay. It offers daily sightseeing trains known as the Shoreline Excursion, a Family Supper train, Brunch and Lunch trains, and an Elegant Dinner train that was rated one of the top three in the nation by the
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...
. Past offerings have also included special Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas trains.
On November 21, 2009, the railroad ran dinner service on the Falmouth Line via North Falmouth.
This Railroad should not be confused with, although is affiliated with, the
Massachusetts Coastal Railroad - the freight railroad that transports trash off of the Cape. Since 2006, the Cape Cod Central Railroad has been a wholly owned subsidiary of
Cape Rail Inc., which also owns and operates the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad. In October 2012, Chicago-based
Iowa Pacific Holdings acquired control of
Cape Rail Inc., and its subsidiaries, Massachusetts Coastal Railroad, LLC, and Cape Cod Central Railroad.
Station list
Despite the four stations above all being served by the Cape Cod Central Railroad, most trains do not visit or even pass by all four stations. Trains typically either depart from Buzzards Bay station and turn around upon reaching Cape Cod Bay (usually near either Sandwich or Barnstable), or depart from Hyannis, stop at West Barnstable (on Saturdays), and turn around upon reaching Sagamore. There are some exceptions, as some trains departing from Hyannis travel to Buzzards Bay and sometimes all the way into Rochester, but these trains usually do not stop at any stations after departure.
Despite not having formal stations, select trains also stop at the
Pairpoint Glass facility in Sagamore,
and select dinner trains also depart from Falmouth.
See also
*
Cape Cod Railroad
*
List of heritage railroads in the United States
*
Cape Codder (train)
References
External links
*
''Cape Cod Central Railroad'' (YouTube), Great Scenic Railway Journeys
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Cod Central Railroad
Heritage railroads in Massachusetts
Barnstable, Massachusetts
Bourne, Massachusetts
Sandwich, Massachusetts
Tourist attractions in Barnstable County, Massachusetts
1999 establishments in Massachusetts