The Pawtuxet Valley Railroad, chartered in 1872, was a railroad in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. It originally connected

River Point River Point, previously known as 200 North Riverside Plaza, is a 52-story 730 ft. (213 m) tall skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, located at 444 West Lake Street. The 52-story building has of floor space. It sits on air rights above a ...

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large. As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines ''hope'' as "to expect with confid ...

, a total distance of three miles, and was operated as a subsidiary of the

Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was ...

. Via the chartering of the Pontiac Branch Railroad in 1875, a nearby line was built from Auburn to

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

. The two lines were connected on January 1, 1880, forming a contiguous line operated by the

New York, Providence and Boston Railroad The New York, Providence and Boston Railroad, normally called the Stonington Line (for its western terminus), was a railroad company that connected Providence, Rhode Island, and Stonington, Connecticut. Originally intended to connect Providence ...

. The

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

became the line's operator when it leased the NYP&B in 1892. Passenger service was discontinued on the line between 1922 and 1925, and in 1924 the original connection between the two ends of the line was abandoned. Declining traffic gradually lead to the abandonment of the entire line. The western portion of the line was abandoned in 1965, while the eastern portion survived to see operation by

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

beginning in 1969, followed by the

Providence and Worcester Railroad The Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W; ) is a Class II railroad operating of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York (state), New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build ...

in 1976. The last active portion of the line was discontinued around 1994.

History

In 1906, the New Haven reached an agreement to absorb the Pawtuxet Valley Railroad, ending its corporate existence, with stockholders getting one share of New Haven Railroad stock per share of Pawtuxet Valley stock. This was completed on April 16, 1907. Upon the construction of

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

through Cranston in the 1960s, the Pontiac Branch Railroad line in Auburn was elevated over the new highway with a bridge. The abandoned bridge that formerly carried the Pontiac Branch Railroad over

was demolished in August 2023.

References

{{Reflist Defunct Rhode Island railroads