Photo from Collection
of Carl Smith
Workhorse No. 1
leads a wire train on the passenger-only "Upton Loop" while a
G&U crew strings trolley wire in 1902. The electrification
lasted until 1946, at which time G&U reverted to steam operation
until its new diesels arrived.
GROWTH AND CHANGES
Freight service was
initiated the day after the line officially opened. Shortly thereafter,
200 cans of milk from outlying farms in Upton were being shipped
daily from the Upton depot to Milford. One hundred twenty-eight
cases of hats from the Benson & Nelson hat shop were also
shipped daily from the Upton depot, while the Knowlton hat shop
was shipping about 212 cases of hats each day from the West Upton
depot. The Milford Daily News was carried from Milford to Upton
and West Upton by rail for many years and, after setting the fare
at three cents per mile, passenger service was retained on the
G&U for nearly 40 years.
At this time, the management
policy was that the initial construction debt should be eliminated
as soon as possible. Business was good and instead of projecting
the earnings and working on a long-term debt, earnings of the
railroad were utilized for the next five years to obtain complete
freedom from all encumbrances. During this same period, the heavier
engines being used, along with heavier loads being carried, made
it necessary to replace the 35-pound rails used on the original
three-mile-long road with more durable 50-pound steel rails. The
40-pound rails used on the original extension between Grafton
Center and West Upton were also replaced with heavier 50-pound
rails.
Business during 1894
was poor, resulting in part-time operations and the elimination
of one train crew. This year also marked the entrance of the Draper
firm into the perpetuation of the G&U. W. F. Draper, head
of the Hopedale firm, was appointed to the railroad's Board of
Directors in November 1894. The Draper Company was one of the
largest manufactures of textile looms in the world and its plant
was located adjacent to the station and large freight yard at
Hopedale. The bulky machinery produced did not lend itself to
other forms of transportation and the management knew the value
of having a railroad connection. Consequently, control of the
line by the Draper Company was planned and gradually accomplished
by the purchase of stock.
A 2.75-mile-long electric
car loop designed to carry passengers between Brooks and Williams
streets in the Uptons, which had been built during 1901 and 1902,
was purchased by the G&U on June 19, 1902. At the same time,
electrification of the railroad's mainline was progressing.
On June 23, 1902, electric
streetcar service was inaugurated by the railroad between Milford
and North Grafton by way of the loop, thus ending the passenger
service which had been provided by steam train since 1890.
Steam freight trains
used the mainline at night to avoid delays to the daytime passenger
operations. Trains left Hopedale at midnight each day, went to
North Grafton, then to Milford and returned to Hopedale before
5:30 a.m. in order to allow the electric cars uninterrupted use
of the line. Two electric converters that were required to furnish
power for the new service were installed inside the Grafton Center
depot during June 1902. Station Agent Albert Goddard was the first
G&U employee to operate the new equipment.
Photo from the
Collection of Carl Smith
During the first
two decades of electrification, the Milford & Uxbridge Street
Railway provided passenger cars for service over the line, while
steam continued to power the freight trains. Here, M&U combination
car No. 99 pauses at the West Upton depot. The conductor (at left)
is identified as George Davis. G&U-operated trolley service
ended in 1928.
