Page:Shore Line Electric Railway Predecessor Companies 1961.pdf/2



Transportation

Published by the Publication Committee of Connecticut Valley Chapter, National Railway Historical society Inc.. at Warehouse Point, Connecticut.

Roger Borrup. Editor.

Volume 13. Part 2. August 1961. tem which connected Groton and Norwich, Conn., with Westerly, Watch Hill, Weekapaug and Ashaway, Rhode Island. It owned and operated the Groton & Stonington Street Railway, leased and operated the Ashaway & Westerly Railway and was itself, in effect, a merger of the original Norwich & Westerly Railway with the Westerly & Connecticut Railway and the Pawcatuck Valley Street Railway.

For convenience of narration, the various companies which comprised the Norwich & Westerly system will be covered in chronological order, beginning with the oldest company, the Pawcatuck Valley Street Railway, which commenced operation in 1894.

Pawcatuck Valley Street Railway Company

HE PAWCATUCK VALLEY Street Railway Company was chartered by the General Assembly of Rhode Island April 28, 1893, to build from the New Haven Railroad depot at Westerly to the seashore resort of Watch Hill, a distance of slightly more than 6 miles. The incorporators included Stephen Wilcox, Nathan F. Dixon, William Hoxsey and Charles Perrin, all of Westerly.

Organization of the company followed on May 25, but construction did not commence until 1894, after effective control of the charter had been secured by E. P. Shaw & Company of Newburyport. Mass, one of New England‘s prominent street railway promotion firms in the 1890s.

Operation began July 15, 1894, the route beginning on Canal Street near the Westerly depot, and extending through Canal and High Streets to Dixon House Square; through Broad and Main Streets to Beach Street; along Beach Street to Thompson's Corner, and along the highway to Watch Hill.

The road was built with 50lb. "T" rail and its original rolling stock was constructed by the Shaw-owned Newburyport Car Company. The carbarn, a wooden building with three tracks, and the power station were located off Beach Street, near its junction with Elm Street. Power equipment included a Hamilton-Corliss engine of 350 horsepower and three General Electric direct current generators.

Primarily a summer operation, the Pawcatuck Valley provided a 80-minute headway between Westerly and Watch Hill. Through fare was 10 cents.

It was not a particularly profitable road and during its first few years of operation, annual revenue did not exceed $18,500. Its net income ranged from a high of $2,810 in 1896 to a low of $938 in 1898. Nevertheless, the company managed to pay a $3,000 dividend in 1897 and another of $2,250 in 1898, leaving a surplus of only $1,757 on June 30 of the latter year.

The company was capitalized at $75,000 and its funded debt consisted of $100,000 in first mortgage 5 per cent 20-year coupon bonds, due in 1914. Officials of the road in 1899 included William Hoxsey, president; E. P. Shaw Jr., secretary. general manager and purchasing agent. Directors included Hoxsey, John Champlin and Samuel H. Cross of Westerly, Solomon Lucas of Norwich. Conn., E. P. Shaw Sr. and E. P. Shaw Jr. of Newburyport. Mass, A. S. Paton of Leominster. Mass., and George A. Butman of Boston. General offices were at 53 State Street, Boston.

Equipment of the Pawcatuck: Valley Street Railway in 1899 consisted of 8 cars—six 10-bench opens numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8; a combination passenger-baggage car No. 5, and a single truck closed car No.6—all built by Newburyport.

According to the U. S. Street and Electric Railway Census of 1902, the Pawcatuck Valley operated 6.15 route miles and .08 mile of sidings and turnouts, for a total of 6.23 track miles, built with 90-lb girder and 50-lb. "T" rail. Its rolling stock included one closed car, 6 open cars and one combination car. plus

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT of the Pawtucket Valley Street Railway Company is shown in this picture at the end of the line, Pleasant View, R. I. about l9lO. Bill Stanton is the motorman in doorway.