Hadley, Massachusetts happens to be situated between two towns, both of which had multiple railroads and trolley lines. Only one railroad ran through Hadley: the Central Massachusetts Railroad, which became a part of the Boston & Maine Railroad before it even reached town. The line was still commonly referred to as the Central Mass or Central Mass Division. After 1938, it was also called the Wheelwright Branch. The Northampton & Amherst Street Railway was the trolley that serviced Hadley. Eventually the line became part of the Connecticut Valley Street Railway, which was a system that ran trolleys from Turners Falls, down through Northampton and over to Amherst.
Timeline of Railroads through Hadley
1873 ... a map shows the proposed route of the Massachusetts Central Railroad through town
1887 ... First rail service in Hadley
1895 ... Hadley Depot Built
1890 ... East Hadley Station Built
1900 ... Rails laid in Hadley for the Northampton & Amherst Street Railway
1901 ... Street Railway bridge is opened over the Connecticut River
1905 ... Northampton & Amherst becomes the Connecticut Valley Street Railway
1928 ... East Hadley shelter closes
1932 ... Passenger service ends in Hadley
1933 ... Street Railways operations end in Hadley
1938 ... Great Hurricane of '38 severs the CMRR in two, forming the Wheelwright Branch which ran from Northampton to Wheelwright, out of the CMRR remains
1955 ... Hadley Station closes
1980 ... B&M formally abandons the Wheelwright Branch
1983 ... Tracks pulled up in Hadley
1993 ... Norwottuck Rail Trail opens

Hadley Depot

The Hadley Depot, between West Street and Middle Street (along the current rail trail), is listed as having been at mile post 101.5 from Boston on the Central Mass RR. The depot included a station building and several freight buildings, almost all of which are still standing. The depot was first built in 1890, with additions being made is needed thereafter.

Hadley Coal & Grain
Hadley Coal & Grain was built and opened as ... . Hadley Coal & Grain, Hadley Coal Grain & Lumber. The building has been used for commercial ventures since ____. Some of the old businesses that used the building included Sophia's Praises (a Polish cafe), an ice cream shop, a dance studio, a bicycle shop, ... . The building is now most well-known for its arcade bar: The Quarters, which opened in _____. 

The Freight Shed
The Boston & Maine built a freight shed along the tracks of Hadley Depot in 1890. The railroad used the shed for freight storage and loading/unloading until 1955, at which time the B&M sold the structure to _____ for $100. It stands vacant today. 

Hadley Station
Hadley's passenger station was built in 1890 as well. It served passengers with a ticket office, waiting room, and gendered restrooms. The station also had mail service, accepting incoming mail bags the old-fashioned way (throwing them off a moving train) and sending mail out via a mail crane. 

Other Structures
Other structures built along the former right-of-way include two factory buildings set back from the rails. A siding was added for cars to reach these warehouses. ...

There are a few maps that show there was another structure opposite Hadley Coal & Grain...

East Hadley Shelter

The East Hadley railroad shelter was at the south-west corner of the rail line and Maple Street (just south of modern-day WalMart). It didn't have telegraph lines, or a stationmaster. Instead, it was more like a bus station. Boston & Maine records show that the structure was very similar to that of the Pansy Park shelter, which was a few miles down the line in Amherst. ​

Flaherty's Crossing

Flaherty's Crossing was the name of the crossing between the Central Mass RR (B&M) and Route 9 (Russell St) in town. Located at mile marker Boston 100, this name fell out of favor, it seems, by the 1950s. The bridge, pictured here, was built in the 1920s. The idea was that a bridge would reduce collisions between automobiles or horses and trains. Unfortunately, due to the S-curve built into the highway to navigate the new bridge, cars were, instead, colliding with the granite abutments of the bridge. The worst accident was in 1944, which was the final straw. Four people died when a car full of college students, who were heading to Northampton from Amherst, collided with the granite wall. Four of the nine passengers died from the accident and two years later the bridge was demolished.

Now, the Norwottuck Rail Trail passes underneath the highway. The dramatic curve that the path takes to get under the highway is due to granite blocks still being buried underground from the old railroad bridge.

The second map, above, shows how the road had an S-curve shape at Flaherty's Crossing while the railroad bridge was in service.

Street Railway

Please see my page on Massachusetts Street Railways to read about the street railways in Hadley.​