Westfield, Massachusetts has had two railroad lines (technically three, in the early days) and one street railway line. But, over the years, 15 different railroad companies existed within the town through the leasing, sales, and mergers of different lines across the country. This page is an overview of the history of the railroads in Westfield. There is more to add still. Below is a flow of how the roads in town transformed over the years.
Timeline of Railroads through Westfield
1841 ... Western Railroad came to Westfield
1852 ... Hampden Railroad built between the Connecticut border and Westfield
1852 ... Northampton & Westfield Railroad built
1853 ... Hampden RR and Northampton & Westfield RR merged to form Hampden & Hampshire Railroad
1856 ... Hampden & Hampshire RR taken over by New Haven & Northampton Railroad
1865 ... Western Railroad merged with the Boston & Worcester Railroad to form the Boston & Albany Railroad
1870 ... Holyoke & Westfield Railroad built
1887 ... New Haven & Northampton RR became part of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
18?? ... H&W became part of the NYNHH
1920s . Passenger service ended on NYNHH
1969 ... Freight service through Westfield (on the NYNHH) was cut back to Northampton, then to Easthampton
1973 ... Conrail took over NYNHH line through Westfield
1982 ... Pioneer Valley Railroad began operations on the former Westfield–Easthampton line and the Holyoke Branch (formerly Holyoke & Westfield RR)
1997 ... PVRR cut back operations, no longer traveling over Westfield River bridge
- north–south: Hampden RR + Northampton & Westfield RR >> Hampden & Hampshire RR >> NH&N >> NYNHH >> Penn Central >> Conrail >> B&M >> PV + Guilford/Pan Am
- east–west: Western RR >> B&A RR >> NYC >> Penn Central >> Amtrak + Conrail >> CSX + Amtrak
Timeline of Railroads through Westfield
1841 ... Western Railroad came to Westfield
1852 ... Hampden Railroad built between the Connecticut border and Westfield
1852 ... Northampton & Westfield Railroad built
1853 ... Hampden RR and Northampton & Westfield RR merged to form Hampden & Hampshire Railroad
1856 ... Hampden & Hampshire RR taken over by New Haven & Northampton Railroad
1865 ... Western Railroad merged with the Boston & Worcester Railroad to form the Boston & Albany Railroad
1870 ... Holyoke & Westfield Railroad built
1887 ... New Haven & Northampton RR became part of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
18?? ... H&W became part of the NYNHH
1920s . Passenger service ended on NYNHH
1969 ... Freight service through Westfield (on the NYNHH) was cut back to Northampton, then to Easthampton
1973 ... Conrail took over NYNHH line through Westfield
1982 ... Pioneer Valley Railroad began operations on the former Westfield–Easthampton line and the Holyoke Branch (formerly Holyoke & Westfield RR)
1997 ... PVRR cut back operations, no longer traveling over Westfield River bridge
Standard Gauge Railroads
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The Westfield railroad stations were just north of the Westfield River at Elm Street. It is also where two railroads, the New Haven & Northampton (NH&N) and the Boston & Albany (B&A), once crossed. The area is marked by the still-standing Westfield passenger station, which was originally built by the B&A in 1879. Other features include a railyard north of the station that once belonged to the NH&N (now used by the Pioneer Valley Railroad) and the Westfield Main Yard to the east (once used by B&A, now by CSX).
The B&A was originally the Western Railroad. Its main line was completed in 1841 and ran from Worcester to Albany. The line was taken over by the B&A in 1876 due to a merger out east, and then by the New York Central Railroad in 1900. Westfield was mile marker 63 from Worcester on the line. The north–south NH&N line is known as the Canal Line because it followed (for the most part) the original means of commercial transportation: the Farmington Canal. Eventually, this line became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford (NYNHH). The surviving track begins at PVRR's Westfield yard and runs up to Southampton and over to Holyoke. The PVRR services customers in all three towns and interchanges with CSX and Pan Am Southern at Westfield. As seen in the maps here, both railroads had their own stations for some time. A map from 1889 shows two distinct stations and three platforms, with the B&A having built one platform on either side of the tracks and a subterranean tunnel for passengers to move between the two. (The portals to these tunnels can still be seen today in the basement of the B&A station. See photo #12 below.) Each also had its own baggage room. However, by 1895, a new brick baggage room (still standing) was built for use by both railroads, and their platforms were simplified: The B&A platform on the south side of the tracks was removed, and the two companies' platforms were properly connected for passenger accessibility. By 1900, Elm Street was regraded so that it ran underneath the tracks, rather than a level crossing. However, it wasn't until 2008, as part of Westfield's Great River Bridge Traffic Improvement Project, that the low clearance for this underpass (11'5") was raised three feet to allow larger vehicles access. This resulted in the entire grade being elevated a few feet outside the station. It has been difficult to determine when the NYNHH passenger station was removed from the area, but the railroad diamond where the two lines crossed in Westfield was removed in 1997, after the PVRR stopped using the line south of the junction that same summer. NEW YORK, NEW HAVEN & HARTFORD RAILROAD BRIDGE
The NYNHH built this bridge in 1910. It was then raised 9 years later to its current height. It was used by railroads until 1997, when the PVRR abandoned the southern section of track relative to its Westfield yard. It sat disused for some time until it was inspected in 1995 as a candidate for admission into the National Register of Historic Places. In the mid-2010s, the bridge was repurposed as a part of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail, which runs from just south of the B&A Station, across the river, south to the state line, following the former NYNHH rail route. PIONEER VALLEY RAILROAD The PVRR began operations in 1982. Currently, it runs two lines once owned by the NYNHH Railroad. At one time, the railroad operated the Southampton line all the way to Ferry Street in Easthampton. (The Ferry–Railroad St portion was discontinued after a derailment.) The company is based in Westfield, just north of the B&A station, and interchanges with both CSX and Pan Am Southern. MODERN PASSENGER SERVICE IN WESTFIELD To read about the East–West Rail project happening now, which may bring passenger service back to Westfield, check out Trains in the Valley. |
This timetable shows stops in Westfield via the NYNHH as they were scheduled in August 1912. Westfield is listed under both "New Haven & Shelburne Falls" and "Holyoke Branch".
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WESTFIELD PASSENGER STATION (B&A)
Passenger service on the NYNHH ended in 1926 and on the B&A by 1955, the latter being the year the existing station was retired. After this, the building's exterior brick was painted white, as can be seen in a postcard from the '60s and this photo from 1988. It was returned to its natural brick look by the '90s. Since retirement, it has housed an insurance agency, a AAA office, a financial office, and the city's chamber of commerce, among other things. It has sat vacant for a few years now, but by 2027, it will be the latest addition to Tandem Bagel Company's roster of local cafés.
At some point between 1915 and 1995, the baggage room and express office building (as it is labeled on a 1910 map) was absorbed into the station building, with the exterior walls of the station extended to connect the two. Windows and doorways of the original baggage structure have become spaces for built-in bookcases. Perhaps around the same time, the original doors that led out to the platform were bricked up, which one can see when looking carefully at the south face of the building (also in photo #13 below).
Most of the photos below are from May 2025, before Tandem Bagel Co. started working on the interior. Photo #6 shows the "newest" part of the building (where the original station and baggage room were connected). The two windows at left in the image, which don't have arches, are not as old as the rest.
Passenger service on the NYNHH ended in 1926 and on the B&A by 1955, the latter being the year the existing station was retired. After this, the building's exterior brick was painted white, as can be seen in a postcard from the '60s and this photo from 1988. It was returned to its natural brick look by the '90s. Since retirement, it has housed an insurance agency, a AAA office, a financial office, and the city's chamber of commerce, among other things. It has sat vacant for a few years now, but by 2027, it will be the latest addition to Tandem Bagel Company's roster of local cafés.
At some point between 1915 and 1995, the baggage room and express office building (as it is labeled on a 1910 map) was absorbed into the station building, with the exterior walls of the station extended to connect the two. Windows and doorways of the original baggage structure have become spaces for built-in bookcases. Perhaps around the same time, the original doors that led out to the platform were bricked up, which one can see when looking carefully at the south face of the building (also in photo #13 below).
Most of the photos below are from May 2025, before Tandem Bagel Co. started working on the interior. Photo #6 shows the "newest" part of the building (where the original station and baggage room were connected). The two windows at left in the image, which don't have arches, are not as old as the rest.
Former station platform in 2009, before the bridge project ~ source: likely "Exploring Western Massachusetts" on Blogspot
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Former station platform after bridge project ~ 2025
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The Street Railways
Electric street railways began in Westfield circa 1896 with the Woronoco Street Railway. By 1907, the Woronoco was absorbed into the Springfield Street Railway Co., which was operated by NYNHH. The Springfield ran from Huntington through Springfield and Holyoke to Longmeadow, passing through Westfield between the Berkshires and the Valley. The original Woronoco carbarn is still standing, just north of Notre Dame St, and the Springfield St Ry Co. carbarn was on Western Ave but is no longer there. Determining when these buildings no longer served their original purpose will require more research. A connection between Westfield and Holyoke was also active, likely operated by the Holyoke Street Railway. By 1937, there were no longer trolley lines in Westfield.
Most of the trolley lines that ran through Westfield can be found on the LHRR Railroad History map.
Most of the trolley lines that ran through Westfield can be found on the LHRR Railroad History map.
Header: The former Westfield B&A station as it sat in May 2025. The existing CSX rail bridge can be seen at left.
