 A southbound Franklin Line train departing the 1883-built Walpole station in 2017 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Current operator | MBTA Commuter Rail (passenger service) CSX Transportation (freight service) |
| Dates of operation | 1849–1853 1858–1867 |
| Successors | Boston and New York Central Railroad (1853) Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad (1867) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Norfolk County Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts, United States. Chartered as two different companies in 1846 and 1847, it completed a rail line between Dedham and Blackstone in 1849. A branch to Medway, Massachusetts was built in 1852. The railroad was leased by the Boston and New York Central Railroad, succeeded by the Boston and Providence Railroad and the East Thompson Railroad, before the Norfolk County Railroad returned to independent operation in 1858. In 1866, the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad (later renamed the New York and New England Railroad) leased the Norfolk County. The Rhode Island and Massachusetts Railroad was completed in 1877 from Franklin southward to Valley Falls, Rhode Island, and became a branch of the Norfolk County mainline. The northernmost portion of the main line from Islington to Dedham was rerouted to the east in 1881, and the original alignment abandoned two years later. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad assumed operation of the Norfolk County lines in 1898.
The Norfolk County formed part of a passenger train route between Boston and several Connecticut cities until 1955; the Norfolk County main line was abandoned west of Franklin Junction in 1969. Much of the remaining line forms part of the Franklin/Foxboro Line, operated by MBTA Commuter Rail, with limited freight service provided by CSX Transportation.