Providence & Worcester Railroad.

The Providence & Worcestor Railroad was incorporated in Massachusetts as the Providence and Worcester Railway on March 12, 1844, and as the Providence and Worcester Railroad in Rhode Island in May 1844. The two companies merged November 25, 1845, as the Providence and Worcester Railroad . The company bought the Blackstone Canal, also running between Providence, Rhode Island, and Worcester, Massachusetts, and began construction, partly on its banks, in 1845. The line opened in two sections, the part south of Millville on September 27, 1847, and the rest on October 20. The line from Providence to Central Falls, Rhode Island, was shared with the Boston and Providence Railroad, which at the same time built a connection from its old line (ending in East Providence) over to the Providence & Worcester Railroad .

In 1889 the Providence &Worcester Railroad was leased to the New York, Providence & Boston Railroad . On July 1, 1892, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, better known as the New Haven Railroad, assumed that lease for 99 years. The New Haven Railroad merged into Penn Central on January 1, 1969. On April 6, 1970, the P&W announced its intention to separate from the merger. After a legal battle, the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the request on August 25, 1972, and on November 2 Penn Central signed the agreement effective December 30. The P&W cancelled the lease on February 3, 1973. Since then, the P&W has taken over many other lines from the former Penn Central and Boston and Maine Railroad and acquired trackage rights over Amtrak 's shore line west of Providence. By the mid-1980s it owned over 400 miles of track in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The Norwich & Worcester Railroad was chartered in 1832 as the Boston, Norwich & New London Railroad but was consolidated in 1836 as the Norwich & Worcester Railroad . Service began on the route in 1839 and formed part of a through route between Boston and New York City. In 1843 tracks were extended six miles south from Norwich to Allyn's Point in Connecticut so that steamships could dock in ice-free waters on the Thames River during the winters. In 1869 the N&W was leased to the New York & New England Railroad, and then became part of the New Haven Railroad system in 1898. The line was extended further south to Groton, Connecticut, in 1899. Throughout the 20th century the former N&W line was used as a major exchange route with the Boston & Maine Railroad in shipping goods to northern New England. In 1969 the New Haven Railroad merged into Penn Central. In 1976 the resurrected Providence & Worcester Railroad acquired the portion of the N&W between Worcester, Massachusetts, and Plainfield, Connecticut ; the remainder of the line, from Plainfield to Groton, Connecticut, came to the P&W in 1980.

The Moshassuck Valley Railroad was an independent 2-mile long short line operated between Lincoln and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, founded in 1877 to serve the textile mills between the two towns. In 1981 it was absorbed by the Providence & Worcester Railroad .

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), formerly known as the American Short Line Railroad Association, is an association of North American short line and regional railroads. Members include a variety of Class II and Class III railroads. The ASLRRA acts as a lobbying group for member railroads, representing them for both legislation and regulation.

From the guide to the Providence & Worcester Railroad, Records, undated, 1826-1997, (Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries)