Talk:Boston and Albany Railroad

Type of service
Did the B&A provide both passenger and freight service throughout its history, or just one or the other at certain times? -- Beland 20:36, 26 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Early railroads almost always provided both; I don't think the B&A was an exception. Penn Central operated passenger service over the entire B&A main line until Amtrak's startup in 1971, and commuter rail until whenever the MBTA started operating it. --NE2 21:30, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Splitting the article
I would strongly support splitting the article. While it is true that the MBCR operates service for the MBTA over a portion of the line, the B&A is a defunct company with many different branches that are now owned by various companies while the Framingham/Worcester Line is a single commuter line and I therefore believe it should match the standard for other MBTA commuter lines. Darksun23c 19:42, 19 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I STRONGLY suggest splitting the article. Very difficult to read article and quite confusing at times. It should only discuss the CURRENT railroad! Alamar2001 05:47, 22 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I concur, the Boston and Albany Railroad and the MBTA Line are two separate things, for users looking for information on the MBTA service this page is inadequate Enfiladekh1 00:20, 15 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I have split the two articles.Enfiladekh1 01:27, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:B&aoldlogo.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 05:28, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

✅ Added fair use rationale. Slambo (Speak) 11:58, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

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Chatham B&A station; Same as the NYC station?
Was the Chatham, New York Boston & Albany station the same one as the Chatham (NYCRR station)? If so perhaps this calls for a redirect. DanTD (talk) 05:47, 28 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, and the Rutland served it too. --NE2 06:02, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Article fails to name the year the B&W became the B&A
Excellent, excellent article.

But I came here for one fact, and, typical of my luck, it is the very one missing. Yet it is pivotal: We aren't told in what year the RR's name changed from B&W to B&A. All we get is this ellipsis:


 * "Two mergers, on September 4, 1867 and December 28, 1870 brought the three companies together, along with the Hudson and Boston Railroad (a branch to Hudson, New York — see below) into one company, known as the Boston and Albany Railroad."

which doesn't do it. In fact, it doesn't even pin down the decade.

Anyone writing a historical article, as I am, now has to go elsewhere to find the data to make the simple statement, "The B&W was renamed the B&A in 18xx."

Please add.

And check for other instances for missing dates.

And add a comma after '1870'.--Jim Luedke — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jimlue (talk • contribs) 17:38, 30 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the comments. I agree. The article doesn't lay out the corporate evolution of the various stock entities that developed into the B&A. I am working on a rewrite that addresses this and some other issues raised below. Cheers... Risk Engineer (talk) 12:19, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Separate article for Western railroad
I propose to split Western railroad off into a separate, more detailed article. When the line opened it was the first trunk line built in the US that was meant to be operated with locomotives all the way. B&O and Portage had inclined planes.

Cheers ... Risk Engineer (talk) 13:24, 1 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Hm, that's an interesting idea. On one hand, the Western probably had enough in its four decades of existence to merit a separate article. On the other, from the beginning there was the intention of it joining with the B&W, and there was a great deal of interplay between the two railroads that might be easier to account for in one article. Perhaps just expand the B&W and Western history in this article for now, and split one or both off later if the sections get long enough? Pi.1415926535 (talk) 20:08, 1 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the feedback. I will rework the material into the current article and see what everyone thinks... Cheers... Risk Engineer (talk) 01:16, 19 July 2016 (UTC)

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