Fitchburg & Worcester Rail Road Company Bond Certificate

Description

Product Details
Beautifully engraved antique bond certificate from the Fitchburg & Worcester Rail Road Company dating back to the 1860's. This document, which is signed by the company Treasurer, was printed by J. H. Bufford's Lith. of Boston, and measures approximately 11 3/4" (w) by 7 1/2" (h) - not including the rows of coupons.
This certificate's intricate vignette features a passenger train at a busy station.
Images
You will receive the exact certificate pictured.
Historical Context
The Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad was a railroad in
. It was incorporated in 1840 to provide a rail connection between Fitchburg and
. Service began on February 11, 1850, running 18 miles from Fitchburg through Leominster and Sterling to Sterling Junction, where it connected with the Worcester and Nashua Railroad.
In July 1866, the nearby
opened a 14-mile extension of its line from Northborough and joined with the Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad at Pratts Junction in Sterling via the towns of Berlin and Clinton. The two merged in 1869. On June 1, 1876, The Boston, Clinton, and Fitchburg Railroad merged with the New Bedford Railroad to form the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad, which was leased to the
in 1879 and then consolidated into the Old Colony network on March 5, 1883. In 1893, the Old Colony Railroad was leased to the .
By the 1960s, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, like many railroads, was struggling to stay solvent in the face of increased competition from alternate modes of transportation. In 1961, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad petitioned to be included in the newly formed Penn Central Transportation Company, and on December 31, 1968 all of its properties were purchased by
. Penn Central, however, soon went bankrupt, and on April 1, 1976 it was taken over by Conrail. On August 22, 1998, the Surface Transportation Board approved the buyout of Conrail by CSX and
, with the former assuming control of the former Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad line.
Eventually, the tracks between Sterling Junction and Pratts Junction were abandoned and removed. Much of this section has been converted into the Central Mass Rail Trail. The tracks between Leominster and Fitchburg have also been abandoned. The portion of the original Fitchburg and Worcester line between Leominster and Pratts Junction is still used by CSX, mainly to haul plastic pellets into Leominster.