Connecticut Valley Street Railway

Not to be confused with the Connecticut Valley Railroad, now operated as the heritage line Valley Railroad.

The Connecticut Valley Street Railway was an interurban streetcar and bus system operating in Greenfield, Massachusetts as well as surrounding communities with connections in Deerfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Montague, North Amherst, Northampton, and Whately.

Connecticut Valley Street Railway
Tram in Greenfield, MA (top) and the Hadley-Northampton bridge over the Connecticut River, both of the Connecticut Valley St. Rwy., c. 1907-1915.
Overview
Owner	Connecticut Valley Street Rwy. Co.
Area served	Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts
Transit type	Streetcar (1895–1924)[a] Bus (1918–1924)[a]
Headquarters	Deerfield Street, Greenfield, MA.
Operation
Began operation	June 24, 1895[2]: 906  1918 (bus)[3]
Ended operation	April 1, 1924 (franchise)[4] July 7, 1934 (rail system)[3]
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge[2]: 906
System map Show interactive map (maximum extent) Show partial system map (1910)

History

Originally the street railway began as two companies, both founded in 1895, the Montague Street Railway Company and the Greenfield and Turners Falls Street Railway Company. From their inception, both companies shared common directors and within a year of their founding both would merge, taking on the latter's name.^[5][6][7] The company would assume the Connecticut Valley Street Railway Company name with the addition of the Northampton & Amherst and the Greenfield & Northampton Street Railway companies in 1905.^[8] With the growth of jitneys in the early 1910s, the company became the first street railway in New England to begin a bus service, seeking to compete with these new fleets.^[3]

Following a period where the system became unprofitable, its company went into receivership, closing the railway on April 1, 1924. Within a week of this however, the system was sold to the towns of Greenfield and Montague in a joint municipal purchase of its assets for $75,000.^[1][9] The resulting municipal authority became known as the Greenfield and Montague Transportation Area (GMTA), a predecessor of the Franklin Regional Transit Authority, and the first public transportation authority in the Commonwealth.^[10][11] With growing costs and declining revenue the GMTA switched over to buses entirely, with the last trolley operating on the evening of July 7, 1934.^[3][12]

Connecticut Valley Street Railway Headquarters & Trolley Barn pictured in 1912, Deerfield Street, Greenfield.

Notes

1. System continued as public system owned by municipalities until July 7, 1934.^[1]