| Old Colony & Newport Railway |
| The Old Colony Railroad terminated in Fall River in 1854, and that city was taken with its importance as a commercial center. In 1862, The Fall River Railroad line was extended toward Newport, Rhode Island under the corporate title of Newport and Fall River Railroad. This line was merged into the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad which was then renamed the Old Colony & Newport Railway.
In 1863, Fourth Street was abandoned to become the main railroad track into the City of Newport. Today, there are two trains that come by on the weekends; The Old Colony & Newport Railway, and the Newport Dinner Train. As one can see from the OCNRR_battle Photos section, I live very close to the Newport railroad track. I spend a lot of my time doing volunteer work for the Old Colony & Newport Railway. This includes having built a OCNRR Summary Document and a 28 slide OCNRR Slide Show The railway on which these trains operate is owned by the Rhode Department of Transportation. It is a valuable asset and is very underutlized. Most people question whether it should be preserved as a railway or converted to a road. I recently conducted a survey to determine how the local residents would like to see this asset developed. That can be seen in the Bike Path / Pedestrian Walkway selection of the Community Planning section of this site. |
| Thanks for the train George - Come to Newport and take a ride with us more often! |