Stony Brook station (Boston and Maine Railroad)

Stony Brook
The former station site, photographed in 2017
General information
Location	U.S. Route 20 Weston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°22′8.16″N 71°16′15.42″W
Line(s)	Fitchburg Route
History
Closed	June 14, 1959
Former services
Preceding station Boston and Maine Railroad Following station Kendal Green toward Fitchburg Boston – Fitchburg Roberts toward Boston

Stony Brook station was a Boston and Maine Railroad station in Weston, Massachusetts along what is currently the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fitchburg Line. The station was located adjacent to the Upper Post Road (US-20), with a building on the inbound (southwest) side of the tracks. It was named for Stony Brook, which runs through Weston.

History

Stony Brook station was open on the Fitchburg Railroad by 1849.^{[1]: 154 [2]} When the Central Massachusetts Railroad was first being planned in the late 1870s, it was to have diverged from the Fitchburg Railroad mainline at Stony Brook Junction, just past the station. However, a separate route through Waltham was built instead, and the Central Mass instead crossed the Fitchburg on a bridge at Stony Brook Junction.^[3]

The original station served for four decades.^[4] New stations at Stony Brook and nearby Roberts were built in 1887.^[5][6] The adjacent grade crossing of the Boston Post Road was replaced by a road bridge in 1930.^[7][8] In December 1958, the B&M proposed to close Stony Brook station, along with ten other stations on the line.^[9] The station was closed along with seven of the other stations as part of systemwide cuts on June 14, 1959.^[10]

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has proposed a park-and-ride station at the former Stony Brook site on several occasions. A new station with a pakrign garage was proposed in 1973.^[11] In 1989, the MBTA considered moving Kendal Green station to the south (near the former Stony Brook site) to create a park and ride "superstation" for Route 128, similar to Route 128 station.^[12] The MBTA again considered a park-and-ride station at the site in 1998.^[13]

References

1. Kennedy, Charles J. (Summer 1962). "Commuter Services in the Boston Area, 1835-1860". The Business History Review. 36 (2): 153–170. doi:10.2307/3111453. JSTOR 3111453. S2CID 154294514.
2. Cobb, Charles (September 1850). American railway guide, and pocket companion, for the United States. Pathfinder Office. p. 82.
3. Thomas J. Humphrey and the Central Transportation Planning Staff (September 1996). "Appendix B: Further Details on Former Central Mass. Alignment Between Waltham and Boston" (PDF). Central Mass. Commuter Rail Feasibility Study. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2010.
4. "Railroad Racket". The Boston Globe. April 27, 1886. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Currents of Commerce". The Boston Globe. January 12, 1887. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Railroad Racket". The Boston Globe. September 1, 1887. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Waltham". Boston Globe. May 27, 1930. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Waltham". Boston Globe. December 4, 1930. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "B. & M. Seeks to Drop 78 Trains, 27 Stops". Boston Globe. December 5, 1958. pp. 1, 7 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Train Cuts Due June 12". Brattleboro Reformer. May 14, 1959. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Plotkin, A.S. (November 9, 1973). "$100m parking plans snagged by lot abuttors". Boston Globe. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Ackerman, Jerry (October 23, 1989). "Breakaway poles to be tried this week". The Boston Globe. p. 18 Metro – via Newspapers.com.
13. Gregg, John (November 1, 1998). "Parking scarcity makes commuting by train tough". The Boston Globe. pp. West 1, 11 – via Newspapers.com.