Boston and Maine Railroad $1000 Bond - Massachusetts 1940

Beautifully engraved specimen certificate from Boston and Maine Railroad dated 1940. This historic document was printed by American Bank Note Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of a steam engine train at a station. This item is over 66 years old. 40 coupons attached on right.


Certificate Vignette

The Boston and Maine Railroad (AAR reporting mark BM), also known by the abbreviation B&M;, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century. It is now part of the Pan Am Railways network.

History

The Andover and Wilmington Railroad was incorporated March 15, 1833 to build a branch from the Boston and Lowell Railroad at Wilmington, Massachusetts north to Andover. The line opened to Andover on August 8, 1836. The name was changed to the Andover and Haverhill Railroad on April 18, 1837, reflecting plans to build further to Haverhill (opened later that year), and yet further to Portland, Maine with the renaming to the Boston and Portland Railroad on April 3, 1839, opening to the New Hampshire state line in 1840.

The Boston and Maine Railroad was chartered in New Hampshire on June 27, 1835, and the Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Railroad was incorporated March 12, 1839 in Maine, both companies continuing the proposed line to South Berwick, Maine. The railroad opened in 1840 to Exeter, New Hampshire, and on January 1, 1842 the two companies merged with the Boston and Portland to form a new Boston and Maine Railroad.

On February 23, 1843 the B&M; opened to Agamenticus, on the line of the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad in South Berwick. On January 28 of that year the B&M; and Eastern Railroad came to an agreement to both lease the PS&P; as a joint line to Portland.

The Boston and Maine Extension Railroad was incorporated March 16, 1844, due to a dispute with the Boston and Lowell Railroad over trackage rights rates between Wilmington and Boston. That company was merged into the main B&M; on March 19, 1845, and opened July 1, leading to the abandonment of the old connection to the B&L; (later reused by the B&L; for their Wildcat Branch). In 1848 another original section was abandoned, as a new alignment was built from Wilmington north to North Andover in order to better serve Lawrence.

A new alignment to Portland opened in 1873, splitting from the old route at South Berwick. The old route was later abandoned.

As the B&M; grew, it also gained control of its former rivals. These acquisitions included the following:

Eastern

The Eastern Railroad was leased by the B&M; on December 23, 1883. This provided a second route to Maine, as well as many local branches, ending competition along the immediate route between Boston and Portland.

Worcester, Nashua and Portland

The Worcester and Nashua Railroad was organized in 1845 (opened 1848) and the Nashua and Rochester Railroad in 1847, forming a line between Worcester, Massachusetts and Rochester, New Hampshire via Nashua. The W&N; leased the N&R; in 1874, and the two companies merged into the Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad in 1883. The B&M; leased the line on January 1, 1886. This acquisition also included the continuation from Rochester to Portland, Maine, incorporated in 1846 as the York and Cumberland Railroad. It opened partially in 1851 and 1853, was reorganized as the Portland and Rochester Railroad in 1867, and opened the rest of the way in 1871. It was again reorganized in 1881 and then operated in conjunction with the line to Worcester.

Boston and Lowell

On April 1, 1887 the B&M; leased the Boston and Lowell Railroad, adding not only trackage in the Boston area, but also the Central Massachusetts Railroad west to Northampton, the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad into northern New Hampshire, the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad to northwestern Vermont, and the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad from White River Junction into Quebec. However, the BC&M; was separated in 1889 and merged with the Concord Railroad to form the Concord and Montreal Railroad, which the B&M; leased on April 1, 1895, gaining the Concord Railroad's direct line between Nashua and Concord. Additionally, the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad, owned by the B&M; through stock, was leased to the Maine Central Railroad by 1912. The Central Massachusetts Railroad stayed a part of the B&M;, as did the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad (as the Passumpsic Division).

Northern

The Northern Railroad was leased to the Boston and Lowell in 1884, but that lease was cancelled and the Northern was on its own until 1890, when it was released to the B&L;, then part of the B&M.; The Northern owned a number of lines running west from Concord.

Connecticut River

On January 1, 1893, the B&M; leased the Connecticut River Railroad, with a main line from Springfield, Massachusetts north along the Conencticut River to White River Junction, Vermont, where the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad (acquired in 1887) continued north.

Concord and Montreal

As discussed above, the B&M; acquired the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad in 1887, but gave it up in 1889, allowing it to merge with the Concord Railroad to form the Concord and Montreal Railroad. That company did poorly on its own, and was leased by the B&M; on April 1, 1895, giving the B&M; the majority of lines in New Hampshire.

Fitchburg

The B&M; leased the Fitchburg Railroad on July 1, 1900. This was primarily a main line from Boston west via the Hoosac Tunnel to the Albany, New York area, with various branches.

At one point, the B&M; also owned a majority of stock of the Maine Central Railroad, stretching from Quebec via northern New Hampshire to southern and eastern Maine.

The B&M; flourished with the growth of New England's mill towns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but still faced financial struggles. It came under the control of J. P. Morgan and his New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad around 1910, but anti-trust forces wrested control back. Later it faced heavy debt problems from track construction and from the cost of acquiring the Fitchburg Railroad, causing a reorganization in 1919.

B&M; "McGinnis" Herald.Beginning in the 1930s, freight business was hurt by the leveling off of New England manufacturing growth, and by new competition from trucking.

The popularization of the automobile doomed B&M; as a passenger carrier. It gave up on long distance passenger service by 1965 and was able to continue Boston commuter service only by the aid of subsidies from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. In 1973 the MBTA bought the rolling stock and tracks near Boston from the ailing B&M.; The B&M; filed for bankruptcy in December 1970. During bankruptcy, the B&M; reorganized, leasing new locomotives, rolling stock, and securing funds to upgrade its track and signal systems. It limped along through the 1970s, and reportedly was on the brink of liquidation during 1973-1974. The B&M; was offered to merge its properties into the new Conrail but opted out. Finally, in 1983 the B&M; emerged from bankruptcy when it was purchased by Timothy Mellon's Guilford Transportation Industries for $24 million.

History from Wikipeida and OldCompanyResearch.com.

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About Specimens

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