Harbor (MBTA station)

HARBOR

Remains of Harbor station in May 2012
Coordinates 42°37′04″N 70°41′12″W / 42.61769°N 70.68657°W / 42.61769; -70.68657Coordinates: 42°37′04″N 70°41′12″W / 42.61769°N 70.68657°W / 42.61769; -70.68657
Owned by MBTA
Line(s)
  Newburyport/Rockport Line
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 2
Other information
Fare zone 7
History
Opened December 1977[1]
Closed January 7, 1985[1]
Traffic
Passengers (1983) 35 (weekday inbound average)[2]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
Newburyport/Rockport Line
toward Rockport

Harbor was a passenger rail station on the Rockport Branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail Newburyport/Rockport Line. A short-lived stop, it was open from 1977 to 1985.

History

The path from the apartment complex to the station photographed in May 2012

Harbor station opened in December 1977 to serve a new apartment complex (now The Heights at Cape Ann) located on a bluff above the tracks.[2][1] Several short turn trains (which had formerly terminated at Manchester but ran to an interlocking just west of Gloucester to switch tracks for the inbound journey) were extended to Harbor at that time.[2] Several trips, including the short turns, were cut in September 1979.[2] On January 30, 1981, service to nearby West Gloucester was discontinued during a round of budget cuts, leaving Harbor as the only station serving the area.[1]

The station was never heavily used - an April 1983 count showed just 35 daily boardings.[2] On November 16, 1984, a fire destroyed Beverly Draw, which connects Salem and Beverly Depot on the line. A shuttle train continued to operate from Rockport to Beverly until January 7, 1985, when it was replaced by bus service.[1] The locomotives used were then trucked to Danvers so they could be repaired at the MBTA's main maintenance facility. When service was restored on December 1, 1985, Harbor station remained closed. West Gloucester, which had more room for parking, reopened instead.[1]

Harbor station consisted of a small shelter with no platforms; passengers boarded from a clearing next to the tracks. A paved path led from the rear of the apartment complex to the station area. As of 2012, the path and the concrete base of the shelter were still extant.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Belcher, Jonathan (22 March 2014). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 77. ISBN 9780685412947.

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