Kendal Green station

{{short description|MBTA Commuter Rail station in Weston, Massachusetts}}

{{redirect|Kendal Green|the dye or color "Kendal Green"|Genisteae#Historical uses}}

{{Infobox station

| style=MBTA

| name=Kendal Green

| image=Kendal Green station, Weston MA.jpg

| image_caption=A train arriving at Kendal Green station in February 2024

| alt = A train arriving at a small wooden railway station in a rural area

| address=205 Church Street

| borough=Weston, Massachusetts, US

| coordinates= {{coord|42|22|45|N|71|16|57|W|type:railwaystation_region:US-MA |display=inline,title}}

| line=Fitchburg Route

| other=

| platform=1 side platform

| tracks=2

| parking=57 spaces (free)

| bicycle=

| passengers=114 (weekday average boardings){{MBTA CR 2018}}

| pass_year=2018

| opened=June 17, 1844

| rebuilt=1896

| former=Weston (until {{circa|1886}})

| accessible=No

| code=

| owned=

| zone=3

| services= {{Adjacent stations|system=MBTA|line=Fitchburg|left=Silver Hill|right=Brandeis/Roberts}}

| nrhp=

{{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| name = Kendal Green Railroad Station

| nrhp_type = cp| nocat = yes

| image =

| caption =

| location=

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-custom = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |line=none |marker=rail |marker-color=#{{rcr|MBTA|Rail}} |zoom=12 }}

| area =

| built =

| architect=

| architecture=

| added = March 1, 2000

| governing_body =

| partof=Kendal Green Historic District

| partof_refnum= 01000121

}}

Kendal Green station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Weston, Massachusetts, US, served by the Fitchburg Line. The station has a single platform serving two tracks; it is not accessible. It originally opened with the Fitchburg Railroad in 1844 as "Weston"; it was renamed Kendal Green after the green cloth around 1886. A new station building was constructed in 1896. Service passed to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900, and to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in the 1970s. The former station building, reused as a private residence, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 as a contributing property to the Kendal Green Historic District.

Station design

Kendal Green station is located on the north side of the Church Street grade crossing in Weston, about {{convert|400|feet}} away from North Avenue (Route 117). The station has a single asphalt side platform on the north side of the two tracks of the Fitchburg Route, with a small paved crossing allowing passengers to board trains on the opposite track.{{cite web |url=http://acm.jhu.edu/~sthurmovik/movies/MBCR+Maps+(2010).pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008000656/http://acm.jhu.edu/~sthurmovik/movies/MBCR+Maps+(2010).pdf |archive-date=October 8, 2013 |title=Massachusetts Bay Colony Railroad Track Charts |date=2010 |author=Held, Patrick R. |publisher=Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery |page=16}} The low-level platform is not accessible.{{MBTA Bluebook 2014}} Parking spaces for 57 vehicles are located along Lower Field Road south of Church Street.

The former station building is located adjacent to the platform. It is a single-story hip-roofed clapboard building measuring {{convert|20x42|feet}}, with a polygonal bay in the southern corner.{{rp|12}} The structure is privately owned and used as a residence, though the MBTA owns the land; the trackside eaves still offer shelter for passengers.{{rp|12}} The trackside windows and doors have been covered for the privacy of the residents.

History

=Early history=

File:Kendal Green station 1913 postcard.jpg

The Fitchburg Railroad opened along the Stony Brook valley through Weston on June 17, 1844, with stops at Weston and {{bts|Silver Hill}}.{{cite book |title=Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years |last1=Humphrey |first1=Thomas J.|last2=Clark |first2=Norton D. |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |year=1985 |isbn=9780685412947 |page=}}{{rp|87}}{{cite web |url={{MACRIS|WSN.C}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Kendal Green Historic District |via=Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System |first=Pamela |last=Fox |date=January 2001 |publisher=National Park Service}}{{rp|6}} New residential development occurred around Weston station, but not around Silver Hill.{{cite book |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795776 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Silver Hill Historic District |first=Pamela |last=Fox |series=File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Massachusetts, 1964 - 2012 |date=June 2004 |publisher=National Park Service}}{{rp|8}} The original Weston station building, constructed around 1843, was a two-story wooden structure with an apartment for the station master on the second floor.{{cite book |title=A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses |last=Roy |first=John H. Jr. |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780942147087 |page=174}} A freight house, no longer extant, was constructed nearby in 1875.

The Central Massachusetts Railroad was constructed through Weston in 1881, with its own Weston station closer to the town center. In 1885–86, a post office was opened to serve the North Avenue area. It was named "Kendal Green" at the suggestion of General James F.B. Marshall, co-founder of the Hampton Institute, who had previously used it as the name of his nearby estate. The name was taken from the Kendal green cloth produced in Kendal, England; Kendal was also the surname of Marshall's grandfather.{{rp|19}} The railroad station also took the name Kendal Green around 1886, possibly to avoid confusion with the two Weston stations.{{rp|19}}

The railroad built a new station building at Kendal Green in 1896. A single-story wooden structure, it resembled a simpler version of the Central Massachusetts Railroad's stick style Weston station.{{rp|12}} The Fitchburg Railroad was acquired by the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1900.{{rp|88}}

=MBTA era=

The B&M sold off disused station buildings in the mid 20th century; by 1962, Kendal Green and Weston stations both belonged to the same private owner.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77169171/the-boston-globe/ |title=Few Trains, But Stations Still Busy |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=February 16, 1962 |page=24 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was formed in 1964 to subsidize suburban commuter rail service. On January 18, 1965, the MBTA began subsidizing some B&M service, including as far as West Concord on the Fitchburg Route.{{NETransit}} The MBTA bought most B&M commuter rail assets, including the Fitchburg Route, on December 27, 1976.

In 1989, the MBTA considered moving the station to the south to create a park and ride "superstation" for Route 128, similar to Route 128 station.{{cite news |newspaper=The Boston Globe |title=Breakaway poles to be tried this week |date=October 23, 1989 |page=18 Metro |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36817373/the_boston_globe/ |last=Ackerman |first=Jerry |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} In 1998, the town considered purchasing the former station building to make room for a 40-space parking lot.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/150316509/ |title=Parking scarcity makes commuting by train tough |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=November 1, 1998 |pages=West 1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/150318120/ 11] |first=John |last=Gregg |via=Newspapers.com}} The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 as a contributing property to the Kendal Green Historic District.{{rp|45}}

A February 2005 study for the Fitchburg Line Improvement Project recommended consolidation of the three Weston stations (Silver Hill, {{bts|Hastings}}, and Kendal Green) into a single expanded Kendal Green station to reduce travel times, as did a September 2005 preliminary implementation plan.{{cite web |url=http://www.mbta.com/projects_underway/pdf/Fitchburg/Fitchburg_Expansion_Main.pdf |archive-date=March 18, 2006 |title=Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Service Expansion Study |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority |date=February 2005 |author=McMahon Associates |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060318010516/http://www.mbta.com/projects_underway/pdf/Fitchburg/Fitchburg_Expansion_Main.pdf |pages=7, 18}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mbta.com/projects_underway/images/fitchburg/Fitchburg-Implementation1200.gif |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129070552/http://savetheayertrain.pbworks.com/f/FitchburgImplementation1200.gif |archive-date=January 29, 2014 |work=Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Improvement Implementation Plan |title=MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Branch Improvements |date=September 2005 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}} However, by 2007, the preferred alternative did not include station consolidation.{{cite web

|url=https://old.mbta.com/uploadedFiles/About_the_T/T_Projects/T_Projects_List/AA%20Report.pdf |title=Fitchburg Rail Line Improvement Project Alternatives Analysis |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority |date=September 2007}} Silver Hill and Hastings were temporarily closed in December 2020 due to low ridership, which was made permanent in April 2021, but Kendal Green station was not modified.{{cite press release |url=https://www.mbta.com/news/2020-12-10/commuter-rail-temporarily-operate-reduced-service-schedule-starting-december-14 |title=Commuter Rail to Temporarily Operate Reduced Service Schedule Starting December 14 |date=December 10, 2021 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}}{{cite web |url=https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/route_pdfs/2021-winter/2020-2021-cr-fitchburg-reduced-accessible.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209020431/https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/route_pdfs/2021-winter/2020-2021-cr-fitchburg-reduced-accessible.pdf |archive-date=February 9, 2021 |title=2020/2021 Reduced Service Schedule: Fitchburg Line |date=December 14, 2020 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}}{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301194000/https://www.mbta.com/customer-support/spring-2021-service-changes |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |url=https://www.mbta.com/customer-support/spring-2021-service-changes |title=Spring 2021 Service Changes |date=February 2021 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority |access-date=March 3, 2021 |url-status=dead }} In May 2024, the MBTA indicated the possibility of building accessible platforms shorter than standard length at Kendal Green.{{cite web |url=https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/2024-05/13.%20DRAFT%20Board%20Presentation_Freestanding%20Mini%20High%20Platform%20Initiative_5.10.24.pdf |title=Accelerating Accessibility within the Commuter Rail: Freestanding Mini-high Platform Initiative |date=May 23, 2024 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}}

References

External links

[https://www.mbta.com/stops/place-FR-0132 MBTA – Kendal Green]

Category:Former Boston and Maine Railroad stations

Category:MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Category:Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Category:Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts

Category:Buildings and structures in Weston, Massachusetts

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1844