Boston & Providence

Company History: The B&P completed their line between Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island in 1835. The B&P was independent for 53 years before being leased by the Old Colony Railroad in 1888 for a term of 99 years. Five years later, the Old Colony was itself leased to the New York New Haven & Hartford and the B&P lease was transferred to them. The B&P line became an important part of New Haven’s mainline from New York City to Boston. Today, this route is part of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

Successor/Parent History: The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. It operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod. For many years the Old Colony Railroad Company also operated steamboat and ferry lines, including those of the Fall River Line with express train service from Boston to its wharf in Fall River where passengers boarded luxury liners to New York City. The company also briefly operated a railroad line on Martha's Vineyard, as well as the freight-only Union Freight Railroad in Boston. The OC was named after the "Old Colony", the nickname for the Plymouth Colony. It operated as the Cape Cod Railroad 1846 to 1872.

On March 1, 1893 the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H) leased the entire Old Colony system for 99 years, which by then included the leased Boston and Providence Railroad and everything substantially east of it, as well as long branches northwest to Fitchburg and Lowell. Along with the lease of the New England Railroad in 1898, the 1893 lease arrangement gave the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad a virtual monopoly on rail transport in southern New England.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.