Boston & Worcester Railroad ~ Milk Train

Milk Train

Downtown Station                        

 When the Boston & Worcester Railroad bisected Westborough center in 1834, the community was predominately based on agriculture, dairy farming with some manufacturing in the immediate downtown. However, dairy farmers of Westboro were the first to take full advantage of the newest form of transport. Shipping milk by rail was established shortly after the opening of the Boston & Worcester line, and Westboro became the primary milk shipping community to the Boston market. A number of milk cars were attached to the first passenger train of the day for the fastest delivery to Boston. The railroad proved to be a boon to area dairy farmers that continued to grow well into the 20^th century.

 As milk was shipped raw with no processing or refrigeration, its life span was established at two hours and 15 minutes and needed to be quickly transported and delivered to milk peddlers. Westboro’s close proximity to Boston and the ideal location of the Boston & Worcester rail yard was easily accessed by area dairy farmers and established Westboro as the primary depot to supply milk to the Boston market. 

 Although some attempts at organizing milk transport by rail was met with questionable results, the dairy farmers were never financially hurt by lost revenue. In the coming years, a number of groups were established to represent the dairy industry. Agents were selected to represent the farmers and to negotiate with Boston milk dealers for the best prices. 

  Over the years a number of rival companies were organized in Westborough. These companies provided the freight cars and an agent to work on behalf of the dairy farmers. Designated boxcars fitted to hold milk cans were parked on a siding with a loading dock to accommodate the milk farmers. The farmers would deliver their milk in 8½-quart metal cans each morning and load their own cans onto the milk car. Local farmers would contribute one to 30 cans of milk per trip.

  Milk loading dock with agents office    

A loading dock was fitted with a small room used for can storage and by the agent to oversee the loading operation and to account for each farmer’s contribution to the load. The agent would then accompany the milk train to the Boston milk freight house, supervise the distribution to the milk peddlers and receive the agreed upon fee. The cans would be emptied, washed and sterilized and returned to the Westboro yard.

 Jason Chamberlain, a successful Westborough dairy farmer began sending milk to Boston in April 1838. At first, Chamberlain scheduled one small freight car to be loaded with milk at the siding on Brigham Street and then drawn by horse to the Southville station to collect milk before connecting to the first passenger train to the city. 

 In 1840 the Westborough Milk Co. was formed by John A. Fayerweather and other local businessmen and operated for the next 25 years with S. Deane Fisher as its agent. By 1849 the Westborough Milk Co. was shipping 2,500 cans per week from the Westborough rail siding. In 1852 the Westborough Milk Co. was passed to George O. Brigham. Also in 1852 the Westboro milk train was delayed by an accident on the line, and an estimated 20,000 Bostonians went without milk and cream that day.

 Under the leadership of Cyrus Brigham and Whittemore Rowell, in 1859 the Westboro Milk Co. was shipping eight milk cars a day amounting to a thousand cans per day; 750 cans per day were provided by 150 dairy farms of Westborough while the remainder by adjacent communities. It became the largest milk business in the world amounting to a million dollars a year. 

The Westborough Milk Producers Association was formed in 1865 by local dairy farmers. However, the association was dissolved by the Supreme Judicial Court of Worcester in 1870 after several years of minimal profit. The Cheese Factory building was sold and the (shareholders) were refunded their initial investments.

Refrigerated cars were introduced in the 1880s allowing Boston to expand its milk shed territory into Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The cities‘ growing population increased the need for more milk. From 1911 to 1921 Boston’s annual milk consumption doubled significantly, increasing the demand on dairy farmers and the railroad.

In 1885 the Westborough Creamery Association was formed with 212 shareholders, mostly Westborough dairy farmers. This association operated for many years but also had difficulties with finances and disbanded. This was the last of the local associations and replaced by the larger companies such as: Deerfoot Farms, Southborough; H.P. Hood; Whiting Milk Co. of Boston; New England Milk Producers and Consolidated Dairies.

The opening of the new Boston & Worcester Turnpike in 1931 and the introduction of refrigerated milk trucks dramatically reduced the dairy farmers need to ship by train. The trucks would make local stops and deliver their loads to local creameries which ended the need for milk cans.  

At the end of World War II dairy farming in Westborough and surrounding communities was approaching an end. Only a few remained, and they were processing their own milk and trucking it to large creameries. The remaining milk trains were solely dependent on the faster, scheduled passenger trains but in the 1960s passenger trains were being phased out which ended 125 years of the Milk Trains. 

The last scheduled milk train to Boston was in 1972 on the Boston & Maine Railroad.