Prior to the building of the NYP&B, travelers between
New York City and
Boston had to pass around
Point Judith, Rhode Island and its rough waters to reach the
Boston and Providence Railroad in
Providence. The B&P was completed in 1835 and began operating the steamer
Lexington between Providence and New York, adding the
Massachusetts in 1836. The
New York and Stonington Railroad was chartered in
Connecticut in May 1832 and the
New York, Providence and Boston Railroad in
Rhode Island in June of that year to fix the problem. On July 1, 1833 they consolidated to form a new New York, Providence and Boston Railroad. Ground was broken by the subsidiary
Providence and Stonington Railroad at
Stonington, Connecticut on August 14, 1833. On November 17, 1837 the line opened between Stonington and a pier at South Providence, about 1 mile downriver from the city center. At Stonington
docks connected to
steamboats to
New York City through
Long Island Sound, and later to the
Long Island Rail Road at
Greenport, New York, opened July 29, 1844. At Providence, a short
car float across the
Providence River led to the docks of the
Boston and Providence Railroad at
India Point in Providence, where travelers could continue on to
Boston. Steamboat service from New York to Stonington commenced in November 1837 under the
Boston and New York Transportation company, which was soon succeeded by the
New Jersey Steam Navigation Company. On January 13, 1840, the latter company's steamer
Lexington burned and sank with a loss of 140 lives; there were only four survivors. Cornelius Vanderbilt acquired control of the railroad in 1847. The California Gold Rush in 1849 caused a boom in traffic to the Isthmus. Vanderbilt sold control in order to help fund an ocean going steamship line to serve the traffic. On May 1, 1848, the NYP&B opened an alignment to the new Union Station in Providence, where it connected directly to both the newly opened
Providence and Worcester Railroad and the new main line for the
Boston and Providence Railroad. This provided direct connections from Stonington to both Boston and Worcester and locations in between. The B&P's old alignment was kept as a branch to transport passengers and freight to and from the pier at
India Point in Providence for transfer to and from the steam boats to
New York City and other points as far south as Galveston, TX. Trade in raw cotton moving north to New England textile mills, and finished goods moving south from New England factories remained strong until the Great Depression. On November 1, 1859 the NYP&B leased the
New Haven, New London and Stonington Railroad, less than a year after its completion, giving it a line from Providence to
New Haven, Connecticut, though with two ferries, one across the
Thames River at
New London and another across the
Connecticut River. The terminal for steamboats connecting to the
Long Island Rail Road was moved to
Groton, on the east shore of the Thames River. In 1864, the NYP&B purchased the NHNL&S line east of Groton; the remainder was leased by the
New York and New Haven Railroad in 1870. During the 1860s, service between New York and Stonington was provided by the '''Merchants' Steamship Company'
. This concern suspended service after suffering heavy losses in three disasters: the burning of the steamer Commonwealth
on December 29, 1865; the grounding, and recovery at great expense, of the steamer Plymouth Rock
in January 1866; and the wreck of the steamer Commodore'' on December 27, 1866. In 1868 the
Stonington Line revived the New York-Stonington steamship operation by organizing the subsidiary
Stonington Steamship Company, which placed in service the steamers
Stonington and
Narragansett. A third vessel, the
Rhode Island, was built in 1873. The Stonington Steamship Company merged in 1875 with the Providence and New York Steamship Company, primarily a freight carrier between the two named ports, to form the
Providence and Stonington Steamship Company. The
Rhode Island was assigned to the New York-Providence route, joined in 1877 by a new steamer, the
Massachusetts. On June 11, 1880, the
Narragansett and
Stonington collided in heavy fog, causing the
Narragansett to catch fire and burn with a loss of 30 lives. Also in 1880, the
Rhode Island was wrecked, but her engine was salvaged and was installed in a new steamer of the same name, built in 1882. In 1889 a bridge was built across the
Thames River, connecting the two segments and completing the all-rail Shore Line. The steamship operation was augmented in 1889 with the construction of the steamer
Connecticut for the Providence route. All the foregoing steamers had been paddlers, but in 1892 the propellers
Maine and
New Hampshire were built for the Stonington route. During 1892 the
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the NYP&B, merging it on February 13, 1893. The New Haven discontinued the New York-Stonington steamship route in 1900, ending the existence of the Providence and Stonington Steamship Company. A New Haven subsidiary, the
New England Steamship Company, continued the New York-Providence route with various steamers until May 1937. The original line that reached the docks in Stonington from the east was abandoned on September 27, 1914. In 1969
Penn Central absorbed the NYNH&H. Penn Central went bankrupt in June 1970, and was merged into
Conrail in 1976, but the old NYP&B main line was sold to
Amtrak (in
Connecticut) and the state of
Rhode Island. It now hosts Amtrak's
Acela Express high-speed trains and
Northeast Regional conventional service. The
MBTA's
Providence/Stoughton Line was extended in 2010 over the old NYP&B past
Providence to
a new station at
T. F. Green Airport in
Warwick, Rhode Island; the line was further extended in 2012 to its current southern terminus at
Wickford Junction in North Kingstown. There is a proposal to extend the line once more to
the current Amtrak station in
Kingston. ==Branches==