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The history of Rhode Island is truly remarkable. The Story of Rhode Island is my humble attempt to tell you some of the stories about the people, places, and events that have made Rhode Island the state it is today.
To learn more about the show visit the Story of Rhode Island Podcast website at https://www.storyofrhodeisland.com/
The people traveling along the Stonington Railroad on April 19th, 1873 had no idea they were heading toward disaster.
Still hours before dawn, passengers rested easy as the train sliced through the pitch-black Rhode Island countryside. Meanwhile, veteran engineer William Guile casually stood at the front of the locomotive as he made yet another routine run to Providence. At home, just a short walk from the tracks, his wife Harriet waited for the familiar two-blast whistle he always gave upon his return.
But unbeknownst to everyone aboard, days of heavy rain had pushed a small dam at Richmond Switch—or what we know today as Wood River Junction—to its limit. After giving way that morning, it unleashed a surge of water that washed out the railroad bridge ahead.
Before long, the train would confront the full force of that hidden disaster, and Richmond Switch would become the site of one of the deadliest train wrecks in Rhode Island history.
And yet, only months later, tracks would be laid at that very spot for a new railroad—a small branch that would wind its way into the mill villages surrounding the Wood River.
Known as the Wood River Branch Railroad, the line faced a series of disasters that repeatedly threatened its survival.
But time and time again, the communities it served found ways to keep it alive. Even now, long after the railroad has been abandoned and most of its physical traces have disappeared, that fight continues—only today it is a fight to ensure the line’s legacy withstands the test of time.
This is Forgotten Railroads of Rhode Island, where we uncover the hidden tracks, lost stations, and forgotten stories of the state’s vanished railroads.
And today, we begin the story of the Wood River Branch Railroad.
Troubling Beginnings
Years before the wreck at Richmond Switch shocked Rhode Island, communities surrounding the Wood River in Hopkinton and Richmond were already pushing for a railroad of their own. Business leaders from villages like Hope Valley, Rockville, Woodville, Ashville, Canonchet, and Wyoming were convinced it was exactly what they needed to succeed.
Now, given the rural nature of this area today, you might wonder why the people living there thought they needed a railroad. And I wouldn’t blame you.
I even drove to the center of some of these places and found little more than trees and a few houses scattered along a quiet back road.
So why on earth would these sleepy little villages need a railroad?
Well Because in the mid-nineteenth century they looked quite different.
Like miniature versions of larger factory towns in northern Rhode Island, these communities pulsed with industrial activity. Each had a mill or two of its own, factory workers living in nearby mill houses, and small businesses providing everyday essentials.
They produced textiles, machine products, and other goods that were sold throughout the region. One operation even gained national recognition for the quality of its products: the Nichols and Langworthy Machine Company, which manufactured high-quality machinery at its sprawling complex along the Wood River.
Taken together, these villages formed a productive chain of industry.
But for all their activity, they shared a common problem.
Transportation.
Because raw materials needed by the mills—and finished goods produced by them—had to be hauled in and out by wagon over rough country roads, a process that was slow, expensive, and often unreliable. I mean if you think Rhode Island’s roads are bad today, imagine what they were like in the 1800s.
And so, Local business leaders began pushing for a railroad.
At first they tried convincing either the Stonington Railroad or the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad to build a connecting line from Richmond Switch to Greene. But neither company showed any interest.
Undeterred, local leaders tried again in 1872—this time with a simpler, more practical idea: a short branch running north from Richmond Switch directly into the Wood River Valley.
This time the plan gained traction. A charter was secured, surveys were conducted, and by the end of the year it finally seemed like the mill villages of Hopkinton and Richmond might get the railroad they had been pushing for.
But like we’ll see throughout this story, these communities were forced to battle through a series of setbacks that threatened their project.
And those setbacks arrived just as the railroad effort was beginning to gain real momentum.
In 1873, the nation and much of the western world was hit by a severe economic depression. Banks collapsed, businesses failed, and investment money quickly dried up. Then one of the railroad’s strongest supporters, local mill owner Clark Sheldon, died unexpectedly, removing both leadership and financial backing. The proposed railroad suddenly found itself struggling to survive.
And as investors hesitated and the local communities held their breath, events were unfolding that would make the line’s success seem even more unlikely than before.
On the dark, rain-soaked morning of April 19, 1873, a train traveling along the Stonington Railroad was unknowingly heading toward a washed-out bridge at Richmond Switch—the exact spot where the Wood River Branch Railroad was supposed to begin.
The crash that followed became one of the deadliest railroad disasters in Rhode Island history and left many wondering whether a new railroad should even be built there at all.
The Crash
When the train reached the washed-out bridge at Richmond Switch, the locomotive plunged into the gap and slammed into the far bank with unimaginable force. Behind it, The first two passenger coaches crashed together with a deafening impact.
While The passengers in the second-class car were thrown into the river, those in the first class coach suffered a far more horrific fate.
Inside their car, the violence of the crash overturned stoves and oil lamps, scattering burning coals and flammable oil across the wreckage. Within moments, flames raced through the shattered car and trapped passengers screamed desperately for help as the fire consumed the wreck.
Those watching from outside could do little but listen. Long after the flames died down, survivors would remember the sound of screams echoing across the pitch-black countryside.
By sunrise, only ashes and twisted metal remained where the train’s cars had once stood.
At least fourteen lives were lost that morning, including William Guile, the train’s twenty-year veteran engineer. He was burned so badly that the only way they were able to identify his body was because of the melted remnants of his pocket watch .
Back at home, just a short walk from the tracks, his wife Harriet was still waiting for the familiar two-blast whistle that always signaled his return.
But that morning, the whistle never came.
For weeks afterward, the river and surrounding countryside were littered with reminders of the disaster. Clothing, shoes, and fragments of wood and metal were found caught in mill wheels as far as Westerly.
The disaster could hardly have struck at a worse place or time. It shook the public’s confidence in railroads altogether and came just as financial panic was sweeping the country.
For the mill communities along the Wood River, it was beginning to seem as though their railroad might end before it even began.
Closing
In the weeks after the wreck, Richmond Switch became a place people spoke of in hushed tones - a location associated with disaster and a reminder of the risks that came with a railroad.
One local clergyman opposed to the Wood River Branch even warned that if the railroad were built, it would unleash a flood of liquor that would leave bodies sprawled across the landscape, much like the crash at Richmond Switch.
And To make matters worse, the financial storm that swept the nation dried up a significant portion of the Wood River Branch Railroad’s funding - putting the line on shaky ground.
Yet despite these challenges, the mill communities of Hopkinton and Richmond decided to push forward and construction of the railroad began in September 1873.
Although winter weather slowed the progress, the line was eventually completed the following year.
By the summer of 1874, the mill communities finally had the railroad they had fought so hard to build. Stretching from the newly named Wood River Junction and into the village of Hope Valley, it came equipped with four stations; Hope Valley, Canonchet, Woodville, and Wood River Junction. With the railroad Giving the villages their immediate connection to the outside world, it quickly became an essential part of everyday life.
For a time, it seemed as though these communities would now be free to enjoy the benefits of their new line.
But the Wood River Branch Railroad had been built against long odds, and those odds were not about to disappear.
In the decades ahead, the line would be battered by fires, floods, and economic collapse.
Time and again it would seem certain the railroad was finished. But each and every time, the communities scattered along the Wood River would step in to protect it.
It’s a struggle that would define the life of the railroad — and one that we’ll continue to explore in the next episode.