Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 18, 2023
The Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) is an American Class II railroad operating 612 miles (985 km) of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. It was formed in 1844 to connect its eponymous cities, and ran its first trains in 1847. P&W later built a branch to East Providence, Rhode Island, and double-tracked its main line after a fatal train collision. P&W remained independent until 1888, when the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad leased it; the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (the New Haven) assumed the lease in 1892. P&W remained leased until the New Haven was merged into Penn Central (PC) in 1968. When PC threatened to abandon the line, P&W's shareholders convinced regulators to give them back their railroad, and P&W returned to independence in 1973 after 85 years. P&W grew from under 100 miles (161 km) by purchasing other lines, expanding more than sixfold. In 2016, P&W was purchased by railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming. (Full article...)