Quincy Granite Railway Incline

The incline is located at the end of Mullin Street in Quincy, west of the south-east expressway to Boston. Mullin Street, a dead end, stops at the base (north end) of the Incline and partly forms the north perimeter of the defunct quarries. The terrain is rough and irregular, demonstrating the effects of the active years of quarrying. The area south of the Incline is characterized by numerous dirt roads and abandoned quarry pits. The original Incline, 315' long at an angle of 15 degrees, was built to overcome an 84' elevation which blocked access to the Pine Hill Ledge Quarry. The Incline was built in a similar manner to the main Granite Railway bed, 1' - 4' deep, excavated and filled with stone.

sleepers or ties, 7' - 8' long, 8" - 14" across the top and 12" - 18" deep, were placed horizontally across the top of the bed at eight foot intervals. Cars moving up and down the plane were controlled by a chain attached to each car. Today, one can see the pulley wheels that carried the chain. (This operation, just as Bryant designed and built it, remained in use until 1901 when regulation railroad tracks were laid over the original structure. In 1920, the tracks were removed, and two steel channels. were placed on the westerly side of the original track structure. A steel cable, powered by steam, was used to move the huge granite blocks. The Incline functioned until the early 1940's.

Today, approximately 130- of the original structure remains; its top or south section has been removed along with the south portion of the elevation on which it was originally built. NAt the base of the Incline stad two commemorative pillars, 25' in height.

TOL The Granite Railway, which transported stone for the Bunker Hill Monument from the quarries of luincy to the Neponset River in Milton, is the first example of the commercial use of rails in the United States. *The Granite Railway was incorporated March 4, 1826 and the first horse drawn car traversed the three mile distance on October 7, 1826. At a time when canals were considered the optimum method for the efficient flow of goods and merchandise, this innovative use of rails was met with skepticism.! Three years later, however, a committee appointed by the Massachusetts General Court recommended the construction of a similar line to Providenae, Rhode Island. The skepticism had passed and the Granite Railway had issued forth a new era.

Although horse power was used, fundamental engineering problems were solved in the construction and operation of the Granite Railway that would stimulate the rapid growth of railroads in the 1830's and 1840's. Gridley Bryant, the engineer and projector of the Granite Railway, invented the eight-wheeled car which became the basic design for railroad cars throughout the country. He also invented the turntable, later used in round houses, and the switch and turnout. The Incline in Quincy is a further example of Bryant's genius and one of the few extant remains of the Granite Railway. It was constructed in 1830 to provide access to Pine Hill Quarry. The Railway was constructed on a level plane with a minimum of grade to protect the horses.

However, the main quarry could not be reached without overcoming an 84' vertical elevation. Bryant solved this problem by constructing a 315' long inclined or gravity plane at an angle of 15 degrees. The Incline, like the rest of the road, was built using granite sleepers or ties.