Moshassuck Valley

Company History: The 2 mile MVRR opened in 1877 to link textile mills in Saylesville, Rhode Island to a connection with the New Haven in Woodlawn. In the early days, passenger service consisted of a coach pulled by a steam dummy while a rather spindly 4-4-0 handled the freight duties. Their largest steam locomotive would be an 0-6-0 and their largest diesel was a GE 44-tonner. The railroad remained independent until 1981 when they were merged into Providence & Worcester.

Successor/Parent History: The Providence and Worcester Railroad (reporting mark PW) (NASDAQ: PWX) is a Class II railroad in the United States. The railroad connects from Gardner in central Massachusetts, south through its namesake cities of Worcester and Providence, Rhode Island, and west from Rhode Island through Connecticut and into New York City. The railroad's connection between New Haven, Connecticut and New York City and onto Long Island is via trackage rights over the Hell Gate Bridge.

The P&W was incorporated in Massachusetts as the Providence and Worcester Railway on March 12, 1844, and as the Providence and Worcester Railroad in Rhode Island in May 1844. The two companies were merged November 25, 1845 as the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The company bought the Blackstone Canal, also running between Providence and Worcester, and began construction, partly on its banks, in 1845. The line opened in two sections, the part south of Millville on September 27, 1847, and the rest on October 20. The line from Providence to Central Falls was shared with the Boston and Providence Railroad, which at the same time built a connection from its old line (ending in East Providence) over to the P&W.

On July 1, 1892, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad leased the P&W for 99 years. The New Haven merged into Penn Central on January 1, 1969. On April 6, 1970, the P&W announced its intention to separate from the merger. After a legal battle, the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the request on August 25, 1972, and, on November 2, Penn Central signed the agreement, effective December 30. The P&W cancelled the lease on February 3, 1973. Since then, the P&W has taken over many other lines from the former Penn Central in addition to several from the Boston and Maine Railroad. On March 17, 2013, a freight derailed in New Haven, Connecticut, blocking Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.