Providence & Worcester local PL-3 heads north across the French River in Mechanicsville, CT. on Oct. 14, 1981. The Providence & Worcester is the last origional (chartered) railroad operating in New England. Dating from 1849, the P&W leased it's trackage from the beginning, first to the Boston & Providence (today, part of the Amtrak Shore Line) and, finally to Penn Central. The P&W, at last, began running it's own trains in 1976, with the start-up of ConRail.