The average number of cars brought down on the Chester and Becket Railroad each day was two or three, but before the Hudson And Chester Quarry closed for winter, a single day might see nine or more flats brought down the grade. The B&A Railroad received fifty dollars a car for bringing the granite stone down to Chester.

The operation was expensive. The limit was two loads down per trip due to the steep track, and fuel and maintenance costs were prohibitive. In 1927 the quarry company began to use several solid rubber tired trucks with double leaf springs, to bring granite blocks to the stone sheds, and the number of trips up the branch dwindled to two or three a week, usually on a Tuesday. In 1929 the trucks took over entirely. The upper Bowe quarry, long without rail connections, had been using trucks for years.

Toward the end, the B&A replaced the faithful old No. 397 with a heavier, newer engine, but the light trackwork, always troublesome, would not stand the weight. The rails sank and spread, dropping the engine to the ties or into the ditch at every opportunity and giving endless trouble until all operations ceased. On January 13, 1931, at a meeting of the stockholders, it was voted to abandon the so
called “Granite Line’. Dave Pierce narration.

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