August 19, 2026 By Geri Duff
This Hingham Square scene is from the 1940s. The Comet was a diesel-electric streamliner built in 1935.
It held 160 passengers and ran between Boston and Rhode Island. At the start of WWII and because of increased rail travel larger trains were needed on the main lines. The three car Comet was placed on local commuter service on the Boston to South Shore line.
In Hingham Square, The Lincoln Building on the left was torn down in 2014, after heavy snow collapsed the roof. The Railroad Station on the right was torn down in 1949. (Both were rebuilt.)
The train tracks are now 20 feet below Hingham Square. The locomotive was scrapped in 1951. However, there is a model at the South Shore Model Rail Road Club Museum in Bare Cove Park.
The photo is from the Hingham Historical Society.