to route more traffic along the Norfolk County Railroad, which was bankrupt as a result of insufficient business, and by consequence increase the value of that company's stock. The efforts of the Norfolk County Railroad culminated in an attempt at a hostile takeover, when shareholders from that railroad tried to add ten new members to the company's board of directors. The company's president and clerk refused to recognize a vote to approve the new directors, defeating the attempt and leaving the stockholders from the "ricketty and bankrupt" Norfolk County Railroad with nothing but $100,000 ($ in 2021) in debt to show for their efforts. That same year, the worst accident in the company's history occurred in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. Two trains collided head-on, resulting in 14 fatalities. The fallout of this incident was partially responsible for the P&W double tracking its mainline, which began shortly after the accident. This proceeded slowly, and the final section of single track wasn't upgraded until 1885, 32 years later. The P&W benefited from a general increase in economic activity and shipping during the American Civil War; though little of its freight was directly related to the war effort, the company paid off all its debts and invested $20,000 ($ in 2021) on track improvements in 1864 alone. Expansion and improvements The Providence and Worcester leased two other railroads: the Milford and Woonsocket Railroad in 1868, and the Hopkinton Railroad, a northward extension of the Milford and Woonsocket, in 1872. Neither company directly connected to any P&W line; the leases were motivated by a desire to prevent either company from competing with the P&W for traffic. Both leases expired in 1883, with the two railroads resuming independent operation that year; the Milford and Woonsocket took over the Hopkinton the following year. Following an 1872 agreement with the New Jersey Central Railroad and a coal company to build a coal dock near Providence, the company began construction in 1874 on the long East Providence Branch between Valley Falls and East Providence. The branch opened the same year, and provided an alternate routing for coal imports that avoided the use of horses through downtown Providence. The East Providence Branch briefly saw passenger service between 1893 and 1896; it was otherwise exclusively used for freight trains. The completion of the branch increased the importance of Valley Falls to the P&W, and in 1878 the company completed a