The Old Colony Railroad built many branch lines on the South
Shore before and after the Civil War. (See
link).
The Hanover branch has mostly disappeared with the exception of a
few stretches along undevelopable wetlands.
There is a good 1500 ft remnant of the railroad along the
Cushing Brook, south of Rt 139 in Hanover. The railbed features an
intact bridge at the confluence of the Drinkwater River with
Cushing Brook. The line is still shown on current
topo maps.
The trailhead is at the Ellis baseball field on Circuit Street.
The trail is wet at first and crosses a small brook on a makeshift
bridge. After that, the trail proceeds through dry forest, and
ascends to the railbed for a short walk east to the bridge.
Geo50chevy has a series of nine micros at kiosks around town
that illustrate the history of this branch railroad in greater
detail. Be sure to find them too.