139:
between the
Central Mass right of way in Sudbury and the active Fitchburg Secondary in Framingham. 1.4 miles of the South Sudbury Industrial Track are in the town of Sudbury and 3.4 miles are in the town of Framingham). Service on the line ended on April 13, 2000, when the last CSX train on the South Sudbury Industrial Track derailed off a West spur which led to a lumber yard in Sudbury, this spur is located immediately South of the junction with the East West Central Mass Rail Line right of way (the Boston & Maine Railroad abandoned the Central Mass Branch Rail Line in 1980). In June 2001, CSX applied to the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) for approval to abandon the line. In October 2001 the STB approved the abandonment, although the town of Sudbury filed notice with the STB to request that abandonment be postponed in order to allow negotiations with CSX for acquisition of the line as a rail trail. In August 2004, CSX had removed the rails and ties, leaving bridges in place in the event a path were built. By late 2005, all of the grade crossings had been removed by the
27:
115:. From 1871, passenger service regularly consisted of three round trips a day over the entire route, one morning, one midday and one evening. In 1917 the midday round trip was dropped for additional wartime freight needs; it was never restored. In 1932 service was cut in half, leaving a southbound trip and a northbound trip between Framingham and Lowell. All regular passenger service ended in 1933, although the New Haven Railroad ran northbound ski trains along it through the 1950s.
143:. In December 2020, the town of Sudbury reached a railbanking agreement with CSX. In December 2023, the town of Framingham reached a replacement railbanking agreement with the Georgetown and High Line Railway Company, which had previously reached a railbanking agreement with CSX. Today, the line is in various stages of being converted into the
96:
and subsequently extending the lease of the
Framingham and Lowell Railroad to 998 years from October 1, 1879. On September 10, 1881, the Framingham and Lowell Railroad was deeded on execution sale to the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad, and one month later, on October 5, 1881, it
138:
The present owner, CSX Transportation, took over part of the
Conrail system in 1999, including one of the only remaining active portions of the Framingham and Lowell Railroad which was the South Sudbury Industrial Track (South Sudbury to Framingham Center, a 4.8 mile segment of the Lowell Secondary
127:. However, ownership of the former Framingham and Lowell Railroad line was not passed to Conrail, save for a small portion from South Sudbury to Framingham Center, which was named the South Sudbury Industrial Track in 1982; ownership of the line from South Sudbury to Lowell passed to the
118:
By the 1960s, the New York, New Haven and
Hartford Railroad, like many railroads, was struggling to stay solvent in the face of increased competition from alternate modes of transportation, and so in 1961 it petitioned to be included in the newly formed
425:
Report of the Board of
Railroad Commissioners, the Tax Commissioner and the Bank Commissioner, sitting as a commission, relative to the assets and liabilities of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, Feb. 15,
461:
Drury, George H. (1994). The
Historical Guide to North American Railroads: Histories, Figures, and Features of more than 160 Railroads Abandoned or Merged since 1930. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 222–229, 248.
108:, who had previously acquired the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad in 1883. The Old Colony Railroad constructed a second track between Concord Junction and Acton Junction in 1891..
131:, who contracted with Conrail to provide service. During the 1980s the tracks stretching from South Sudbury to Concord Junction were abandoned, and service was contracted to the
93:
123:. On December 31, 1968, all of its properties were purchased by Penn Central. Penn Central, however, soon went bankrupt, and on April 1, 1976, it was taken over by
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Massachusetts. Joint
Commission on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, ed. (1911).
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49:. It was incorporated in 1870 to provide a rail connection between the growing railroad hub of
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for twenty years. On June 1, 1876, the Boston, Clinton and
Fitchburg Railroad merged with the
528:"Decision and Notice of Interim Trail Use or Abandonment, Docket No. AB 565 (Sub-No 1X)"
499:"Decision and Notice of Interim Trail Use or Abandonment, Docket No. AB 565 (Sub-No 1X)"
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595:
583:
Video of a fan trip on a portion of the line in
Concord and Acton can be seen .
408:
Twenty-Eighth Annual Report of the Old Colony
Railroad Co. to the Stockholders
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Junction with Framingham Branch (connector to Lowell Branch) - no station
569:. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. August 9, 1915. p. 15.
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Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners, Feb 15, 1911, page 427
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to supply the North Acton-based lumber yards from West Concord.
429:. Boston, Mass.: Wright & Potter Printing Co. p. 326.
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Summer Schedule: Lines East of New London and Willimantic
411:. Old Colony Railroad Company. September 1891. p. 9.
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On February 27, 1886, the line was consolidated with the
587:
Interactive map of the Framingham and Lowell Railroad.
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Junction with Boston and Lowell Railroad - no station
482:. Consolidated Rail Corporation. 2003. Archived from
111:In 1893, the Old Colony Railroad was leased to the
94:
Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad
81:. The 26.1 mile line opened on October 1, 1871.
84:On April 1, 1872, the line was leased to the
8:
16:Railroad in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
113:New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
154:
389:
99:Lowell and Framingham Railroad Company
86:Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad
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121:Penn Central Transportation Company
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305:Nashua, Acton and Boston Railroad
141:Massachusetts Highway Department
602:Defunct Massachusetts railroads
371:Framingham Centre (Framingham)
57:, passing through the towns of
53:and the important mill city of
47:Middlesex County, Massachusetts
526:Dinh, Mai (December 4, 2023).
497:Dinh, Mai (December 4, 2023).
347:Central Massachusetts Railroad
43:Framingham and Lowell Railroad
36:Central Massachusetts Railroad
1:
129:Commonwealth of Massachusetts
535:Surface Transportation Board
506:Surface Transportation Board
480:"A Brief History of Conrail"
376:Agricultural Branch Railroad
280:Joint station with NA&B
195:Lowell and Lawrence Railroad
151:Station and junction listing
361:Nobscot (North Framingham)
32:South Sudbury Union Station
623:
191:Nashua and Lowell Railroad
187:Boston and Lowell Railroad
607:Old Colony Railroad lines
555:brucefreemanrailtrail.org
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320:North Sudbury (Raymonds)
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236:South Chelmsford (Byams)
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145:Bruce Freeman Rail Trail
34:, the junction with the
269:Junction with NA&B
167:Connections and notes
38:
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266:North Acton (Nagog)
197:, and Lowell Branch
90:New Bedford Railroad
296:(Concord Junction)
185:Joint station with
133:Bay Colony Railroad
106:Old Colony Railroad
97:was renamed as the
30:A 1911 postcard of
301:Fitchburg Railroad
226:Chelmsford Center
45:was a railroad in
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368:26.7 (43.0)
353:24.3 (39.2)
337:22.0 (35.4)
327:20.4 (32.9)
312:18.5 (29.8)
294:West Concord
285:15.1 (24.3)
274:13.2 (21.2)
258:10.8 (17.4)
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42:
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540:December 4,
511:December 4,
307:(NA&B)
243:9.0 (14.4)
233:6.3 (10.2)
158:Miles (km)
596:Categories
448:2013-01-28
384:References
357:Framingham
222:Chelmsford
218:3.9 (6.2)
210:1.1 (1.8)
202:0.6 (1.0)
172:0.0 (0.0)
79:Chelmsford
51:Framingham
251:Carlisle
443:20532802
435:12033447
330:Sudbury
247:Westford
164:Station
75:Westford
71:Carlisle
316:Sudbury
289:Concord
125:Conrail
63:Concord
59:Sudbury
466:
441:
433:
277:Acton
181:Lowell
176:Lowell
55:Lowell
531:(PDF)
502:(PDF)
262:Acton
161:City
67:Acton
542:2023
513:2023
464:ISBN
439:OCLC
431:LCCN
426:1911
77:and
41:The
21:Map
598::
533:.
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437:.
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147:.
101:.
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515:.
451:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
