The Lowell and Andover Railroad was a branch line of the Boston and Maine Railroad and was organized in 1873, after the Boston and Lowell Railroad's monopoly on Boston to Lowell service ended in 1865. The line opened in 1874 from the B&M's main line at Lowell Junction in Andover, just south of the village of Ballardvale, west to Lowell through Tewksbury.
The B&M organized this railroad in retaliation against the B&L in their long running rivalry which started when the B&M rented trackage rights on the B&L's main line to access Boston from Wilmington. The traffic on the B&L main line was so heavy, the B&M was made to sit and wait hours at Wilmington before being given clearance to continue on to Boston.
This led the B&M to build its own main line from North Wilmington to Boston which angered the B&L's management. Trying to block the B&M from building its line, the B&L filed suit, but lost because its monopoly only covered service between Boston and Lowell.
After the new mail line was opened, the B&M removed its track that connected the main line between North Wilmington and Wilmington so the B&L could not use it. Years later, the B&L would put the track back in and call it the Wildcat Branch.
The two railroads had been at odds with each other earlier when two new lines, the Lowell and Lawrence Railroad along with the Salem and Lowell Railroad began operation around 1849. The Salem & Lowell's tracks crossed over the B&Ms main line about a mile north of its North Wilmington station and the crossroads was called Wilmington Jct. In 1851, the L&L permitted the B&M to run passenger service over the S&L from Wilmington Jct to Tewksbury Jct and continue to Lowell on the main L&L track. This was in defiance of the B&L's monopoly on all rail service between Boston and Lowell. In 1855, the courts ordered the B&M to stop running their passenger service and by 1858, the B&L had full control over the two lines. They rebuilt the Wildcat line and now the B&L was in a much stronger competitive position with the B&M now that they had access between Lowell, Lawrence, and Salem while the B&M did not.
The B&M, however, knew that the B&L's monopoly would end soon and would not be renewed. When it ended, the Lowell & Andover was put in motion. The line started on the B&M's main line just south of Ballardvale and went right through East Tewksbury and crossed over the Lowell & Lawrence tracks just north of Tewksbury Jct. From here it paralleled the L&L until it came to Wamesit. There the two lines met on either side of the Wamesit station house. As they entered Lowell, they were running about a half mile apart until they met the Concord River in Wigginsville a small neighborhood in South Lowell. The Lowell & Andover followed the Concord River to Downtown Lowell and built a station on Central Street.
In 1895, the B&M built a bridge across the Concord River and followed the L&L line to the Bleachery section of Lowell. It re-routed it traffic over this line and they continued to Downtown Lowell via the B&L main line, which the B&M had taken over in 1887.
Today, almost the entire branch is still in operation. In the 1920s, the B&M abandoned the Lowell & Lawrence in favor of the Lowell & Andover. The only part of the L&L that kept in service was the first mile between the Concord River and the Bleachery. The B&M abandoned their 1895 extension, in 1936 and built a connection from its line on the west side of the river to the L&L line. The original route along the Concord River from Wigginsville to Downtown was abandoned in 1982.
Today, this line is part of Pan Am Railways' main freight line through Massachusetts.
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983.
The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Southern Division.
The Lowell Line is a railroad line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from Boston to Lowell, Massachusetts. Originally built as the New Hampshire Main Line of the Boston & Lowell Railroad and later operated as part of the Boston & Maine Railroad's Southern Division, the line was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in Massachusetts.
The Haverhill Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the cities and towns of Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Reading, Wilmington, Andover, North Andover, Lawrence, and Haverhill.
The Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad was a railroad company chartered in 1845 and opened in 1846 that operated in eastern Massachusetts. It and its successors provided passenger service until 1977 and freight service until 1980 or early 1981.
The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the competition by leasing the Eastern in December 1884. Much of the railroad's main line in Massachusetts is used by the MBTA's Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail line, and some unused parts of its right-of-way have been converted to rail trails.
The Senator Patricia McGovern Transportation Center, also known as the McGovern Transportation Center or simply Lawrence station, is a transit station in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Commuter Rail's Haverhill Line. The modern station, which opened in 2005, is the latest of seven distinct stations located in Lawrence since 1848; it is located in the city's Gateway District.
Andover station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Andover, Massachusetts. It serves the Haverhill Line. The station has one platform with a mini-high platform for handicapped accessibility serving one track, while the second track lacks a platform. The previous station building, used from 1907 to 1959, is still extant; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as Third Railroad Station.
Ballardvale station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station on the Haverhill Line, located in the Ballardvale village of Andover, Massachusetts.
The Wildcat Branch is a single track railroad branch line which connects the MBTA Lowell Line in Wilmington, Massachusetts to the MBTA Haverhill Line at Wilmington Junction. The total length of the branch line from the connection with the Lowell Line to the merge with the Haverhill Line is 2.88 miles (4.63 km). It was operated from 1836 to 1848, then rebuilt in 1874, and has been used since.
The South Reading Branch Railroad or just South Reading Railroad was a short line railroad that ran from Wakefield, Massachusetts to Peabody, Massachusetts. It's origins began sometime in 1850 when the railroad was named after the town of South Reading before its name change to Wakefield in 1868. By the time Boston and Maine took over the railroad in 1884, the line had already become obsolete due to competing branches. Boston and Maine eventually halted passenger service in 1925 by abandoning 8 miles of track between Peabody and Lynnfield. The tracks of the former Wakefield branch continued to operate from Lynnfield to Boston until 1959 when passenger service ended. Active tracks for freight service are still used from Salem through Peabody Square to South Peabody to serve industrial parks.
The Salem and Lowell Railroad, chartered in 1848, was a railroad in Massachusetts that connected the towns of Peabody and Tewksbury. The company connected to other railroads at both ends to provide service to its two namesake cities - the Lowell and Lawrence Railroad at Tewksbury Junction, and the Essex Railroad at Peabody. Construction was completed in 1850, with train operations contracted to the Lowell and Lawrence until 1858, when the Boston and Lowell Railroad took over both companies. In 1887, the Boston and Maine Railroad took over the Boston and Lowell and became the new operator of the Salem and Lowell. The line gradually declined in importance from the start of the 20th century, and was progressively abandoned from 1925 onwards. The last trains ran on the route in 1980, and the remainder of the route formally abandoned in 1987. Parts of the right of way are now a rail-trail.
The Lowell and Lawrence Railroad was a small independent railroad that was chartered in 1846 to build a rail line linking the two giant Merrimack River Valley cities of Lowell, Massachusetts to Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Lowell Junction is a railroad junction located in Andover, Massachusetts, about one mile south of the village of Ballardvale.
The Essex Railroad was a 19.6-mile (31.5 km) independent railroad in Essex County, Massachusetts in the US that connected Salem to North Andover.
The Manchester and Lawrence Railroad was a railroad company that was chartered in New Hampshire, United States, by businessmen from Manchester, to build a rail line from that city to the Massachusetts state line.
The Stony Brook Railroad, chartered in 1845, was a railroad company in Massachusetts, United States. The company constructed a rail line between the Nashua and Lowell Railroad's main line at the village of North Chelmsford and the town of Ayer, Massachusetts where it connected to the Fitchburg Railroad. Rather than running its own trains, upon opening in 1848 operations were contracted to the Nashua and Lowell; this arrangement continued until the Nashua and Lowell was leased by the Boston and Lowell Railroad in 1880. The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) took over operation of the Stony Brook in 1887 when it leased the Boston and Lowell Railroad. In 1983 the B&M was purchased by Guilford Rail System, which renamed itself Pan Am Railways (PAR) in 2006. Passenger service last ran on the line in 1961, but it saw significant freight service under Pan Am Railways. While it never owned rolling stock or ran trains, the Stony Brook Railroad Corporation existed until 2022 as a nearly wholly owned subsidiary of the Boston and Maine, itself a PAR subsidiary. That year, it was merged into CSX Transportation as part of CSX's purchase of Pan Am Railways.
The Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad was a railroad line that was to link the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, to the city of Portland, Maine, via the New Hampshire cities of Nashua and Rochester, by merging several small shortline railroads together.
The Woburn Branch Railroad was a branch line of the Boston and Lowell Railroad ("B&L") and later of the MBTA Commuter Rail system that connected the Lowell Line with the city square in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Woburn station was a railroad station on the Woburn Branch, part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Lowell Line.