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 Hoosac Tunnel is a 4.75-mile (7.64 km) active railroad tunnel in western Massachusetts that passes through the Hoosac Range, an extension of Vermont's Green Mountains. It runs in a straight line from its east portal, along the Deerfield River in the town of Florida, to its west portal, in the city of North Adams.
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.
Pan Am Railways, Inc. (PAR) is a subsidiary of CSX Corporation that operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Rotterdam Junction, New York. Pan Am Railways is primarily made up of former Class II regional railroads such as Boston and Maine Corporation, Maine Central Railroad Company, Portland Terminal Company, and Springfield Terminal Railway Company. It was formerly known as Guilford Transportation Industries and was also known as Guilford Rail System. Guilford bought the name, colors, and logo of Pan American World Airways in 1998.
The Grand Junction Railroad is an 8.55-mile (13.76 km) long railroad in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, connecting the railroads heading west and north from Boston. The line is notable for its railroad bridge over the Charles River that passes under the Boston University Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main line from Boston to Fitchburg is now operated as the MBTA Fitchburg Line; Pan Am Railways runs freight service on some other portions.
The Central Massachusetts Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. The eastern terminus of the line was at North Cambridge Junction where it split off from the Middlesex Central Branch of the Boston and Lowell Railroad in North Cambridge and through which it had access to North Station in Boston. From there, the route ran 98.77 miles west through the modern-day towns of Belmont, Waltham, Weston, Wayland, Sudbury, Hudson, Bolton, Berlin, Clinton, West Boylston, Holden, Rutland, Oakham, Barre, New Braintree, Hardwick, Ware, Palmer, Belchertown, Amherst, and Hadley to its western terminal junction at N. O. Tower in Northampton with the Connecticut River Railroad.
The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across northern Massachusetts, United States, in the 1840s. Winter weekend service includes a specially equipped seasonal "ski train" to Wachusett Mountain.
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.
Ayer station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station located off Main Street in the Ayer Main Street Historic District of Ayer, Massachusetts. It serves the Fitchburg Line. There are three tracks through the station, two of which are served by a pair of low-level side platforms, which are not accessible. There is a shelter on the inbound platform.
Littleton/Route 495 station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Littleton, Massachusetts. It serves the Fitchburg Line. The station is located at the intersection of Grimes Lane and Foster Street near Route 2 and I-495 and serves as a park-and-ride station for both highways.
Pan Am Southern, LLC is a freight railroad jointly owned by Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and CSX Corporation. PAS is independently operated by the Berkshire and Eastern Railroad, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming. PAS owns trackage known as the Patriot Corridor between Albany, New York, and the Boston, Massachusetts, area, utilizing rail lines formerly owned by the Fitchburg Railroad and later on the Boston and Maine Railroad. It was previously operated by PAR subsidiary Springfield Terminal Railway.
The South Reading Branch Railroad or just South Reading Railroad was a short line railroad that ran from Wakefield, Massachusetts to Peabody, Massachusetts. Its 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. The remaining tracks were then used for freight service from Salem through Peabody Square to South Peabody to serve industrial parks until October 2023.
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.
Ayer is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Originally part of Groton, it was incorporated February 14, 1871, and became a major commercial railroad junction. The town was home to Camp Stevens, a training camp for Massachusetts volunteers during the American Civil War. Later, Fort Devens was established by the federal government to train New England soldiers for World War I. Fort Devens is a major influence on the area, although it is considerably smaller than when it was first closed in the mid-1990s. The town's population was 8,479 at the 2020 census.
The Framingham and Lowell Railroad was a railroad in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1870 to provide a rail connection between the growing railroad hub of Framingham and the important mill city of Lowell, passing through the towns of Sudbury, Concord, Acton, Carlisle, Westford and Chelmsford. The 26.1 mile line opened on October 1, 1871.
The Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts that connected Worcester and Winchendon via Gardner. It was originally chartered as the Barre and Worcester Railroad in 1847, before being renamed the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad in 1849. The company was unable to raise funds for construction until 1869; service between Worcester and Gardner began in 1871. An extension northward to Winchendon was completed in January 1874. The Boston, Barre and Gardner operated independently until it was taken over by the Fitchburg Railroad in 1885. Despite the company's name, it never served Boston or Barre. The line was abandoned between Winchendon and Gardner in 1959 by the Fitchburg's successor, the Boston and Maine Railroad. In the 21st century, freight service on the remainder of the line is operated by the Providence and Worcester Railroad between Worcester and Gardner, and by Pan Am Railways on a short segment in Gardner.
The Nashua, Acton and Boston Railroad (NA&B) was a railroad formed in 1871 to build a line between Nashua, New Hampshire, and Acton, Massachusetts. After opening in 1873, the railroad expanded to Concord, Massachusetts, and offered a commuter connection to Boston. It was leased by the Concord Railroad in 1876, with the lease later passing to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1895. Most of the railroad line was abandoned in the 1920s, though a short portion in Nashua continued to be operated until 1980.
Railroads have played an important role in New England ever since the Granite Railway, America's first commercial railway, began operations in Massachusetts in 1826. As industrialization spread across the region, hundreds of railroads were built throughout the 19th century. Railroad mileage peaked around World War I, and from that point on mileage began to shrink. Despite this, railroads continue to be important for freight and passenger transportation in the region, with the New Haven Line holding the title of busiest railroad line in the entire United States.
The Nashua and Lowell Railroad (N&L) was a 14-mile-long (23 km) railroad built to connect Nashua, New Hampshire with the city of Lowell, Massachusetts. Chartered in June 1835, construction began in 1837 and the first train ran the next year. The Nashua and Lowell was the first railroad built in the state of New Hampshire.
