Framingham-Lowell Line

Does anyone know of articles about this New Haven branch in Mass.?
Anything in The Shoreliner perhaps?

I am especially interested in pictures of structures on this branch.

Thanks in advance

JB

Shoreliner Vol. 19 Issue 1 (1988) had an article on the Old Colony Northern Division, with a history and pictures at Framingham, Fitchburg, Clinton, and a number of other locations.

As I recall, it covered the Fitchburg part of the line more than the Lowell segment, but I seem to remember it did cover the Lowell segment somewhat.

Many thanks for the reply. I'll review Vol 19 of The Shoreliner.

JB

The Framingham-Lowell route was not exactly overloaded with structures. The three major junctions on the line actually used Boston & Maine passenger station structures and you maybe could find these in some B & M Historical Society or other publications.
South Sudbury used the B & M passenger station which also housed the interlocking machine for the diamond crossing at that point. Interlocking was converted to automatic about 1954 and big station with turret was torn down and replaced by much smaller enclosed, heated passenger station which still stands. NH passenger service on this line ended about 1954. There was a NH freight house until some time in 1960s and I photographed it, but the negatives are up in attic somewhere.
West Concord passenger station built by Fitchburg RR and used by NH still stands. From West Concord (Concord Junction in old days) to North Acton Jct. Boston & Maine's Nashua-West Concord Branch used a parallel main track to the NH route, owned by the NH. The B & M made no station stops on this segment. At Lowell the NH used the B & M passenger station. There was a NH enginehouse here and it and other service facilities were upgraded in late 1920s to handle larger power. However, due to drastic drop off in freight business in 1930s, operations were eventually conducted as turn around moves from Framingham. Chelmsford freight house on Route 110 near the high school stood until fairly recent years.
Interlocking at West Concord was made remote from Waltham B & M in 1930s and as train volume dwindled, the NH had to stop at the West Concord diamond and call to get clear signal. Non operative approach signals governed this interlocking along with the southbound approach to the junction at Framingham Ctr (with NH's Fitchburg branch). Framingham Ctr interlocking for many years was SS O-364 the crossing cabin at Route 9 which controlled ancient semaphore interlocking signals on both the Lowell and Fitchburg branches.
The only large bridge on this line was Nashoba Brook, just south of West Concord station and it has been removed. The territory is very flat for the entire branch. Most of the rail north of South Sudbury to about 3 miles south of Lowell is still on the ground overgrown in the woods. The through route ended in 1976.
I rode this line on a Nelson Blount steam excursion in May, 1967.

New Haven passenger service was discontinued long before 1954, likely
in the 1930's.
Noel Weaver

Thanks for the replies, gents!

My 1943 NH TT shows no passenger service at that time, so I tend to agree that it terminated in the 1930s during the Depression.

Isn't the Chelmsford freight house still standing, or at least part of it? It was across the street from the old station on Rt 110, painted in cream and maroon. There is a building with freight doors that looks like it was or was part of that structure.

The Sudbury station and freight house are standing. The residence diagonally across the street has the old station sign on the garage.

Incidentally, the B&M section house in South Sudbury on Rte 20 has been magnificently restored. It is worth a shot, but you'll need a wide angle lens.

JB

The North Sudbury station was standing until recently. It might still be there. It was moved a ways from the tracks and became a country store and gas station.

Sorry about the passenger service date. It was about 1934.

The State of Maine detoured southbound the night Hurricane Hazel hit Upstate New York and Ontario, Oct., 1954 or 1955. That was a very unusual path for a hurricane; it was all rain in this area. The absence of any major watercourses on the route was a plus because the line was pretty immune to high water conditions.

The Nobscot Station stood until fairly recently but it was unremarked. My Uncle Tommy wound up inheriting it from an older widow whom he befriended and cared for. Her maiden name was Bacon and her father was the station agent for a number of years. Although located within the limits of Framingham, this was a rather remote, apple growing area of town. The station had living quarters and agent Bacon bought the building and some adjacent land when the NH closed the agency. The building was moved back from the tracks. Daughter eventually got building and Uncle Tommy eventually inherited it from her. Uncle Tommy ran out of money and gave option to buy building to a local realtor developer upon his demise in return for money. Uncle Tommy died in 1998 in hospice care and building was demolished. It did not look like a station because quite a few changes were made to it. The site wasn't developed last time I checked. Location is opposite Hemenway School, same side of tracks as school.

Thanks again for the information.

There is debate if the structure on Pantry Road is the North Sudbury station relocated from the tracks. Gary Lapointe's site (Railroad stations of Massachusetts) lists this building as "Raymonds."

Also on his site is a picture of what some believe is the replacement Nobscot station in North Framingham on Water St.

Anyone care to join the debate?

JB

I have some Boston & Maine Lowell Tower Territory Train Dispatchers' sheets for early 1958. Covers Lowell Junction to Willows but also has information on New Haven traffic.
2/22/58 was the real Washington's Birthday, it was a Saturday and it appears to have been somewhat snowy. Here's what was moving on the NH that day.

BL-1, engs 517 & 0509, 93 cars, arrive 3:20 am (this was Friday nite train out of Boston)
LB-2, engs 517 & 059, 25 cars, leave 5:25 am.
BL-1 and LB-2 must have encountered some rough conditions because:
Flanger, Eng 0662, arrived 9:34 am, went back sout 9:59 am
PL-2 engs 592 & 595, 23 cars, arrive 5:05 pm
LP-1 engs 592 & 595, 31 cars, leave 5:55 pm

Raymond was the timetable name for North Sudbury. The New Haven, Boston & Maine and Maine Central renamed most of their North, South, East and West station names on single track lines where there were meeting points. One reason stemmed from a B & M wreck where there was confusion in train orders between Canaan and West Canaan, NH.

Thanks eddiebehr. I have a picture of a New Haven train led by a C425
approaching Lowell tower with a train. Better yet, there is a picture in "Penn Central Power" (Yanosey) of train BL-2 at Readville with matched A-B-B-A Fa's headed for Lowell with B&M interchange traffic.

The Walker Transportation Collection has a good photo of the NH No. Sudbury station in its archives. It looks substantially different from the store that stands on Pantry Road. The one similarity, however, is that the building's front sported a door at center surrounded by a window on each side.

So, do you still maintain that this former store on Pantry Rd. was the former No. Sudbury station? You might want to check the discussion on Scott Lapointe's Massachusetts station site (Middlesex Co.) under "Raymonds." One individual claims the original station was demolished.

Thanks again.

When I was at the Boston & Maine, I was in charge of property records from 1973 to 1985. In our Valuation Maps. there were New Haven style maps of various joint facility locations, which on the Framingham-Lowell route were South Subury, Concord Junction and Lowell. These maps a drawn to a very generous scale and have tracks, structures, signals, property lines, adjacent business, etc. I believe the date on them was June 30, 1915, although they may have been updated.
When the B & M moved us accounting types from 150 Causeway Street in Boston to North Billerica in 1983, I was instructed to dispose of material no longer needed or required and I was authorized to donate whatever I could to any historical group willing to take it. I sent about 1,100 B & M Valuation maps to the B & M Historical Society archives in Lowell. Included are the New Haven plans at above locations and some others. (Recipient of some other material was Walker Transportation Collection at Beverly Historical Society.) (GTI management not quite at the top authorized these donations.)

From reading an article in the Boston papers last week, the State of MA is spending $5 million to convert the line to a rail trail, with towns along the line helping with the cost.