Woburn Branch Railroad

The Woburn Branch Railroad (known as the Woburn Loop) was a branch line of the Boston and Lowell Railroad ("B&L") that connected the city square in Woburn, Massachusetts to the main line.

History

Former junction of the Woburn Branch Railroad (left) and the Boston & Lowell Railroad (now the MBTA Lowell Line) in Winchester in 2013

When the B&L laid out its main line, it respected the wishes of the people of Woburn not to run the line through their town center. Instead, the B&L ran the line through the Montvale, Mishawum, and North Woburn sections of the town, bypassing the center.

As Woburn grew in size from a town to a city, its citizens regretted pushing the railroad to the east end of town and request that the B&L put in a branch line to the center of town. The railroad agreed and in December 1844 opened the new line from its main line at Winchester (then known as South Woburn) to Woburn Square.

The Horn Pond Branch Railroad was a short freight-only branch off the Woburn Branch to ice houses on Horn Pond. The line was built at the request of the Boston Ice Company and train ran only during ice cutting season. The line opened in 1854 and lasted until the line was abandoned in 1919. The old ice houses burned down several years later.

The northern loop, built in 1885, continued the line north to the main line at North Woburn Junction in South Wilmington. This allowed the B&L to route some of its passenger trains down the Loop to serve the city. This service continued until 1959 when passenger service was cut back to Woburn Square. The branch was abandoned from Woburn Square north to the Wilmington/Woburn town line in 1961.

The B&L continued commuter rail service to Woburn on the original branch line from Winchester. The MBTA took over passenger service in 1971 and outsourced it to the Boston and Maine Railway ("B&M"). Trains ran on the Woburn Loop until 1981 when poor track conditions stopped service. The MBTA and the B&M formally abandoned the branch line in 1982. The MBTA still owns the right-of-way, but the bridge over Rt. 38 and its embankments were removed and a grocery store was built there in the late 1990s.

The part of the northern loop within the town of Wilmington (about a mile in length) is still used as an industrial spur to service customers along the line in South Wilmington.

References

Karr, Ronald D. (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England - A Handbook of Railroad History. Branch Line Press. ISBN 0-942147-02-2.
Karr, Ronald D. (1994). Lost Railroads New England. Branch Line Press. ISBN 0-942147-04-9. http://www.branchlinepress.com

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Woburn Branch Railroad.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Subway lines
(List of stations)

Heavy rail	Blue Orange Red

Light rail	Green "B" Branch "C" Branch "D" Branch "E" Branch Ashmont–Mattapan

Former lines	Arborway Line Atlantic Avenue Elevated Causeway Street Elevated Charlestown Elevated Green Line "A" Branch Washington Street Elevated

Commuter
Rail lines
(List of stations)

North Station lines	Fitchburg Haverhill (Wildcat Branch) Lowell Newburyport/Rockport

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Former lines	Central Mass Branch Dedham Branch Lexington Branch Millis Branch Woburn Branch

Bus routes
(List of routes)

Other services

Component parts
of system lines

Boylston Street Subway
Haymarket North Extension
Lechmere Viaduct
Tremont Street Subway
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Capital projects

Under construction	Chelsea extension Fairmount Line upgrades Fitchburg Line upgrades Wachusett extension Forest Hills modifications Government Center reconstruction Green Line Extension Haverhill Line upgrades South Coast Rail

In planning / proposed	Buzzards Bay extension Foxboro service Hynes Convention Center renovation Kingston R.I. extension Nashua extension Route 16 extension Wollaston renovation

Formerly proposed	Arborway Line restoration Indigo Line (Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61) Lexington extension Lynn extension North–South Rail Link Plaistow extension Reading extension Red Line—Blue Line Connector Urban Ring Project

History

Predecessor companies	Boston Elevated Railway Streetcar lines Boston and Maine Railroad Conrail New York Central Railroad New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Penn Central Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway

Route histories	History of the Green Line

Accidents and incidents	1990 Back Bay 2008 Waban/Woodland

Other

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