Framingham and Lowell Railroad

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.

On April 1, 1872 the line was leased to the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad for twenty years. On June 1, 1876, the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad merged with the New Bedford Railroad, forming the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad 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 was renamed as the Lowell and Framingham Railroad Company.

On February 27, 1886, the line was consolidated with the Old Colony Railroad, who had previously acquired the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad in 1883. In 1893, the Old Colony Railroad was leased to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. 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.

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