List of railroad lines in Massachusetts

This is a list of all freight railroad (not streetcar or rapid transit) lines that have been built in Massachusetts, and does not deal with ownership changes from one company to another. The lines are named by the first company to build or consolidate them.

B&A lines and related railroads

These railroads were owned by or closely related to the Boston and Albany Railroad, later part of the New York Central Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Boston and Worcester Railroad	Boston	Worcester	Brookline Branch, Beacon Street to Brookline Milford Branch, Framingham to Milford Millbury Branch, Millbury Junction to Millbury Newton Highlands Branch, Riverside to Cook Street Junction Newton Lower Falls Branch, Riverside to Newton Lower Falls Saxonville Branch, Natick to Saxonville	Framingham Branch became part of the NYNH&H
Chester and Becket Railroad	Chester	Becket
Grand Junction Railroad	Allston	East Boston
North Brookfield Railroad	East Brookfield	North Brookfield
Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad	North Adams Junction	North Adams
Providence, Webster and Springfield Railroad	Webster Junction	Webster	East Village Branch, Webster Mills to East Village
Spencer Railroad	South Spencer	Spencer
Springfield, Athol and North-eastern Railroad	Athol Junction	Athol
Ware River Railroad	Palmer	Winchendon		Massachusetts Central Railroad today, operating between Palmer and South Barre
Western Railroad	Worcester	New York state line in West Stockbridge

B&M lines and related railroads

These railroads were owned by or closely related to the Boston and Maine Railroad.

Connecticut River Division

The Connecticut River Division was the former Connecticut River Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Connecticut River Railroad	Springfield	Vermont state line in Northfield	Chicopee Falls Branch, Chicopee Junction to Chicopee Falls East Deerfield Branch, Deerfield Junction to East Deerfield Easthampton Branch, Mount Tom to Easthampton

Eastern Division

The Eastern Division was the former Eastern Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches
Asbury Grove Railroad	Wenham	Asbury Grove
Chelsea Beach Railroad	Oak Island Junction	Saugus River Junction
Eastern Railroad	East Boston	New Hampshire state line in Salisbury	Amesbury Branch, Salisbury to Amesbury Charlestown Branch, Revere to Boston Essex Branch, Wenham to Essex Gloucester Branch, Beverly Junction to Rockport Marblehead Branch, Castle Hill to Marblehead Swampscott Branch, Swampscott to Marblehead
Essex Branch Railroad	Salem	North Andover	Salem Harbor Branch, Salem to Salem Harbor
Newburyport City Railroad	Newburyport	Newburyport Wharf
Saugus Branch Railroad	West Lynn	Everett
South Reading Branch Railroad	Peabody	Wakefield

Fitchburg Division

The Fitchburg Division was the former Fitchburg Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Ashburnham Railroad	South Ashburnham	Ashburnham
Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad	Worcester	Winchendon
Brookline and Milford Railroad	Squannacook Junction	New Hampshire state line in Pepperell
Charlestown Branch Railroad	Charlestown	Belmont
Deerfield River Railroad	Hoosac Tunnel	Vermont state line in Rowe		never owned by the B&M or Fitchburg
Fitchburg Railroad	Boston	Fitchburg
Harvard Branch Railroad	Somerville	Harvard Square		never owned by the B&M or Fitchburg
Lancaster and Sterling Railroad	Hudson	South Acton
Marlborough Branch Railroad	Marlborough	Hudson
Monadnock Railroad	Winchendon	New Hampshire state line in Winchendon
Peterborough and Shirley Railroad	Ayer Junction	New Hampshire state line in Townsend
Troy and Greenfield Railroad	Greenfield	Vermont state line in Williamstown
Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad	Fitchburg	Greenfield	Turners Falls Branch, Turners Falls Junction to Turners Falls	original main line north from Millers Falls became part of the Central Vermont Railroad
Watertown Branch Railroad	Waltham	West Cambridge
Winchendon Railroad	South Ashburnham	New Hampshire state line in Winchendon

Southern Division

The Southern Division was the former Boston and Lowell Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Andover and Haverhill Railroad	Andover	Bradford
Andover and Wilmington Railroad	Wilmington	Andover
Billerica and Bedford Railroad	North Billerica	Bedford
Boston and Lowell Railroad	Boston	Lowell	Mystic River Branch in Charlestown branch, Somerville Junction to Lake Street
Central Massachusetts Railroad	North Cambridge Junction	Northampton
Horn Pond Branch Railroad	Horn Pond	Woburn
Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad	West Cambridge	Lexington		aka: Lexington and Arlington Railroad
Lowell and Lawrence Railroad	Lowell	Lawrence
Lowell and Nashua Railroad	Lowell	New Hampshire state line in Tyngsborough
Middlesex Central Railroad	Lexington	Middlesex Junction
Salem and Lowell Railroad	Tewksbury Junction	Peabody
Stoneham Branch Railroad	East Woburn	Stoneham
Stony Brook Railroad	Chelmsford	Ayer
Woburn Branch Railroad	Winchester	Woburn
Woburn Branch Extension Railroad	Woburn	North Woburn Junction

Western Division

The Western Division was the original Boston and Maine Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches
Boston and Maine Extension Railroad	Boston	Wilmington Junction
Boston and Portland Railroad	Wilmington	New Hampshire state line in Haverhill	Methuen Branch, Lawrence to New Hampshire state line in Methuen
Danvers Railroad	Wakefield	Danvers Junction
Danvers and Georgetown Railroad	Danvers Junction	Georgetown
Lowell and Andover Railroad	Lowell Junction	Lowell
Medford branch	Medford Junction	Medford Square
Nashua, Acton and Boston Railroad	Acton	New Hampshire state line in Dunstable
Newburyport Railroad	Bradford	Newburyport
West Amesbury Branch Railroad	Merrimac	New Hampshire state line in Merrimac

Worcester, Nashua and Portland Division

The Worcester, Nashua and Portland Division was the former Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Worcester and Nashua Railroad	Worcester	New Hampshire state line in Dunstable

Central Vermont lines and related railroads

These railroads were owned by or closely related to the Central Vermont Railroad.

Name	From	To	Notes
Flynt's Granite Branch Railroad	Monson	Flynt and Company Granite Quarries (Flynt Quarry)	not owned by the Central Vermont
New London Northern Railroad	Connecticut state line in Monson	Millers Falls
Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad	Millers Falls	Vermont state line in Northfield	The rest of the V&M became part of the Boston and Maine Railroad.

NYNH&H lines and related railroads

These railroads were owned by or closely related to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

Berkshire Division

The Berkshire Division was the former Berkshire Railroad.

Name	From	To
Berkshire Railroad	West Stockbridge	Connecticut state line in Sheffield
Stockbridge and Pittsfield Railroad	Van Deusenville	Pittsfield
West Stockbridge Railroad	West Stockbridge	New York state line in West Stockbridge (at the Boston and Albany Railroad junction)

Central New England Division

The Central New England Division was the former Central New England Railway.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Central New England Railway Springfield Branch	Connecticut state line in Agawam	Agawam Junction

Hartford Division

The Hartford Division was the former Hartford and New Haven Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Hartford and Springfield Railroad	Connecticut state line in Longmeadow	Springfield

Midland Division

The Midland Division was the former New England Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Charles River Railroad	Cook Street Junction	Rhode Island state line in Blackstone	Ridge Hill Branch, Charles River to Ridge Hill	east from Cook Street Junction to Brookline became part of the B&A
Hopkinton Railway	Ashland	Milford
Norfolk County Railroad	Dedham	Blackstone
Medway Branch Railroad	Norfolk	Medway
Midland Railroad	Boston	Dedham Junction	Dedham Branch, Dedham Junction to Dedham
Milford, Franklin and Providence Railroad	Bellingham Junction	Franklin Junction
Milford and Woonsocket Railroad	Milford	Bellingham Junction
Providence and Springfield Railroad	Rhode Island state line in Douglas	Douglas Junction
Rhode Island and Massachusetts Railroad	Rhode Island state line in North Attleborough Rhode Island state line in Wrentham	Rhode Island state line in North Attleborough Franklin Junction
Southbridge and Blackstone Railroad	Blackstone Connecticut state line in Webster	Connecticut state line in Douglas Southbridge
Worcester and Norwich Railroad	Connecticut state line in Webster	Worcester

Northampton Division

The Northampton Division was the former New Haven and Northampton Company.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Holyoke and Westfield Railroad	Holyoke	Westfield
New Haven and Northampton Company	Connecticut state line in Southwick	Shelburne Junction	Turner's Falls Branch, South Deerfield to Turners Falls Williamsburg Branch, Williamsburg Junction to Williamsburg

Old Colony Division

The Old Colony Division was the former Old Colony Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Agricultural Branch Railroad	Framingham Centre	Pratt's Junction	Lancaster Mills Branch, Lancaster Mills Junction to Lancaster Mills Marlborough Branch, Marlborough Junction to Marlborough
Attleborough Branch Railroad	Attleboro	North Attleborough		later operated as a streetcar line
Boston and Providence Railroad	Boston	Rhode Island state line in Attleboro	Dedham Branch, Forest Hills to Readville via Dedham East Providence Branch, East Junction to Rhode Island state line in Attleboro Needham Branch, West Roxbury to Needham Junction
Boston and Worcester Railroad Framingham Branch	Framingham	Framingham Centre
Bridgewater Branch Railroad	Whitman Junction	Bridgewater Junction
Cape Cod Railroad	Orleans	Provincetown
Cape Cod Branch Railroad	Middleborough	Hyannis	Woods Hole Branch, Buzzards Bay to Woods Hole
Cape Cod Central Railroad	Yarmouth	Orleans
Chatham Railroad	Harwich	Chatham
Dighton and Somerset Railroad	South Braintree	Somerset Junction		Part was built by the Easton Branch Railroad
Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad	Neponset	Mattapan
Duxbury and Cohasset Railroad	Cohasset	Kingston
Easton Branch Railroad	Stoughton	Easton
Fairhaven Branch Railroad	West Wareham Junction	Fairhaven
Fall River Branch Railroad	Myricks	Fall River
Fall River Railroad	Braintree Highlands	Myricks
Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad	Fitchburg	Sterling Junction
Fore River Railroad	East Braintree	Quincy Point		Owned by Bethlehem Steel
Framingham and Lowell Railroad	Framingham	Lowell
Granite Branch Railroad	Atlantic	Braintree
Hanover Branch Railroad	North Abington	Hanover
Mansfield and Framingham Railroad	Mansfield	Framingham
Middleborough and Taunton Railroad	Middleborough	Middleborough Junction
Nantasket Beach Railroad	Nantasket Junction	Pemberton
New Bedford and Fall River Railroad	short connecting track at Taunton
New Bedford and Taunton Railroad	Taunton	New Bedford	Fall River Branch, New Bedford to Fall River
Old Colony Railroad	Boston	Plymouth
Old Colony Railroad Easton Branch	Matfield	Easton
Old Colony Railroad Elmwood Branch	Westdale	Elmwood
Old Colony Railroad Raynham Branch	Whittenton Junction	Raynham
Old Colony Railroad Wrentham Branch	Adamsdale Junction	Norwood Central
Old Colony and Fall River Railroad	Fall River	Rhode Island state line in Fall River
Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad	Plymouth	Middleborough
Shawmut Branch Railroad	Milton	Harrison Square
South Shore Railroad	Braintree	Cohasset
Stoughton Branch Railroad	Canton Junction	Stoughton
Taunton Branch Railroad	Taunton	Mansfield	Attleboro Branch, Attleboro Junction to Attleboro Taunton River Branch, Weir Village to Old Brewery Wharf
Warren and Fall River Railroad	Rhode Island state line in Swansea	Fall River

Providence and Worcester Division

The Providence and Worcester Division was the former Providence and Worcester Railroad.

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Providence and Worcester Railroad	Connecticut state line in Blackstone	Worcester

Other railroads

Name	From	To	Branches	Notes
Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad	East Boston	Lynn	Winthrop Branch, Orient Heights to loop through Winthrop	see also Boston, Winthrop and Point Shirley Railroad and Eastern Junction, Broad Sound Pier and Point Shirley Railroad, which built lines and later abandoned them
Cape Ann Granite Railroad	Pigeon Cove Harbor	Cape Ann Granite Company quarries
Grafton and Upton Railroad	North Grafton	Milford	Upton Loop, West Upton to Upton
Hampden Railroad	Springfield	Bondsville		never opened, built by the Boston and Maine Railroad and New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
Lancaster Railroad	Lancaster	Hudson		never opened, built by the Boston and Maine Railroad
Martha's Vineyard Railroad	Oak Bluffs	South Beach
Nantucket Railroad	Nantucket	Siasconset
Southern New England Railway	Palmer	Rhode Island state line in Blackstone		never finished, built by the Grand Trunk Railway
Union Freight Railroad	connecting lines in downtown Boston

References