Old station in Lawrence, MA...

[Boston-and-Maine]

Does anyone know if this old Lawrence station is still standing?

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&F ... &encType=1

Because according to the document on Gary's site it is/was supposed to be torn down

http://www.lightlink.com/sglap3/massach ... tation.doc
http://www.lightlink.com/sglap3/massach ... ssexco.htm

Also, this was not an M&L Branch station, right? The two stops in Lawrence on that line were on Andover Street (S. Lawrence) and Essex Street (N. Lawrence), correct?

[b&m 1566]

The old Lawrence Station was not part of the M&L however that doesn't mean that trains going to the M&L or coming off of the M&L didn't use the station as you can see there was or still is a wye just south (west - by railroad direction) of the station.
Other than the Rockingham Racers and the Canobie Lake trains, I don't know if there was a Boston to Manchester passenger train via the M&L (although I’m sure there were). I know just prior to the end of passenger operations in 1952 the B&M ran one self-propelled type of car (not an RDC) on the line which I believe started and ended in Lawrence.

[Rockingham Racer]

The B&M originated trains at the Lawrence station which went around the wye connecting the Portland Division and the M&L. The last service on the M&L was one, signle rush-hour oriented gas electric car. Left Manchester for Lawrence in the AM, and returned to Manchester in the late afternoon leaving Lawrence around 5:50 PM.

My recollection of a second station in Lawrence isn't at Andover St., but a little east of where the new station is, along Merrimack St. Visible in the distance from the S. Union St. bridge. Am I dreaming?

[Boston-and-Maine]

Am I dreaming?

I hope you are not asking me because I havn't a clue

I did just find this online though, and it sheds some light on the situation: http://www.scribd.com/doc/11670736/Manc ... ce-Branch-

[bmcdr]

Prior to the building of Lawrence Station off of Parker Street in 1931, there was a station called "South Lawrence" which occupied the land between Andover Street crossing and "FA" Tower. The 1931 station was abandoned in favor of the new one built just east of the Parker Street location a couple of years ago. The building at the Parker Street location is still intact and has been privately owned for retail space since about 1959, when the B&M was disposing of real estate in order to cut down on property taxes. According to B&M legal dept. records, the last M&L Branch passenger service ended officially on July 10,1953, but Rockingham Race Track specials, powered by Budd RDC's, continued to use the M&L up through the 1960's.

[Boston-and-Maine]

Thanks for the info BMCDR! So prior to the building of the 1931 station there were both the South Lawrence and North Lawrence stations, but when the 1931 station was built in between them the S. and N. stations closed... That all makes sense to me

[b&m 1566]

I did just find this online though, and it sheds some light on the situation: http://www.scribd.com/doc/11670736/Manc ... ce-Branch-

I never knew of a Willey station but I did know of a Wilson Station which was located in the area of I93's exit 5.
Although the tracks were removed from the road they are technically still in place in front of the Salem Depot. When they built DeVitos/Stevie D's Sports Grille across from the station, they only buried the tracks. I was stuck in traffic at that intersection the day they were covering up the tracks.

[Boston-and-Maine]

Yea, Willey is now under the airport... I always assumed Wilson was located where Poor Boys is now, but that is just a guess... I think that by Salem Depot is the only place that I have ever actually seen a locomotve painted in a B&M livery... I have a very faint memory (I was really young) of a light blue diesel stitting on the tracks across Main Street from the station...

[doublebell]

The station that the original article is referring to is not the 1931 station that is now privately owned. It is the "station" that was in use after the 1931 station was sold and before the new one was built on Merrimack Street. That "station" does not have much to tear down.

John, the guy in the white car with the wing on back

[bmcdr]

There WAS NO STATION built after the 1931 building on Parker Street until the new transportation center we use now, was built. After the B&M sold the building in 1959, they continued to use the platforms and associated overhead awnings until the transportation center was built, those still exsist today, why the T never tore them down is a mystery.

[talltim]

There was a 5th station in Lawrence as well as those mentioned. This was the Boston and Lowell (later B&M) terminus located from 1880-1923 on the north side of the river in the block surrounded by Essex Street, Lawrence Street, Canal Street and Appleton Street. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Law ... 71.1631137" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Pics and more info here http://www.pbase.com/jroy/blrr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Hux]

An excellent history lesson, with outstanding photos. A tunnel through the mill is not something you'd expect, though obviously they did things differently a century plus ago.