Framingham and Lowell Branch

I found a discarded drawbar along the ROW North of Rt 2A in Acton earlier this year. What is unusual about it is that it is about 50 to 100 feet away from the rail bed in a wetland area. I don't know why or how anybody would drag it out that far into a marsh. Could there have been a derailment there?

It can't be seen until the vegetation dies off in the winter. Sorry for the sideways image clicking on it should rotate it.

Around 1953-54-55 there was a big derailment in the Acton/Westford area, can't say precisely where. I have seen photos of it too. Big hook was called out. Can't tell you where the photos were either, Shoreline maybe.

Looking through the Globe archives, the closest I could find was a 1956 freight derailment at Littleton station. That was on the Fitchburg Main rather than the F&L, though.

Thanks for the replies. I plan on seeing if I can find anything else in that area this fall/winter.

So I went back to check things out, no sign of a derailment and ironically the day I checked it out and took another picture somebody posted this very interesting video, this guy went all out to check out the operation of a coupler.



https://www.railroad.net/history-behind ... l#p1566731

Well, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail is progressing in Sudbury. Today there was work going on lifting the rail south of Old Lancaster Road.