Old Tracks in Tewksbury, MA circa 1980

Hey All, this is something that I've wondered for over 30 years and I figure this is the place to ask...

Around 1979-1981, I used to walk an abandoned set of tracks behind the Foster School (now apartments) in Tewksbury, MA (parallel to Route 38 in the center of town). They were well preserved and I'd walk them to where they'd cross North Street (paved over at that point). I do remember a track switch there that used to fascinate me.

The tracks, I'd imagine, are long gone. There are apartment buildings in the area behind the Foster School Apartments and Tewksbury Police Station.

Does anyone know those tracks and/or know what they went to? I'm guessing Boston & Maine would be the likely line, but maybe it was a short line or something. I don't think they had been used for at LEAST a decade before I was walking them (though I could be wrong).

Thanks

That was the old Lawrence & Lowell, part of the B&M via the Boston & Lowell. The B&M ended service on the branch around 1899 because the parallel Lowell Branch (still active) was a better connector. It was abandoned in 1936, but the rails weren't ripped up for a while after.

The EGE wrote:That was the old Lawrence & Lowell, part of the B&M via the Boston & Lowell. The B&M ended service on the branch around 1899 because the parallel Lowell Branch (still active) was a better connector. It was abandoned in 1936, but the rails weren't ripped up for a while after.

Thank you SO much!!!! I've always wondered. It was somewhere between 1979 and 1981 that I used to walk those tracks. That's pretty much what started my interest in trains. Wish I'd taken pictures. I believe it's all gone now. The apartments were built in the 1990's, so I'm sure that's when the tracks were ripped up

Anyone have links? Pictures? if it was abandoned in '36, I'm sure there's no video, but maybe old film?

Thanks :D

Nice article in Wikipedia. Gonna contact some of the historical folks in Tewksbury to see what they have: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_and ... e_Railroad

The EGE wrote:That was the old Lawrence & Lowell, part of the B&M via the Boston & Lowell. The B&M ended service on the branch around 1899 because the parallel Lowell Branch (still active) was a better connector. It was abandoned in 1936, but the rails weren't ripped up for a while after.

I dont think your thinking about the same tracks as they were used up to at least 1987. Here is a link to a pic on the line close to where the area he is talking about. NERail has a few shots on the line . They is still rail in many locations along the route.
Ted

Click here: Salem Branch Tewksbury, Ma: NERAIL The NERAIL New England Railroad Photo Archive

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20031 ... ODE=&POYE=

Narrowgauger, you are mostly correct. The section of the L&L from Wamesit (junction with Lowell Branch at Route 38 / Main Street) to Tewksbury Center saw service until 1979 and was abandoned in 1983.

However, that picture's caption is incorrect. The power lines in the background show that it's at East Street on the still-active Lowell Branch. The Tewksbury Junction - Wilmington Junction section of the Salem Branch was abandoned in 1925.

Converting the vector image to a PNG turned out a mite ugly, but here's a map of the relevant area. Red lines are B&M, blue B&L (including L&L), and green S&L. The Foster School was right where the last section of the L&L ended at Tewksbury Center.

The EGE wrote:Narrowgauger, you are mostly correct. The section of the L&L from Wamesit (junction with Lowell Branch at Route 38 / Main Street) to Tewksbury Center saw service until 1979 and was abandoned in 1983.

However, that picture's caption is incorrect. The power lines in the background show that it's at East Street on the still-active Lowell Branch. The Tewksbury Junction - Wilmington Junction section of the Salem Branch was abandoned in 1925.

Its actually at the Power Company Rd where the rail can still be seen on either side of the road. East st has crossing signals and always has. The power lines are still there and if you find the rail you'll see just where it crossed. Look at other shots of the same area.

Click here: B&M 1573 on the Salem Branch: NERAIL The NERAIL New England Railroad Photo Archive


Click here: Salem Branch, Tewksbury, MA: NERAIL The NERAIL New England Railroad Photo Archive

The EGE wrote:Converting the vector image to a PNG turned out a mite ugly, but here's a map of the relevant area. Red lines are B&M, blue B&L (including L&L), and green S&L. The Foster School was right where the last section of the L&L ended at Tewksbury Center.

Thanks! I was actually a student at the Foster School when I discovered the tracks. They were quite well preserved at the time.

I was on the committee that saved the school (though we wanted a community center, not the apartments they filled it with, but hey, it's still there at least).

I'll have to get over there and see if the tracks are still behind the school or if the apartments obliterated them. They used to end at North Street where they had been paved over, then continue briefly to peter out.

Narrowgauger wrote:

The EGE wrote:Narrowgauger, you are mostly correct. The section of the L&L from Wamesit (junction with Lowell Branch at Route 38 / Main Street) to Tewksbury Center saw service until 1979 and was abandoned in 1983.

However, that picture's caption is incorrect. The power lines in the background show that it's at East Street on the still-active Lowell Branch. The Tewksbury Junction - Wilmington Junction section of the Salem Branch was abandoned in 1925.

Its actually at the Power Company Rd where the rail can still be seen on either side of the road. East st has crossing signals and always has. The power lines are still there and if you find the rail you'll see just where it crossed. Look at other shots of the same area.

Click here: B&M 1573 on the Salem Branch: NERAIL The NERAIL New England Railroad Photo Archive


Click here: Salem Branch, Tewksbury, MA: NERAIL The NERAIL New England Railroad Photo Archive

Ah, that does make sense.

The Tewksbury Centre station still exists as a private home on North Street just in from East Street, but I am not sure which line it used to be on before being moved to its current location. Does anyone know?

Rail and even a turnout seems to still exist for about two blocks around N 42.61339 W 71.23386

CarterB wrote:Rail and even a turnout seems to still exist for about two blocks around N 42.61339 W 71.23386

That's exactly where I used to walk them, and that turnout is the "switch" I mentioned. I'll have to make a return trip one of these days! Thank you!

I can't remember when I last drove down the road that leads to the Tewksbury electric sub-station...maybe 2 years....but the tracks were still there going through the high grass. I think the tracks had been paved over on the road, however. There used to be enormous patches of blueberry bushes in that area when I was a kid, and I was checking out if they were still there.

Aerie wrote:I can't remember when I last drove down the road that leads to the Tewksbury electric sub-station...maybe 2 years....but the tracks were still there going through the high grass. I think the tracks had been paved over on the road, however. There used to be enormous patches of blueberry bushes in that area when I was a kid, and I was checking out if they were still there.

I remember cars parked all along there as people went into the shrubs to pick blueberries. I'll have to check it out when I go back to look at the center tracks.