Street running in Lowell

thats cool, I did not know that the sun was receiving paper via rail. On the old maps you can see rail all the way to the back of the sun building. now that line is redirected over the canal to middlesex community college. the trollies used to go all the way to mcc but they now stop at bridge street. old pictures also show a huge warehouse that is now demolished in that area that i think might have shipped or received via rail. tobad i was to young to railfan, or i would have had alot of pictures in the area

TomNelligan wrote:

atsf sp wrote:Some of the trolley lines today were old B&M tracks.

True, most of the current NPS trolley operation uses former B&M freight spurs that were part of the downtown network. The "main line" to Boardinghouse Park survived for years as the B&M freight connection to the Lowell Sun and was active as a freight spur into the mid-1980s. The line that runs past the Tsongas Arena originally branched off just beyond Cobblestone's restaurant on now-gone B&M track when the trolley started up in the 1980s. The current wye junction and the track north of that were built by the NPS several years later and the original route was pulled up. There originally was track all the way to the current site of LeLacheur Park, but it was severed when the arena was built and the whole area was completely regraded.

The B&M Historical Society's display in the combine has an early 20th century map that shows the Lowell industrial trackage at its peak. It's quite amazing how much there once was. The combine will be open to visitors next weekend during the Lowell Folk Festival.

The track that snaked around Cobblestone's Restaurant and the Lowell High School was abandoned in the mid-90's when the intersection in front of the Tsonga Arena was enlarged to accommodated the arena, which was originally a 3 way intersection. The particular track in question was still in place up until about 2005 when they finally removed it to make way for a landscaped area with grass, shrubs, and flowers and to enlarge the parking lot between the two buildings.

Speaking of these tracks, What ever happened to the plans to expand service to the Commuter rail terminal?

The idea was tossed around but there was never any money allocated to pay for it. I'm not sure how practical it would have been anyway... the LRTA buses seem to be able to easily handle what ridership there is between the Gallagher Terminal and the Lowell National Historical Park facilities. While I'm sure a few park visitors arrive by train, the vast majority drive and park in either the NPS lot or the Market Street garage a block away.

there were thoughts about running the trolleys around lowell. plans were to originate at the train depot and there were to be stops at south campus, as well as fox hall on the north campus. ther were going to be streetrails with various stops in downtown lowell. but so much for that idea. i saw the plans in the lowell sun a few years back. sometimes when i go fishing in the area i stumble accross some old rail lines. like the lowell and andover,and the old bleachery yard, i just imagine all these line were once active. it is amazing how many lines are now abandoned, and how lowell was an idusrtial heaven with tons of rail customers, now lucky to have any.