Everett – Saugus – West Lynn railway

Everett MA-West Lynn MA
Route length:	15.77 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	entire route
Legend from Boston 0.00 Everett MA (formerly Everett Jct.) to Revere 0.64 West Street 1.45 West Everett MA from Boston Edgeworth MA Line until 1855 to Wilmington Junction 2.24 Bell Rock Boston – Malden Center Tram 3.49 Malden MA 4.33 Faulkner Street 5.20 Maplewood Street Boston – Malden Broadway Tram 5.75 Broadway 6.95 Linden MA Malden – Saugus tram 8.34 Franklin Park 9.16 Cliftondale MA 9.95 Pleasant Hill Woburn – Marblehead tram 11.01 Saugus MA Saugus River 12.67 East Saugus MA Woburn – Marblehead tram 13.53 Raddin Woburn – Marblehead tram 14.55 Lynn MA Common Boston – Salem Tram Woburn – Marblehead tram from East Boston 15.77 West Lynn MA to Portsmouth

The railway Everett Saugus-West Lynn is a railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). The route is almost 16 kilometers long and linked the cities of Malden and Saugus to the main Boston – Portsmouth line . Most of the route has been closed. A short section in Everett is still served in freight traffic by the Pan Am Railways , which, however, only has a right of joint use. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) owns the entire route .

history

With the opening of the railroads to Portsmouth by the Eastern Railroad and Wilmington by the Boston and Maine Railroad in the 1840s, the city of Saugus was left without a railroad connection and the city of Malden was only served by the Malden and Edgeworth stations, which were far from the city center, on the route of the Boston & Maine developed. In 1848 the Saugus Branch Railroad was founded , which wanted to build a railway line from Lynn through Saugus and Malden to the Boston & Maine route. The connection to the Boston & Maine was made at Edgeworth station. The line went into operation in February 1853. Since the Eastern Railroad feared that the Boston & Maine could take over the route and thus also offer trains to Lynn, they bought the railway company and the route in 1855. In October of that year, the connection between Bell Rock and Edgeworth was closed and dismantled and instead the line was extended to Everett, where it met the Boston – Revere railway line, which opened the previous year . The route of the old line to Edgeworth is still visible today.

From 1884 onwards, Boston & Maine operated the route after taking over the Eastern Railroad. The railway company expanded the line to double tracks in 1892. Passenger traffic was dense, with 18 pairs of trains running on weekdays in 1893. The trains usually went from Boston via Saugus to Lynn and sometimes further north. After several tram routes were opened at the turn of the century, which opened up Malden and Saugus and also led to Boston and Lynn, passenger traffic on the route decreased. In May 1958, passenger traffic was stopped and shortly afterwards the second track was dismantled on a large part of the route. In 1976 the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) took over the route from Boston & Maine, but did not use it itself. Freight traffic continued through Boston & Maine, but ended between Linden and West Lynn in 1993, whereupon the tracks were partially removed. In 1983 Guilford Transportation, which has operated under the name Pan Am Railways since 2006 , took over Boston & Maine. In 1994, freight also ended between West Street in Everett and Linden. It was not until the beginning of the 21st century that the line between West Street and West Lynn was officially closed. The tracks are just before Bell Rock.

Route description

Most of the route runs through built-up areas in the towns of Everett, Malden, Saugus and Lynn. Since the railway line was still in use until the 1990s, most of the route has been preserved. After the closure, parking lots were built on the railway line in many places. It branches off the Boston – Revere railway line in Everett and initially heads north. Individual freight customers are still served near the former stop on West Street. The disused route turns east at Bell Rock and winds its way via Saugus and Lynn Common to West Lynn, where it joins the East Boston – Portsmouth railway line . On the route between Bell Rock and West Lynn, there were track crossings with various tram routes on eight level crossings.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.

literature

• Ronald D. Karr: The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1995. ISBN 0-942147-02-2 .

Web links

• Station directory with route miles (English)