The Lynn and Boston Railroad was a

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

railway chartered for operations between

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...

in 1859. Following a number of acquisitions, the railway was a part of a 1901 street railway merger that formed the

Boston and Northern Street Railway The Boston & Northern Street Railway Company (B&N) was a horse-drawn and electric streetcar railroad operated on the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, and communities to the north. Founded in 1859 as the Lynn and Boston Railroad (L&B), via leas ...

. The

Thomson-Houston Electric Company The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was a manufacturing company that was one of the precursors of General Electric. History The company began as the American Electric Company, founded by Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston. In 1882, Charles Al ...

developed and implemented electrification in Lynn on the Highland Circuit route of the Lynn & Boston, the first electrified streetcar in Massachusetts with regular electric service begun November 19, 1888.
The Thomson-Houston Road at Lynn, Mass.
', The Electrical World, December 8, 1888, page 303
Electric Railway at Lynn, Mass.
', Electric Power, January 1889, page 21 The electrified cars were able to ascend the steep 8% grade into the Lynn Highlands far easier than even a team of four horses.

Acquisitions

* Boston and Chelsea Railroad (leased in 1880) * East Middlesex Street Railway (leased in 1893) * Essex Electric Street Railway (purchased in 1894) * Lynn Belt Line Street Railway (purchased in 1894) * Naumkeag Street Railway (purchased in 1894) * Salem and Danvers Street Railway (leased to NSR in 1887, lease transferred to L&BSR in 1894) * Salem Street Railway (leased to NSR, lease transferred to L&BSR in 1894) * Boston and Revere Electric Street Railway (leased in 1895) * Gloucester Street Railway (purchased in 1900) * Gloucester and Rockport Street Railway (leased to GSR in 1895, lease transferred to L&BSR in 1900, purchased by L&BSR in 1901) * Wakefield and Stoneham Street Railway (purchased in 1900) * Beverly and Danvers Street Railway (purchased in 1901) * Winnisimmet Street Railway (leased)

Merger

In 1901, the Lynn and Boston Railroad merged with the Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill Street Railway and the North Woburn Street Railway. The result was the formation of the

References

Defunct Massachusetts railroads Railway companies disestablished in 1901 Railway companies established in 1854 Streetcars in the Boston area Transportation in Essex County, Massachusetts American companies established in 1854 1854 establishments in Massachusetts {{US-rail-company-stub

Acquisitions

Merger

See also

References