The Woburn Branch Railroad (known as the Woburn Loop) was a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

of the

Boston and Lowell Railroad The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine R ...

("B&L") and later of the

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track on 12 lines to 142 stations. It ...

system that connected the Lowell Line with the city square in

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' ...

History

When the B&L laid out its main line, it respected the wishes of the people of Woburn not to run the line through their town center. Instead, the B&L ran the line through the Montvale, Mishawum, and North Woburn sections of the town, bypassing the center. As Woburn grew in size from a town to a city, its citizens regretted pushing the railroad to the east end of town and request that the B&L put in a branch line to the center of town. The railroad agreed and in December 1844 opened the new line from its main line at

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

(then known as South Woburn) to Woburn Square. The Horn Pond Branch Railroad was a short freight-only branch off the Woburn Branch to ice houses on Horn Pond. The line was built at the request of the Boston Ice Company and trains ran only during ice cutting season. The line opened in 1854 and lasted until the line was abandoned in 1919. The old ice houses burned down several years later. The northern loop, built in 1885, continued the line north to the main line at North Woburn Junction in South Wilmington. This allowed the B&L to route some of its passenger trains down the Loop to serve the city. This service continued until 1959 when passenger service was cut back to Woburn Square. The branch was abandoned from Woburn Square north to the Wilmington/Woburn town line in 1961. The B&L continued commuter rail service to Woburn on the original branch line from Winchester. The

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

took over passenger service in 1971 and outsourced it to the

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a United States, U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. It was chartered in 1835, and became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the e ...

("B&M"). Trains ran on the Woburn Loop until 1981 when poor track conditions and budget cuts stopped service. The MBTA and the B&M formally abandoned the branch line in 1982. The MBTA still owns the right-of-way in Woburn, but the portion in Winchester was purchased by the town in 1983, and most was sold off for private development. The part of the northern loop within the town of Wilmington (about a mile in length) is still used as an industrial spur to service freight customers along the line in South Wilmington.

References

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External links

Video of the Woburn Loop in 2009 from Winchester to WoburnVideo of the Woburn Loop in 2009 from Woburn to Wilmington
{{Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Defunct Massachusetts railroads Predecessors of the Boston and Maine Railroad Wilmington, Massachusetts Woburn, Massachusetts Ice trade Railway services discontinued in 1981