Eastern Railroad Discussion > Help!

I am new to Train-orders.com and hope to get a response to this posting. I am looking for information regarding the Boston and Maine in the time period of 1955-1965 and the route the from Boston to Lowell MA via Winchester MA. Thank you.

BostonMaine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am new to Train-orders.com and hope to get a
> response to this posting. I am looking for
> information regarding the Boston and Maine in the
> time period of 1955-1965 and the route the from
> Boston to Lowell MA via Winchester MA. Thank you.


Two suggestions:

Try the Nostalgia board.

Try a headline that's more descriptive than "Help!" Something like "Boston & Maine in the '50s and '60s" would be good.

Also, just remember that anyone who has first-hand memories of the B&M from that period is likely to be 65 years old or older now. There are a few folks from that generation who frequent this site, but this is mostly a younger crowd. You may have to resort to the books and documents others suggested when you made this same request on the Modeling board a few days back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/11 08:58 by toledopatch.

It would also be helpful if you specifically state the kind of information you are looking for.

I suspect your request is so vague, that no one would likely bother to respond since anyone who is familiar with this topic would immediately wonder what type of info are you looking for?

Not sure I can help but will give it a shot. Actually did not work Boston to Lowell until early 70's but not much changed until the early 90's on that Division. Send questions along and I will take a look.

As you may know, the Boston to Lowell line was part of the New Hampshire division. In addition to the main line, there was the Woburn loop - a branch that served Woburn Center. In 1955, local passenger trains from Boston went to either Woburn or Lowell, with additional trains continuing on to Concord, NH, and beyond on the lines to White River Jct., VT or Plymouth, NH. During the late fifties, there was a daytime RDC train (usually two cars) that ran to WRJ for a connection with the New York - Montreal Ambassador, which used the NH/B&M/CV/CN route. From WRJ the RDCs headed north to Wells River, VT, where the train split. One car would recross the Connecticut River into NH, ultimately ending up at Berlin in the far north of the state. The other RDC - often a Canadian Pacific car - continued on the CP to Montreal's Windsor Station. This service lasted until 1965.

Until 1959, the overnight "Red Wing" ran from Boston through Lowell to WRJ and Montreal over the Canadian Pacific. CP sleepers were the norm, and power alternated between CP E-8s and B&M E-7s or F-3s. This was the last locomotive-hauled passenger train on the line, as the B&M aggressively converted conventional services to RDCs in the late '50s.

One note about Winchester - the B&M undertook a major grade separation project there in the late fifties that lifted the street level tracks onto the current elevated alignment.

Hope this helps!

Dave