Fitchburg Cutoff

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Fitchburg Cutoff

Somerville Highlands station on a 1907 postcard

Overview

Owner Boston and Maine Railroad

Hills Crossing
Termini
Somerville Junction

Stations 3

History

Opened 1870, 1881

Closed 1979–80, 1983, 2007

Technical

Line length 2.8 mi (4.5 km)

Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

hide
Route map
Legend

Fitchburg
Division and
Central Mass
 Branch
Hill Crossing

Lexington
Branch

Fitchburg
Division to
North Station
North
Cambridge
West
Somerville
closed
Willow
ca.
Avenue 1887
Somerville
Highlands
Southern
Division

Somerville
Junction
to North
Station
This diagram: 

 view
 talk
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The Fitchburg Cutoff (also called the Freight Cutoff) was a rail line running 2.8 miles
(4.5 km) from Brighton Street (Hills Crossing station) in Belmont, Massachusetts,
to Somerville Junction in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was constructed in two
segments in 1870 and 1881 to connect the Lexington Branch and Central
Massachusetts Railroad to the Boston and Lowell Railroad. Passenger service lasted
until 1927. Freight service ended in 1979–80 to allow construction of the Red Line
Northwest Extension; the line was abandoned in three sections in 1979, 1983, and
2007.
All of the right-of-way, except a short section near Alewife station, has been reused for
three connecting rail trails: the Fitchburg Cutoff Path from Brighton Street to Alewife
station, the Alewife Linear Park from Alewife to Massachusetts Avenue, and
 the Somerville Community Path east of Massachusetts Avenue. The paths are part of
the Mass Central Rail Trail.

Contents

 1Route
 2History
o 2.1Passenger service
o 2.2Rapid transit conversion
o 2.3Path conversion
 3References
 4External links

Route[edit]

West Somerville station and grade crossings

The line was 2.8 miles (4.5 km) long, running approximately east–west. [1][2]: 278  The west
end connected to the Central Massachusetts Branch at Hill Crossing station at Brighton
Street in Belmont, parallel to the Fitchburg Division main line (now the MBTA Fitchburg
Line). It crossed the Lexington Branch (after 1927) at grade in West Cambridge and
crossed under Alewife Brook Parkway, with the pre-1927 connection to the Lexington
Branch near Jackson Street. The line crossed Massachusetts Avenue and other streets
at grade, then continued into Somerville, where it ran at grade through Davis
Square with crossings of Holland Street and College Avenue. It crossed additional
streets at grade, then passed under Lowell Street and joined the Southern Division (now
the Lowell Line) at Somerville Junction.[3][4][2]: 278  After 1887, passenger stations on the line
were North Cambridge (also called North Cambridge Junction and North Avenue)
at Massachusetts Avenue, West Somerville (Elm Street) at Davis Square, and
Somerville Highlands at Highland Road. [1][2]: 278 [3][4]

History[edit]
Passenger service[edit]
 Map showing the Fitchburg Cutoff and nearby lines

   Lexington Branch and 1870-opened connector

   Eastern portion of Fitchburg Cutoff, opened 1870
   Central Massachusetts Branch and western portion of Fitchburg Cutoff, opened 1881
   Lexington Branch reroute, reopened 1927
   Central Massachusetts Branch reroute, opened 1927
   Fitchburg Division and Watertown Branch
   Southern Division

The B&L acquired control of the Lexington and Arlington Railroad (Lexington Branch) in

1869, and purchased it in 1870, to prevent it from building to Lowell and thus becoming
a competitor to the B&L. In 1870, the B&L built a cutoff from Lake Street to Somerville
Junction to connect the newly acquired branch to its mainline. [2]: 278  (Early plans called for
the cutoff to connect to the B&L further north at Willow Bridge station.[5]) Service began
on December 1, 1870.[6][7] In January 1876, William Robinson installed one of the first
test applications of his track circuit signaling system on the line between Elm Street and
North Avenue. On June 14, 1876, Pedro II of Brazil, who was touring the United States,
travelled to Elm Street station to view the system. [8][9]
The western section was built in 1881 by the Central Massachusetts Railroad (which
paralleled the Fitchburg Railroad west of Brighton Street) to connect to the B&L for
access to Boston. It connected to the existing Lexington Branch cutoff near Jackson
Street, west of North Cambridge station, and had no stations between Hills Crossing
and North Cambridge.[2]: 216  Service began on October 1, 1881.[10] The B&L, which
controlled the Central Massachusetts, was acquired by the Boston and Maine
Railroad (B&M) in 1887. The B&L became the Southern Division mainline, while the
Central Massachusetts became a branchline.[2] The original Willow Avenue and
Somerville Highlands stations were replaced by a new Somerville Highlands station at
Highland Road around 1887.[11][12][13] In 1900, the B&M acquired the Fitchburg Railroad as
its Fitchburg Division.[2]
The city of Somerville proposed to eliminate the five grade crossings on the cutoff within
its borders, including the pair of College Avenue and Holland Street at Davis Square, in
the early 1900s.[14] Most grade crossings on the Fitchburg Division mainline were
eliminated over the next decade, but those on the cutoff were not. [15] On January 31,
1915, the West Somerville station building was moved west of Holland Street at the
request of the mayor to improve conditions in Davis Square.[16][17]
In 1926–27, the B&M built two new sections of track in North Cambridge; these allowed
the Lexington Branch and the Central Massachusetts Branch to use the Fitchburg
mainline east of Alewife Brook Parkway.[18] On April 24, 1927, passenger service from
the two branches was rerouted over these new sections and the Fitchburg mainline;
North Cambridge, West Somerville, and Somerville Highlands stations were closed.
[19]
 Although residents were opposed to the closures, the B&M wished to avoid the grade
crossings on the line, which had seen 70 crashes in the previous six years. [20] The old
line from Brighton Street to Somerville Junction became the freight-only Freight Cutoff
(Fitchburg Cutoff); it was rebuilt with heavier rails to handle heavy freights headed to
and from the new Somerville freight yard.[21] In late 1927, an additional main track was
built on the Southern Division from Somerville Junction to the yard to reduce the
incidence of stopped freight trains blocking crossings on the cutoff. [22]
Rapid transit conversion[edit]
Map showing the 1926-proposed extensions northwest from Lechmere (at left)

In the 1920s, the cutoff was considered the most likely route for rapid transit service to
Somerville and North Cambridge. (Extension of the Cambridge–Dorchester Line – now
the Red Line – north from Harvard station was not considered likely.[23]) The Report on
Improved Transportation Facilities, published by the Boston Division of Metropolitan
Planning in 1926, proposed extension from Lechmere to North Cambridge via the
Southern Division and the 1870-built cutoff. Among the potential further extensions in
the report was extension of the North Cambridge line to Bedford via the Lexington
Branch.[24][25]
In 1935, the city requested that the line be grade-separated as part of a Works Progress
Administration-funded grade crossing elimination program.[26] A proposal that year by a
citizen's group called for a rapid transit extension to North Cambridge. A new highway
was to run from the Northern Artery over the tracks at street level, then adjacent to the
tracks on the lowered cutoff to connect to the existing Mohawk Trail expressway at
Alewife Brook Parkway.[27] Neither project was built, and the grade crossings were not
eliminated; crashes and stalled freight trains continued to be a problem. [28][29][30] Even
decades after regular passenger service ended on the line, it was occasionally used as
a detour route when the Fitchburg Route mainline was blocked in Somerville. [31][32]
Various proposals in the 1930s called for rapid transit use of the cutoff; some called for
it to be connected to the East Boston Tunnel (now the Blue Line) rather than
the Tremont Street subway (now the Green Line).[33][34][35] The 1945 and 1947 reports by
the state Coolidge Commission called for extensions from Lechmere to Woburn over
the Southern Division, and Harvard to Arlington over the Lexington Branch; the cutoff
was not proposed as a route.[36][37][38] The 1962 North Terminal Area Study called for the
Main Line (now the Orange Line) to be relocated along the B&M Western Route. It was
to have a branch via the Southern Division to Woburn or Arlington (the latter also using
the cutoff).[39] The 1966 Program for Mass Transportation, and subsequent reports by
the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), largely followed the routes
laid out by the Coolidge Commission. Green Line service would be extended from
Lechmere over the Southern Division, and Red Line service from Harvard (with various
routings proposed to reach the Lexington Branch); the cutoff was not proposed for
conversion.[40]

The east headhouse and busway at Davis station, built on the Cutoff alignment

The B&M replaced the Somerville yard with smaller yards elsewhere in the system in
the 1970s, ending regular use of the cutoff by "as many as two-dozen mile-long freight
trains daily". The route chosen for the Red Line Northwest Extension in the mid-1970s
included a station at Davis Square, with the rapid transit tunnel running under a
segment of the cutoff from Davis Square to east of Alewife station.[41] In April 1980, the
west half of the cutoff was abandoned to allow for construction of the extension. [21][42] The
eastern portion was used to haul dirt removed from the tunnel for reuse around the
region; it was abandoned in 1983 except for a short section serving an industrial
customer at Somervile Junction.[42][21] That segment was abandoned in 2007.[42]
Path conversion[edit]

Map of the trails and Red Line reuse of the Fitchburg Cutoff alignment
As part of the Red Line extension, the 1.3-mile (2.1 km) Alewife Linear Park rail
trail was constructed from Alewife to Davis, opening in 1985. [43][44] Except for a short
section near Alewife station, it follows the former railroad route. The Somerville
Community Path opened 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from Davis Square to Cedar Street in
1992, with the 0.4-mile (0.64 km) Massachusetts Avenue–Davis Square segment of the
Alewife Linear Park becoming part of the Community Path. The Minuteman
Bikeway opened in 1993, connecting to the existing trail at Alewife station. The crossing
of Massachusetts Avenue, which originally zig-zagged using existing crosswalks, was
signalized as a direct crossing in 2011. [45] A 0.3-mile (0.48 km) extension of the
Community Path to Lowell Street opened in 2015; it will be further extended along the
Lowell Line in 2022 as part of the Green Line Extension project.[46]
The 0.8-mile (1.3 km) segment west of Alewife station through the Alewife Brook
Reservation was used as an unpaved trail; a stone dust surface was added in the
1990s.[47] Construction of the paved Fitchburg Cutoff Path took place from September
2010 to August 2013, with a new bridge built over a stormwater management wetland at
Alewife.[48][49] The planned Belmont Community Path will extend west through Belmont
parallel to the Fitchburg Line, connecting with existing sections of the Mass Central Rail
Trail.[50][51]
In 1985–86, an access road was constructed from the Alewife station garage to
the Route 2/Alewife Brook Parkway intersection, following the cutoff alignment for about
750 feet (230 m). The Alewife Linear Park runs as a sidewalk along the access road for
most of that length.[52][53]