Next Stop…North Reading. All Aboard!
Unlike its sister town, North Reading lost its link to the local rail network long ago. Yet, as Matthew T. Page explains, it still has miles of old rail beds and a few place names (Railroad Avenue, Meadowview Crossing, “the Trestles”) that harken back to the days when the Salem & Lowell Railroad rumbled through town.
A view of the Salem & Lowell Railroad passing under Park Street (1907).
Before the arrival of the railroad, North Reading—then the North Parish of the town of Reading (modern-day Wakefield)—sat astride a major north-south stagecoach route. As detailed in last month’s issue of The Quill and Flint, the stagecoaches plying the Andover Turnpike (now Route 28) generated a passing trade for several of inns and taverns.
“Coaching in New England” by Alfred Fitch Bellows. Courtesy of Historic Ipswich.
But by the late 1830s, New England’s rail network was beginning to expand. Backed by powerful business interests, railroad companies saw the opportunity to break the canal companies’ monopoly over regional cargo transport and loosen the stagecoach companies’ grip over passenger travel.
Connecting Factory to Port
Proposed in the early 1840s as a way to revive Salem’s struggling port by connecting it to Lowell’s booming textile mills, the Salem & Lowell Railroad ran east-to-west along the Ipswich River valley. Commissioned in 1848, the railway took two years to build and cost about $250,000 (about $10.1 million in today’s money). Locomotives with names like “The Sailor Boy” and “Factory Girl”—homages to the line’s two termini—served the new route.
Route of the Salem and Lowell Railroad (North Reading segment highlighted in red).
At first, the steam engines chugging through North Reading were fired by cord wood, rather than coal. Writing in 1909, one historian described these early locomotives as “resplendent with a wealth of brass work which made the fireman's position one of strenuous work to keep up the shine…All had immense conical smoke-stacks, some four feet in diameter at the top, and most all had an iron rail extending from the cab around the entire machine, so that in passing around, the engine-men might not fall overboard.” These larger smoke stacks were designed to prevent fire-starting cinders from being released as the train traveled along the track.
The Boston and Lowell Locomotive “Factory Girl,” circa 1860. Courtesy of the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society.
It was not until around 1857 that the line’s newer locomotives began using coal for fuel; wood was not completely phased out until the late 1860s, a which point locomotives were refitted with smaller, svelter smoke stacks.
Early passenger carriages were rudimentary. First class cars were well lit and had upholstered seats and glass windows; second class cars were equipped with hard benches and included space for baggage and parcels.
The Amherst—one of many coal-fired locomotives that plied the Salem & Lowell and adjoining Boston & Lowell railroads (c. 1880). Courtesy of the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society.
An Economic Lifeline
By the 1870s, North Reading’s economy was flourishing. Its sawmills, shoe shops, and wagon makers relied on the railroad to ship their wares across New England and beyond. North Reading’s main station—located near where Haverhill Street crosses the Ipswich River—was just a stone’s throw from the McLane Wagon Factory (opened in 1887).
North Reading Station in the late 1800s (left) and today (right). Historical photo courtesy of the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society.
The railroad also benefited local people, making it easier and more affordable for them to travel to and from North Reading’s two stations. Many passengers used a second smaller station—the Meadowview Halt—located near the corner of Park and Chestnut Streets. The station was known far and wide for its beautiful ornamental flower garden (visible in the picture below) maintained by local resident Henry Nichols.
Meadowview Halt, North Reading (c. 1900)
Oral histories gathered over the years by the North Reading Historical and Antiquarian Society tell of how residents would ride the train to Salem in the 1910s and 20s to go fishing or drop off milk from their dairy farms at the station to be sold in Salem or Boston. They recalled how the North Reading Post Office depended on the train to bring the town’s mail up from Salem.
Gone But Not Forgotten
This golden age of rail travel did not last very long, however. As Lowell’s textile factories faltered, the economic viability of the route declined. During the Great Depression, the Boston & Maine Railroad curtailed all passenger service along the line in 1932. Shortly thereafter, it suspended freight service to North Reading. After just 85 years of operation, the town’s railroads fell silent in 1935.
In the Society’s collection: North Reading’s original porcelain station sign.
The LIDAR image below shows the path of the rail bed through North Reading Center (for more information on LIDAR, see the May 2024 issue of The Quill and Flint). The marked locations are as follows:
A: North Reading High School’s Arthur J. Kenney Athletic Field.
B: The Town Common.
C: Intersection of Washington and Elm streets.
D: Location of the North Reading rail station (now North Reading Auto Body).
E: Surviving rail bed running parallel with Mount Vernon Street.
F: Surviving rail bed east of Williams Road and north of Anglewood Lane.
Farther to the east, sections of the old Salem & Lowell rail bed have been converted into the Independence Greenway, a walking and cycling trail. The Town of North Reading has studied what extending this rail trail westwards would entail (this 2022 presentation contains a wealth of detail and photographs of the route such a trail might take).
Given the challenges facing any effort to extend the trail, it is unlikely to materialize anytime soon. But who knows? It could be ready by 2048: the 200th anniversary of the opening of the original railway line.
Do you have any family photos, letters, or items relating to the railway era or any other chapter in North Reading’s history? The Society is always on the look out for ways to preserve these materials either by copying them, photographing them, receiving them as a donation, or possibly even purchasing them for our collection. To learn more, contact us at: info@nreadinghistory.org.
