The Framingham and Lowell via Topo Maps
You can get a lot of info on old railroad lines from topo maps. Seven
and a half minute topos usually will show where the line was single, double,
triple, tracked. It will also show sidings. The topos usually will show
where a line was if you look carefully at the contour lines, you can pick
out where a line used to run.
This first topo is a 15 minute series map from 1893. It shows the line
beginning in Lowell and heading out to Chelmsford. The map also shows the
two lines coming in from Tewksbury to Lowell via Wamesit, as well as part
of the Northern line going up to North Chelmsford and part of the Stony
Brook.
This next topo is another 15 minute map and shows from Chelmsford down
to North Acton. Of particular interest on this map is the Nashua, Acton,
and Boston. It ran parallel to the F&L for a ways and breaks away and
heads to the NorthWest and crosses over the StonyBrook.
This final topo in the series of three shows the line from Acton to
where it meets the Fitchburg mainline. This topo had so much info on it
and many different lines, I posted the whole file rathern than editing
it down to what we're interested in. It shows the Fitchburg line, part
of the Reformatory Branch, as well as the F&L down a lot further than
I'm probably going. On this topo it's labeled as the Old Colony. This topo
is from 1894. Its the adjacent quadrangle from the previous one yet they
don't match up properly. This drives me up the wall. Topos of adjacent
quadrangles rarely seem to match properly. I think they should be made
with a 10% or so overlap so you don't miss anything.