It was incorporated by the Legislature of Massachusetts on April 26, 1847, to provide a rail connection between Framingham and Northborough through the town of Southborough and a small portion of the city of Marlborough.
[3]: 427, 431 On March 5, 1883, the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad was outright consolidated into the Old Colony network.
On August 22, 1998, the Surface Transportation Board approved the buyout of Conrail by CSX and Norfolk Southern, with the former assuming control of the former Agricultural Branch Railroad line.
The tracks from Sterling Center to Pratt's Junction remained in use until the cider mill ceased operation in the late 1970s, at which point they too were torn up and the tracks between Pratt's Junction and Fitchburg essentially became another extension of the former Agricultural Branch Railroad line.
Currently, the line is primarily used to haul lumber, corn syrup, scrap metal, and plastic pellets.