Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad
The connection, from what is now the Magnolia Field-Varnum Street area in Arlington, ran through North Cambridge and West Somerville (Davis Square); a station was located at Somerville Junction, commemorated by a park near what are now Centre and Woodbine Streets.
The independent Billerica and Bedford Railroad built a connecting narrow-gauge line in 1877, but went bankrupt the next year.
[8] In 1885, the Middlesex Central purchased the right-of-way and used it to build a standard-gauge extension to North Billerica from Bedford.
[13][14] This schedule took effect on April 26, at which time two trains were given names - the Patriot and the Paul Revere Express.
On December 31, 1931, passenger service on the outer Lexington Branch from Bedford and North Billerica was discontinued.
[19] By popular request, Arlington Centre was reopened in October 1965, and Lake Street in March 1968.
[1] By 1965, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was subsidizing a single daily passenger train (using Budd Rail Diesel Cars) between Boston and Bedford.
Operation of MBTA Commuter Rail was contracted at that time to the Boston and Maine, and later was awarded to other private companies.
Beginning on January 10, 1977, a snowstorm blocked the line for a few days, after which the MBTA announced it would not resume passenger service.
[1] In 1980, a federal judge ruled that the Lexington Branch must be restored after construction of the parking garage at Alewife station over the right-of-way.
A former Boston and Maine Rail Diesel Car (RDC) of the type used on the line was purchased and is on display at the western end of the trail at Bedford Depot Park.
The public portion of the trail ends after five miles (8 km) at the Bedford/Billerica town line (marked with a pair of gates in the middle of the woods), after which it becomes sandy (requiring a mountain bike or walking on foot) and continues on private property.
The unimproved dirt hiking trail passes the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
