[1]: 2  The line's western terminal was near Washington Square, just north of where Union Station was built in 1875.

[6] From there it ran southeast into the Lakeview neighborhood, then turned north to its Lincoln Park terminus on the western shore of Lake Quinsigamond near the Boston and Worcester Turnpike.

[14] The line served primarily local passengers and ran a profit carrying excursion traffic to Lincoln Park on the lake shore.

[7] Local businessman Horace H. Bigelow purchased the line and several attractions on Lake Quinsigamond in 1883.

[6][16][17] By that time, the total cost to the original owners for the railroad and its rolling stock had been $60,048 (equivalent to $1,964,000 in 2023).

In August 1886, the company offered $500 to rower Ned Hanlan to break a single scull record.

[8][11] In 1875, the railroad conducted surveys for a 16+1⁄2-mile (26.6 km) extension past Shrewsbury to Marlborough via Northborough.

[22] Plans for an extension were revived in 1891; in June 1892, the legislature authorized the W&S to cross the Lake Quinsigamond causeway provided the line was completed to Marlborough within three years.

In its final 12 months of independent operations, the line had carried 575,512 passengers and earned a net profit of $4,253 (equivalent to $156,000 in 2023).

[35][36] The Boston and Worcester Street Railway (B&W), an interurban line between its namesake cities, began operation on July 1, 1903.

[38] The Lake View line was replaced with buses in 1933, ending rail service on the former Worcester and Shrewsbury.

[27] Some equipment, including one locomotive and two passenger cars, was sold to the Baltimore and Lehigh Railway in 1899.