Western Division
The Western Division main line of the Boston & Maine Railroad passed through several towns and cities in Massachusetts, and of those I am currently going to cover Lawrence, North Andover, and Haverhill. The line also passed through twelve towns and cities in New Hampshire. They were Atkinson, Plaistow, Newton, Kingston, East Kingston, Exeter, Newfields, Newmarket, Durham, Madbury, Dover, and Rollinsford. Back in October of 1908 there were twenty train stops located along this line within the section I am covering, as can be seen on this section of timetable.
This division was where the Boston & Maine Railroad got its start, and it was formed through combining three smaller railroads. The first of those was the Andover & Wilmington Railroad, which linked the two towns it was named after and was completed in 1836. One year later in 1837, the railroad extended its tracks to Haverhill and became known as the Andover & Haverhill Railroad. By 1840, the A&H had hit the New Hampshire state line and was now known as the Boston & Portland Railroad. The other two parts of the Western Division were the Boston & Maine Railroad and the Maine, New Hampshire, & Massachusetts Railroad. These two companies worked together and completed the construction of a line from Plaistow to Dover in 1841. On January 1 of the next year, the B&P, B&M, and MNH&M were merged together under the name of the Boston & Maine Railroad. In 1843, a link was made with the Portland, Saco, & Portsmouth Railroad allowing the B&M to reach Portland. The last section of track from Boston to Wilmington was built two years later in 1845, which meant that trains would no longer have to travel over the Boston & Lowell Railroad to reach Boston. Around this time, the city of Lawrence was rapidly expanding. The B&M realized the importance of bringing rail service to the mills, so in 1848 the original line that had run from Ballardvale to North Andover was torn up and the tracks were rerouted through Lawrence. Things went smoothly up until 1870, at which point the Eastern Railroad won the rights to the PS&P. In response, the B&M opened its own line to Portland in 1873 so that it could stay competitive. The B&M was now on its way to dominating the rails of northern New England.
Today, the entire length of the Western Division from Boston, MA to Portland, ME is still used by Amtrak and Pan Am Railways. I am glad to see this line surviving since it was the original B&M Railroad. Even though trains continue to travel this route, there are still historic stations and other structures remaining that can be documented.