The Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad was a railroad in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. It was incorporated in 1840 to provide a rail connection between Fitchburg and

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. Service began on February 11, 1850, running 18 miles from Fitchburg through

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster i ...

and Sterling to Sterling Junction, where it connected with the Worcester and Nashua Railroad. In July 1866, the nearby

Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad The Agricultural Branch Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. 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 ...

opened a 14-mile extension of its line from Northborough and joined with the Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad at Pratts Junction in Sterling via the towns of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and Clinton. The two railroads merged in 1869. On June 1, 1876, The Boston, Clinton, and Fitchburg Railroad merged with the

New Bedford Railroad The New Bedford Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated on July 1, 1873, as a merger between the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad, the Taunton Branch Railroad, and the Middleborough and Taunton Railroad. The main line ran fr ...

to form the

Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad The Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was formed on June 1, 1876, when the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad merged with the New Bedford Railroad. The Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Ra ...

, which was leased to the

Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall Ri ...

in 1879 and then consolidated into the Old Colony network on March 5, 1883. The line was double-tracked between Fitchburg and Pratts Junction in 1886. In 1893, the Old Colony Railroad was leased to the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

. By the 1960s, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, like many railroads, was struggling to stay solvent in the face of increased competition from alternate modes of transportation. In 1961, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad petitioned to be included in the newly formed

Penn Central Transportation Company The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and th ...

, and on December 31, 1968 all of its properties were purchased by Penn Central. Penn Central, however, soon went bankrupt, and on April 1, 1976 it was taken over by Conrail. On August 22, 1998, the Surface Transportation Board approved the buyout of Conrail by

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

and

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

, with the former assuming control of the former Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad line. Eventually, the tracks between Sterling Junction and Pratts Junction were abandoned and removed. Much of this section has been converted into the Central Mass Rail Trail. The tracks between Leominster and Fitchburg have also been abandoned. The portion of the original Fitchburg and Worcester line between Leominster and Pratts Junction is still used by CSX, mainly to haul plastic pellets into Leominster.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Defunct Massachusetts railroads Old Colony Railroad lines Railway companies established in 1840 Railway companies disestablished in 1869 American companies established in 1840