Lost Train Stations: Boston and Worcester/Boston and Albany

Route of Boston and Worcester Railroad into Boston, 1852 (BPL).


Boston and Worcester station, Beach street, 1852 (BPL).



Boston and Worcester station, Beach street, 1852 (BPL).

The Boston and Albany railroad line started as the Boston and Worcester in 1932. The line approached Boston through Brookline, and cut across the Back Bay on a trestle bridge, intersecting the Boston and Providence line at one point (the present site of the Back Bay train station). It continued northeast towards the harbor, turning north to reach the terminal on Beach street.



Boston and Albany station, Kneeland street (BPL Flickr group). Note the railroad tracks crossing Kneeland street in the lower right of the photograph.


Boston and Albany station, south side of Kneeland street, 1895. The railroad tracks noted in the photo above crossed Kneeland street to reach a freight house that sat on the site of the old Boston and Worcester passenger station shown in the top photo and associated map.


After two consolidating mergers of western lines, which were common during the early rail-building era, the company became the Boston and Albany in 1870. According to maps, the Boston and Worcester terminal at Beach street was still being used, but by 1883 the new Boston and Albany passenger station shown above is in place, and the old terminal across Kneeland street is being used as a freight terminal. In 1899, the new South Station would consolidate rail terminals in the southeast part of Boston proper and replace the stand-alone Boston and Albany terminal.