THE BEGINNING OF RAILROADING. Once upon a time, governments maintained war memorials while other historical events could be corporate matters.

The Boston and Maine of 1980 was not in any shape to note the sesquicentennial. In the intervening years, railroad enthusiasts and the National Park Service have taken responsibility for the historic site.


It's an unlikely consist except at the coach yard, but with Boston and Maine dieselizing early and Patrick McGinnis raising money by clearing the scraplines, preservationists have to make do with whatever they have. Because downtown Lowell is thickly settled, the heritage streetcar, which operates irregularly (at mill shift changes only?) uses Boston and Maine industrial trackage.

In the early days of railroading, Sunday operation was a rare thing, with prayers sometimes offered for the souls of railroaders who dared disturb the Sabbath.

That's an Episcopal church in the English design, right by the canal and the tracks. You're unlikely to find those trees in Britain.


A few of the Lowell textile mills that induced the building of the Boston and Lowell provided their buildings for modern lofts and offices, and for a museum.


Before the railroads, the mills shipped and received by water. The canals also provided power for the machinery, and plant engineers of the era learned all sorts of things about managing water.