Boston and Lowell Railroad - Early Operation

Early Operation

The quantity of freight traffic on the Boston and Lowell Railroad was large from the first, as it was expected to be, with Lowell's textile companies bringing in raw materials and sending out finished goods. The level of passenger traffic, however, was not anticipated. People were fascinated with the "cars", and loved that they could travel from Lowell to Boston in forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes meant travelling at over sixty miles per hour and on unwelded track on a granite roadbed, which was extremely bumpy. Passenger complaints about the rough ride were another reason that the Boston and Lowell Railroad switched to wooden ties.

The Boston and Lowell was faced with a new problem; it had a reputation for speed which made it very popular and highly competitive with stagecoaches. Many people wanted to go not only from Lowell to Boston but to places in between. The Boston and Lowell ordered another locomotive and cars for local passenger rail in 1842, and had them make six stops along the route. Passenger rail proved to be almost as profitable as freight.