High Green Episode 24: The Lexington Branch with Bill Deen

BM 2403 on train #3206 southbound on the Lexington Branch at Lexington Station, Lexington, MA - February 24, 1955. Albert G. Hale Photo - Walker Transportation Collection (Beverly Historical Society)

The Boston & Maine Railroad's Lexington Branch, today the world famous Minuteman Bikeway, was once one of the busiest and best known branchlines in the region. Andrew Riedl interviews author and historian Bill Deen of the Friends of Bedford Depot Park to discuss the line’s history and Bill’s recent book on the subject, "Minuteman Railroad". We will learn about the freight customers, passenger service, peak years and the gradual decline which led to the end of passenger service in 1977 and freight service in 1981. Also discussed are the line’s conversion into a rail trail in the 1990s, and the efforts of the Friends of Bedford Depot Park to preserve railroad buildings in Bedford and exhibit a Boston & Maine Budd RDC-2, No. 6211.

Bill Deen