Fitchburg Secondary

{{Short description|Railway line in Massachusetts}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{use mdy dates|date=December 2019}} thumb|right|CSX train B724 on the Fitchburg Secondary in Southborough, MA

The '''Fitchburg Subdivision''' is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The line runs from Fitchburg southeast to Framingham Center<ref>{{cite web| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030111045312/http://www.trainweb.org/csxtimetables/Albany/Fitchburg.html| url=http://www.trainweb.org/csxtimetables/Albany/Fitchburg.html| archivedate=2003-01-11| title=CSX Timetables: Fitchburg Subdivision| website=Trainweb}}</ref> along a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad line. Its south end is at the Boston Subdivision; the MBTA's Framingham Secondary continues southeast from Framingham.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/FI-Fitchburg_Sub| title=CSX Fitchburg Sub| website=RadioReference.com}}{{unreliable source|date=December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/CSX/CSX%20ETTs/CSX%20Albany%20Div%20ETT%20%234%2011-1-2004.pdf| title=CSX Albany Division Timetable| website=MultimodalWays}}</ref>

==History== {{Main|Agricultural Branch Railroad}} The part from Fitchburg south to Pratt Junction (in Sterling) opened in 1850 as part of the Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad.<ref name=sne>{{cite book |title=The Rail Lines of Southern New England |edition=2 |last=Karr |first=Ronald Dale |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780942147124 |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|238}} At the other end, the Boston and Worcester Railroad opened a branch from Framingham northwest to Framingham Center in 1849.<ref name=sne />{{rp|348}} The Agricultural Branch Railroad opened in 1855 from Framingham Center west to Northborough and in 1866 to Pratts Junction.<ref>{{cite web| author=Hon. Edward Appleton, Railway Commissioner| url=http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/abnere1.Html| title=History of the Railways of Massachusetts| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803012802/http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/abnere1.Html| archivedate=August 3, 2009| date=1871}}</ref> The entire line became part of the NYNH&H and Conrail through leases, mergers, and takeovers, and was assigned to CSX in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.

Approximately 105 million gross ton-miles were moved over the Fitchburg Secondary between Framingham and Leominster in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dcms-external.s3.amazonaws.com/DCMS_External_PROD/1625254303196/302666.pdf|title=CSX CORPORATION AND CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC., ET AL. —CONTROL AND MERGER— PAN AM SYSTEMS, INC., PAN AM RAILWAYS, INC., BOSTON AND MAINE CORPORATION, MAINE CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY, NORTHERN RAILROAD, PAN AM SOUTHERN LLC, PORTLAND TERMINAL COMPANY, SPRINGFIELD TERMINAL RAILWAY COMPANY, STONY BROOK RAILROAD COMPANY, AND VERMONT & MASSACHUSETTS RAILROAD COMPANY VOLUME 1 AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTED APPLICATION|date=July 1, 2021|page=APP-394|publisher=Steptoe & Johnson LLP and CSX Transportation Inc.}}</ref>

==See also== * List of CSX Transportation lines

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:CSX Transportation lines Category:Rail infrastructure in Massachusetts Category:Old Colony Railroad lines