Lynn and Boston Railroad

The Lynn and Boston Railroad[1] was a streetcar railway chartered for operations between Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts in 1859.[2] Following a number of acquisitions, the railway was a part of a 1901 street railway merger that formed the Boston and Northern Street Railway.

The Thomson-Houston Electric Company developed and implemented electrification in Lynn on the Highland Circuit route of the Lynn & Boston, the first electrified streetcar in Massachusetts[3][4] with regular electric service begun November 19, 1888.[5][6] The electrified cars were able to ascend the steep 8% grade into the Lynn Highlands far easier than even a team of four horses.[7]

  1. ^ "Acts and resolves passed by the General Court". Commonwealth of Massachusetts via Internet Archive. 1663. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "Annual report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners (1914)". Massachusetts Board of Railroad Commissioners via Internet Archive. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  3. ^ "Famous Firsts in Massachusetts". History of Massachusetts. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2019-10-20. 1888 The first electric trolley in the state runs in Lynn.
  4. ^ "A BRIEF HISTORY OF LYNN". About Lynn. City of Lynn. Archived from the original on 2019-10-05. Retrieved 2019-10-19. The first Electric Trolley in the state ran from Lynn in 1888
  5. ^ The Thomson-Houston Road at Lynn, Mass., The Electrical World, December 8, 1888, page 303
  6. ^ Electric Railway at Lynn, Mass., Electric Power, January 1889, page 21
  7. ^ Electrical Review: A Weekly Journal of Electric Light, Telephone, Telegraph and Scientific Progress. Vol. 13. Delano and Company. 1888-12-08. p. 8. Previous to the starting of the electric car, horses had been used on this line, and on the grades which the electric car easily climbs with full load of passengers four horses with great difficulty pulled the car with small loads.