Lexington Branch History  |  Bedford's Railroad History  |  Billerica & Bedford Railroad

Billerica & Bedford Railroad
Two-Foot-Gauge Interpretive Track

PAGE UPDATED ON:  FEBRUARY 5, 2012

The Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiats selected FBDP for its 2003 H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad Preservation Award. This $10,000 grant, plus an additional $2,000 donation from the Amherst Railway Society, is making possible construction of a track segment along the roadbed of the Billerica & Bedford Railroad between Loomis Street and The Great Road in Bedford. This track segment honors the history of the country's first "two-footer."

This page chronicles the installation of the narrow-gauge track in photos. Clicking on a link will open a snapshot inside a new browser window. The more recent photographs are at the top of the list. Start at the bottom if you wish to view the photos sequentially.

We thank the volunteers on this project: David Buczkowski, Jean Paul Capistran, Earl Dickey, Tom Dickey, John Filios, Edward Ganshirt, Bob Gilligan, Steve Healy, Neil Leary, David McKenzie, Bill Marsh, John Mentzer, Barry Sampson, Jim Shea and Edward Stickney.

Would you like to help? Please e-mail foreman Tom Dickey to be on his contact list. His e-mail address is TomDickey@BedfordDepot.org.

We are documenting the track installation on video. If you have a high-speed Internet connection, click here to view a short QuickTime movie of early track work. (The file size is 3.4 megabytes. The running time is 57 seconds.)

• Tom Dickey organized a B&B work day on May 10, 2008. More track was built and existing track was tamped. Photo  Photo
• Volunteers installed two additional track panels before the start of winter 2007-08. Photo  Photo
• The track was aligned with track jacks and winches. Photo
• The track has reached the halfway point between Loomis Street and The Great Road. Photo
• Ed Stickney had a bronze plaque made to commemorate the B&B track. It will be mounted on a granite block. Photo
• Tom Dickey's work car has come in handy for moving stone-dust ballast along the line. Photo
• Thanks to Fran at Shawsheen Development Corporation for helping to install track panels with his Bobcat. Photo
• More stone-dust ballast has been delivered. Photo
• The track has almost reached the halfway point between Loomis Street and The Great Road. Photo 1 Photo 2
• Here's a section of completed track. Photo
• It's reassuring to see a new generation of railroad historians come along. Kyle, age 4-1/2, has taken a strong interest in the narrow-gauge. His mother regularly brings him to Depot Park and the track project to check up on things. Photo
• The track was ballasted. Photo
• We have the help of a veteran "gandydancer." Jean Paul Capistran, seen wearing the light blue engineer's cap, did track work for the Canadian National Railroad back in the steam era. He's now in his 80s! Photo 1 Photo 2
• A Caterpillar skid steer loader was used to fine-tune the grade and to move around track panels. Photo
• Tom Dickey's work car ferried track tools along the line. Photo
• At the next work session, the track will be set into the ground and ballasted. Photo
• Stone-dust will be used to ballast the track. Photo
• About 150 feet of track was laid in one day. Photo 1 Photo 2
• Each 28-foot segment of rail is bolted together with joint bars. Photo
• After Tom Dickey hammered in the first spike, other volunteers worked in teams on each side of the rail. Photo 1 Photo 2
• Before spiking the rail to the ties, the track gauge (24 inches) was carefully checked. Photo
• Sections of rail were laid upon the ties. Photo
• The first step in installing the track was spotting ties on the roadbed. They are spaced apart about 24 inches center to center. Photo
• Landscape timbers were sawed in half to make two 4-foot ties. A total of 300 ties are needed for the first half (600 feet) of track. Photo 1 Photo 2
• Foreman Tom Dickey worked with Bob and Scott Bailey to prepare the B&B's roadbed for track installation. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photos 3
• Rail for this project was purchased from Kovalchick Salvage in Pennsylvania. At about 38 pounds per yard, this rail is a bit heavier than the type (25 lb.) that the Billerica & Bedford Railroad used. By contrast, the standard-gauge B&M Lexington Branch used 85 lb. rail. We thank Bob Bailey and Kel-Scott Corporation for their help unloading the rail. Photo