The Needham Line is the second shortest MBTA commuter rail branch and the only one which was never part of a larger intercity line. First opened as a branch of the Boston & Providence Railroad in 1834, the line ran through West Roxbury to Dedham where it connected back to the Main Line in Hyde Park. A second railroad, the Charles River Branch, was built through Newton and Needham in 1853 and was used to haul gravel from Needham quarries to fill in the Back Bay. The Needham Cutoff, connecting the two railroads, was opened in 1906 and was run as a loop between Boston and it’s growing western suburbs. When the MTA, the predecessor of the MBTA, opened the Riverside “D train” Green Line branch in 1959 the loop service was ended. When the MBTA drew up plans to relocate its Orange Line elevated train to a new subway along the proposed Southwest Expressway (which was canceled in 1971) it planned to convert the Needham Line into a branch of the new Orange Line. Community opposition and a lack of funds stopped such an extension but the Orange Line tracks extend along the Needham Line past Forest Hills as provisions for a future conversion.
Printed on Satin finish 80# cover stock – 220 GSM. Made in the USA! Standard production time is 5 days. Allow more time for shipping.
