The Salem and Lowell Railroad was a branch line of the Boston and Lowell Railroad and ran off the Essex Railroad in Peabody, Massachusetts to Tewksbury, Massachusetts where it met the Lowell and Lawrence Railroad at Tewksbury Jct.
The line was chartered in 1848 and opened in 1850 and was run as part of the Lowell and Lawrence before the Boston and Lowell took over full operation of both lines in 1858. Like the South Reading Branch Railroad, the S&L used trackage rights to access Salem over the Essex.
The L&L was a small short line railroad when it opened in 1848 and linked the industrial cities of Lowell and Lawrence via Tewksbury and West Andover. It operated the S&L under contract and connected with the B&M's main line at Wilmington Jct. This permitted the B&M to run passenger service from Boston to Lowell via Wilmington Jct on the S&L and then L&L.
The Boston and Lowell, which still had a monopoly on rail service between the two cities, sued and was given an injunction to stop the B&M from using the two lines. To keep them out of the B&Ms hands, the B&L took over control of both lines in 1858 and ran the two as branch lines.
These branch lines gave the B&L access from Lowell to both Lawrence and Salem to keep pace with its rivals the Eastern Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad.
During the 1870s, Salem became a major coal port and for the remainder of the 19th century, many coal trains ran along the Salem and Lowell to bring the product to Lowell, Lawrence and points beyond.
But things began to decline after 1900 as the B&M had gained control of all rail lines in Essex County and most of Middlesex County. All service was suspended between Tewksbury Jct and Wilmington Jct in 1924 and that segment abandoned by the end of 1925. Passenger service along the line was ended in September 1932 and freight service to North Reading ended in 1935. The line between Wilmington Jct and South Middleton was abandoned by 1939. Freight service continued between West Peabody and South Middleton until 1980 with the line between Peabody and West Peabody being abandoned in 1962. The remainder of the line was formally abandoned in 1987.