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Bedford Depot is a historic railroad depot in Bedford, Massachusetts, United States. Bedford was the junction of the Reformatory Branch and the Lexington Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad; it saw passenger service until 1977 as the stub of the Lexington Branch. The original 1874 depot and 1877 freight house are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; along with a restored Budd Rail Diesel Car, they form the centerpieces of the Bedford Depot Park.
In 1877, the Billerica and Bedford Railroad, a narrow-gauge line, opened from Bedford Depot to North Billerica. The line built a two-stall engine house and a turntable at the Bedford terminus. The Billerica and Bedford was markedly unsuccessful, and closed down in 1878. In 1879, the Middlesex Central was extended to Reformatory station in Concord; this permitted short-lived through service to Nashua via a connection to the Nashua, Acton, and Boston Railroad. In 1885, the Boston & Lowell rebuilt the route to Billerica as part of their standard gauge network. The depot, originally west of South Road, was moved to its present location at the junction. The narrow gauge engine house was also moved and turned into a freight depot. Two years later, the Boston and Maine Railroad absorbed the Boston & Lowell, including the two routes through Bedford.
On January 10, 1977, a major snowstorm blocked the line for several days. The MBTA decided then to discontinue service on the lightly used and poorly maintained line. After lawsuits, the MBTA agreed to help construct the Minuteman Bike Path from Alewife to Bedford in exchange for being released from requirements to restore service. The trail was to be constructed so as not to preclude future restoration, nor an extension of the MBTA Red Line along the corridor. However, local opposition in Arlington prevented such a subway extension (which might have terminated in Arlington, Lexington, or even Bedford at a Route 128 park-and-ride station).
In 1998, Budd Rail Diesel Car #6211, an ex-B&M car that had been used for Lexington Branch service decades earlier, was brought from Billerica Repair Shops to the former railroad yard west of South Road for rehabilitation. The $125,000 project, funded by the town and done under the watch of a former B&M worker, restored the car to its original specifications but not to running condition. In 2003, the car was moved across South Road to its present location next to the freight house.
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