Eastern Railroad begins operating.

The line runs initially from East Boston to Salem. Passengers from Boston can take the ferry to the station in East Boston. The line is extended to Beverly and Ipswich in 1839, to Newburyport on June 17, 1840, and to Portsmouth, N.H. on November, 9, 1840. A branch runs through Manchester to Gloucester in 1847. The line is extended into Boston in 1854.* The company is taken over by the Boston & Maine Railroad in 1884 and operates as a branch line until 1910.