Don't quote me on this, but if my memory serves me correctly, the parking lot they are next to was once a US Postal building. It is now home to a bread baking company.
The entire area once had a yard and many spurs. There was an iron works on the north side of the tracks, and a brick manufacturer just east of the main yard. But they are all gone now... victim to Cambridge's desire to cram as many condo, apartment, and retail buildings into a small space as possible. You can see some of that growth in the background of the top photo, behind the boxcars. They are on the north side of the Fitchburg main. The south side still has a gritty, commercial feel to it, but it is nothing like the old days.The boxcar on the left is numbered 76500. The other had its number painted over.
