 The path follows a minor portion of the right-of-way of an abandoned rail line known as the Fitchburg Cutoff or B&M Freight Cutoff (reflecting its acquisition by the Boston and Maine Railroad).The freight cutoff linked the Fitchburg Railroad main line (now the MBTA Fitchburg Line) with the Boston and Lowell Railroad main line (now the MBTA Lowell Line).It ran from the Fitchburg Line near Brighton Street, Belmont, crossed the Lexington and Arlington Railroad at what is now the northwestern corner of Alewife Station, passed through Davis Square (West Somerville), and connected with the Lowell Line at Somerville Junction (with a station at the present-day park near Centre and Woodbine Streets).