Nostalgia & History > South of Boston in ‘82

A w/b MBTA train was led by F40PH #1016, Readville, Boston, Massachusetts, 8/7/82.  There’s more at:

https://gjptrains.wordpress.com/category/home/

Gerry

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Taken just east of Readville Station on the Dorchester Branch, now called the Fairmont Line.   Two generations of Pullman coaches - an ex-New Haven 1948 Worcester built streamline coach followed by 1978 Chicago built commuter coaches. 

I was a regular commuter on this line in '82.   

Tom Coughlin
Stow, MA 

In the early '80s, the Dorcester Branch (originally the Midland RR way back when) was actually the MBTA / Amtrak main line as the Southwest Corridor construction was underway that put the ex-New Haven main line to Back Bay and Orange Line between Back Bay and Forest Hills (eliminating its elevated line on Washington St) in a trench that was covered. Work started on the Dorchester Branch upgrade in December 1977 (42 years ago !). And work on the re-built SW Corridor was finished in 1987.

SW Corridoar Development Plan from 1979: http://www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/00048719-a01a-49eb-b1be-f35521024b02/
A bit OT but here are some photos of the elevated Orange Line: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2012/10/17/11-cool-photos-original-orange-line/

I enjoyed viewing your photos of stations and signals.

Thanks for sharing.

JPB Wrote:
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> In the early '80s, the Dorcester Branch
> (originally the Midland RR way back when) was
> actually the MBTA / Amtrak main line as the
> Southwest Corridor construction was underway that
> put the ex-New Haven main line to Back Bay and
> Orange Line between Back Bay and Forest Hills
> (eliminating its elevated line on Washington St)
> in a trench that was covered. Work started on the
> Dorchester Branch upgrade in December 1977 (42
> years ago !). And work on the re-built SW Corridor
> was finished in 1987.
>
> SW Corridoar Development Plan from
> 1979: http://www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/00
> 048719-a01a-49eb-b1be-f35521024b02/
> A bit OT but here are some photos of the elevated
> Orange
> Line: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2012/10
> /17/11-cool-photos-original-orange-line/

Can't believe it has been 40 years...Yikes.  I went to Cincy from Boston in Oct. 1979 still went on the regulary routing through Forest Hills and Roslindale.   On the way back 2 weeks later the re-routing had begun thus my first ride on the Fairmount Branch.