Passenger Trains > It is Green on Boston's Green Line

A weekend in Boston gave a chance for some shots out on the Green Line. This T route traverses some of Boston's most beautiful areas, especially out along Beacon Street. Here's a few shots from May 27.

On that last Tunnel of Trees shot, rest assured I was safely on the platform. The tracks curve to the left slightly, which gives the telephoto appearance of standing in the right of way.

B&OBill

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In that first photo, that car almost looks like an old SF Muni Boeing car (that's not a Boeing, is it?).

Pastoral Boston. What a contrast with an Expressway.

There are parts of Boston (and environs) that are surprisingly pastoral and then there are other parts (such as the "Combat Zone") that have a distinct big city flavor!

Bruce

BCutter Wrote:
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> There are parts of Boston (and environs) that are
> surprisingly pastoral and then there are other
> parts (such as the "Combat Zone") that have a
> distinct big city flavor!
>
> Bruce

Yes.

The Green branch line to Riverside was once a Boston & Albany commuter train route, I believe.

The Green Line Riverside branch was once a B&A commuter route. I think it was converted in 1958. The line in the picture looks like the Cleveland Circle line that goes down Beacon Street. I live about 6 miles from there.

Combat Zone in Boston is really no more....It was quite bad in the 1970's.

Steve

bluesboyst Wrote:
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> (snip)
>
> Combat Zone in Boston is really no more....It was
> quite bad in the 1970's.
>
> Steve

Today, it's full of upscale stores, theaters, residential condo projects, etc. Lots of Yuppies roaming around last weekend.

The Green Line has four branches on it's west end - they are B (Boston College), C (Cleveland Circle), D (Riverside) and E (Heath Street). What happened to "A" you ask? The "A" branch served Watertown Square via Brighton and Newton Corner, and at the time service last operated was the longest of the street-running branches. The T "temporarily suspended" the service in 1969 due to a shortage of cars, but maintained the tracks and catenary for another two decades or more to allow access to the Watertown Car Shops. Eventually the shop closed and the track was removed.

The B, C and D lines all diverge west of the Kenmore Square station. B follows Commonwealth Avenue and C Beacon Street - both use seperated rights of way in the center of the roads. I prefer the B line for its curvy and hilly profile. As mentioned earlier, the D line is the former Boston and Albany Railroad's Newton Circuit Branch, converted to transit use in 1958. Several of the stone stations designed by Charles Bullfinch are still in place along the line. The E line, which diverges west of Copley, used to extend to Arborway in Jamaica Plain, but the T also imposed a permanent temporary suspension there in the 1980s, and track has now been removed beyond Heath Street. Interestingly, a small section of street running track exists on Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brookline for the purpose of deadheading equipment between the B and C lines.

Most Green Line trains operate with two cars - usually a combination of a Kinki-Sharyo Type 7 and Breda Type 8 car in order to maximize the number of trains with a low floor car. The Green Line is said to be the busiest light rail route in the US. It is currently being extended beyond its east end terminal at Lechmere in Cambridge to Somerville.

Dave



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/12 13:58 by DavidP.

DavidP Wrote:
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> The Green Line has four branches on it's west end
> - they are B (Boston College), C (Cleveland
> Circle), D (Riverside) and E (Heath Street). What
> happened to "A" you ask? The "A" branch served
> Watertown Square via Brighton and Newton Corner,
> and at the time service last operated was the
> longest of the street-running branches. The T
> "temporarily suspended" the service in 1969 due to
> a shortage of cars, but maintained the tracks and
> catenary for another two decades or more to allow
> access to the Watertown Car Shops. Eventually the
> shop closed and the track was removed.
>
> The B, C and D lines all diverge west of the
> Kenmore Square station. B follows Commonwealth
> Avenue and C Beacon Street - both use seperated
> rights of way in the center of the roads. I
> prefer the B line for its curvy and hilly profile.
> As mentioned earlier, the D line is the former
> Boston and Albany Railroad's Newton Circuit
> Branch, converted to transit use in 1958. Several
> of the stone stations designed by Charles
> Bullfinch are still in place along the line. The
> E line, which diverges west of Copley, used to
> extend to Arborway in Jamaica Plain, but the T
> also imposed a permanent temporary suspension
> there in the 1980s, and track has now been removed
> beyond Heath Street. Interestingly, a small
> section of street running track exists on Chestnut
> Hill Avenue in Brookline for the purpose of
> deadheading equipment between the B and C lines.
>
> Most Green Line trains operate with two cars -
> usually a combination of a Kinki-Sharyo Type 7 and
> Breda Type 8 car in order to maximize the number
> of trains with a low floor car. The Green Line is
> said to be the busiest light rail rout in the US.
> It is currently being extend beyond its east end
> terminal at Lechmere in Cambridge to Somerville.
>
> Dave


Thanks for the information, it was very helpful.

Did the "B" line once extend west of Boston College? In observing the "carriageway" often parallel to Commonwealth Avenue west of the terminus, it certainly looks like it might have once been a trolley right of way.

It reminded me of the one time Morris County Traction Company right of way in Mountain Lakes NJ.

As far as I know, there are no Boeing-Vertol LRVs in revenue service at either Boston or San Francisco. According to "Preserved North American Electric Railway Cars", MBTA has one that was converted into a work car, and Muni has two still on the property. Three are in museums, and an ex-Muni Boeing is reportedly stored under private ownership somewhere in the Bay Area. One or two were, as I recall, sent to Manchester, England for possible use on their light rail system, but didn't work out and were later scrapped.

In answer to the question: Is this a Boeing LRV? Nope, it's Boston's Type 7 built by Kinki-Sharyo of
Japan, as mentioned elsewhere in this posting. Unlike some of the really attractive LRVs that you'll see in other parts of the country, the Boeings, the Type 7s and the Breda Type 8s all are rather mundane looking. Although the (T) has had three attempts to come up with something that is
good looking and works, without continually breaking down, they have failed thrice.

Did the Commonwealth Ave line once go beyond Lake Street?? It goes back before my time, but the Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Company once ran streetcars from there to Auburndale (section of
Newton) to an amusement park they built, Norumbega Park. The streetcar storage area was in the ground level floor of one of the amusement park buildings that fronted out on the street. I do remember as a kid taking the Commonwealth Avenue line out to the end (Lake Street) and then taking an M&B Brill bus out to Norumbega Park. The Park, which had an adult size train ride, is long gone,
replaced by a Marriott hotel.

Frank30

Frank30 Wrote:
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> In answer to the question: Is this a Boeing LRV?
> Nope, it's Boston's Type 7 built by Kinki-Sharyo
> of
> Japan, as mentioned elsewhere in this posting.
> Unlike some of the really attractive LRVs that
> you'll see in other parts of the country, the
> Boeings, the Type 7s and the Breda Type 8s all are
> rather mundane looking. Although the (T) has had
> three attempts to come up with something that is
> good looking and works, without continually
> breaking down, they have failed thrice.
>
> Did the Commonwealth Ave line once go beyond Lake
> Street?? It goes back before my time, but the
> Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Company once
> ran streetcars from there to Auburndale (section
> of
> Newton) to an amusement park they built, Norumbega
> Park. The streetcar storage area was in the
> ground level floor of one of the amusement park
> buildings that fronted out on the street. I do
> remember as a kid taking the Commonwealth Avenue
> line out to the end (Lake Street) and then taking
> an M&B Brill bus out to Norumbega Park. The Park,
> which had an adult size train ride, is long gone,
> replaced by a Marriott hotel.
>
> Frank30


Thanks.

These are good hooks for me to continue looking into the matter.

thanks for filling some blanks about the green line(s). Growing up in Brighton, I had occasion
to ride all 4 lines. Up untill we were transferred to DC in 61', it was all PCC cars except for
some wooden work cars and some other wooden cars used for crowds at Braves Field and Fenway Park

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BCutter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > There are parts of Boston (and environs) that
> are
> > surprisingly pastoral and then there are other
> > parts (such as the "Combat Zone") that have a
> > distinct big city flavor!
> >
> > Bruce
>
> Yes.
>
> The Green branch line to Riverside was once a
> Boston & Albany commuter train route, I believe.

That is correct it was converted to the MTA (pre MBTA) in 1958 the very first railroad to get changed to be part of a rapid transit system I believe.

bluesboyst Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Green Line Riverside branch was once a B&A
> commuter route. I think it was converted in 1958.
> The line in the picture looks like the Cleveland
> Circle line that goes down Beacon Street. I live
> about 6 miles from there.
>
> Combat Zone in Boston is really no more....It was
> quite bad in the 1970's.
>
> Steve

I think it was 1955 but I may be wrong.

Yes the combat zone is gone....

Dave, I really appreciate your comments, and those of the others. Not being from Boston, I know very little about the T, and certainly did not know what I was shooting all the time. For example, I now wonder: is this the street trackage you mentioned, at Cleveland Circle? This train was not in service, and the rails appeared to curve across the street and over to the other station, Reservoir? Cleveland Circle was the end of the C line, Reservoir just up the street was D line.

B&OBill

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And here are some shots at Reservoir.....

B&OBill

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Now some shots at Coolidge Center.....I wasn't the only one taking photos.

Last time I was in Boston, a couple of years ago, activity like this would have resulted in the operator giving me a blast of the horn, or possibly even stopping the car to say photos were not allowed. However, since the MBTA has abandoned its "no photo" policy, I was undisturbed.

B&OBill

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bandob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dave, I really appreciate your comments, and those
> of the others. Not being from Boston, I know very
> little about the T, and certainly did not know
> what I was shooting all the time. For example, I
> now wonder: is this the street trackage you
> mentioned, at Cleveland Circle? This train was
> not in service, and the rails appeared to curve
> across the street and over to the other station,
> Reservoir? Cleveland Circle was the end of the C
> line, Reservoir just up the street was D line.
>
> B&OBill

Bill,

I think your shots are of a train positioned to head inbound on Beacon Street (the C line). The illuminated tail lights imply the train is set up to move away from the camera. The track running across the foreground of the first photo is the connection between the Reservoir storage yard at the end of the C line and B Boston College line. This is used regularly during rush hours to move B line equipment into storage at Reservoir due to capacity constraints at the Boston College terminal.

Beacon Street trains finishing their outbound trips at Cleveland Circle turn left onto Chestnut Hill Ave and then left again to enter the west end of the Reservoir yard. Inbound trains either exit in reverse as in your first picture, or via a short connecting track between the middle of the yard and Beacon Street, seen in one of your pictures of the yard.

Reservoir Station, which is adjacent to the yard, is actually on the D Riverside line (the former B&A branch). There is a fairly steep track connection between the Riverside line and the yard. Passengers traveling to the Cleveland Circle/Reservoir area can use either the C or D line, but the D is much faster.

When I first rode the Riverside line after moving to Massachusetts in the mid-1970s, the Reservoir - Kenmore section was shut down for a complete rebuild. Inbound cars (PCCs then) were routed down the connecting track into the yard, around the loop, and out onto Beacon Street to complete the trip to Boston on the C line.

Also worth checking out for trolley fans is the E Heath Street branch, which has actual street running (vs. center median rights of way) west of Brigham Circle. And of course the jewel of the system is the Mattapan High Speed line - an extension of the Red Line Ashmont branch that operates exclusively with PCC cars.

BTW, thanks for posting this great series of pictures.

Dave

BP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------

> > The Green branch line to Riverside was once a
> > Boston & Albany commuter train route, I
> believe.
>
> That is correct it was converted to the MTA (pre
> MBTA) in 1958 the very first railroad to get
> changed to be part of a rapid transit system I
> believe.

The T's Mattapan High Speed Line was originally a New Haven Railroad branch, converted to a trolley line in the late '20's.

Dave