MBTA Green Line -- unused tunnel at Boylston station
Ron Newman
of the Green Line in Boston, a reader sent me this e-mail.
I'm posting it here rather than responding privately, because it's
of general interest to the readers of rec.railroad:
> 1. On the Green Line at Boylston street a second set of tracks descend to a
> lower level which, from an old MTA map, I gathered continue some distance
> under Tremont St.. Since I have been unable to come across Cudahy's book
> on Boston transit, I haven't been able to find out the history of these
> tracks. Do you know anything about them i.e. where they go, what they are
> currently used for etc.?
Just north of Boylston station, the Green Line tracks on each
side divide. The inner tracks take a sharp right turn from Tremont
onto Boylston--this is the current Green Line. The outer tracks,
now unused, continue south under Tremont Street for about two more
blocks, to a "flying junction", where they divide(d) again.
Right beyond this junction were two portals. One set of tracks
emerged onto Broadway, running to City Point in South Boston (and
along the way diving briefly underground again to pass through a
now-unused section of the Broadway Red Line station.) This is now the
route of the #9 bus.
The other line ran down the middle of Tremont Street, originally
to Egleston station in Jamaica Plain (some would call it Roxbury).
This line was later cut back to Lenox Street, just beyond
Massachusetts Avenue in the South End. It is now the route of the #43 bus.
I think that this tunnel, and these two lines, date back to the very
beginning of the Boston subway, in 1897, but I'm not positive of that.
Both services were gone by the end of the 1950's, but I can't
give you the exact dates. Nor do I know why these services ended.
At this point, I hope that one of the other Boston fans will chime
in with more accurate information.
There is periodic talk of building a new Green Line branch down
the middle of Washington Street, through the South End to Dudley
Square in Roxbury, as a replacement for the old Orange Line elevated.
Such a line would re-use this tunnel. The neighborhoods want this
but the MBTA doesn't--they'd rather build a trackless trolley line
down Washington.
The northbound track in this tunnel is totally torn out--at least,
the part you can see from Boylston station. The southbound track
is still there, and is often used to store work cars.
To my knowledge, this is the only unused subway tunnel in Boston.
--
Ron Newman MIT Media Laboratory
rne...@media.mit.edu
Robert Coe
>To my knowledge, [the unused stub of the Tremont St tunnel south of
>Boylston St station] is the only unused subway tunnel in Boston.
You must have forgotten the old Red Line tunnel from Harvard Square to the
storage yard on Memorial Drive that was abandoned when the Harvard-Alewife
extension was built. Along one side of the storage yard was a raised plat-
form known as "Stadium Station"; it was used in revenue service only on
Harvard football game days. I rode to Stadium Station on my way to the
Harvard-Yale game in November 1958. ;^)
That same storage yard was the first proposed site of the Kennedy Library,
but Cambridge NIMBYs didn't want the additional tourist traffic they
thought the library would bring. So instead it was built on the campus of
the University of Masachusetts at Boston near Columbia (now JFK/UMass)
station.
--
___ _ - Bob
/__) _ / / ) _ _
(_/__) (_)_(_) (___(_)_(/_____________________________________ b...@1776.COM
Robert K. Coe * 14 Churchill St, Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776 * 508-443-3265
Robert B. Weinstein
>You must have forgotten the old Red Line tunnel from Harvard Square to the
>storage yard on Memorial Drive that was abandoned when the Harvard-Alewife
>extension was built. Along one side of the storage yard was a raised plat-
>form known as "Stadium Station"; it was used in revenue service only on
>Harvard football game days. I rode to Stadium Station on my way to the
>Harvard-Yale game in November 1958. ;^)
>That same storage yard was the first proposed site of the Kennedy Library,
>but Cambridge NIMBYs didn't want the additional tourist traffic they
>thought the library would bring. So instead it was built on the campus of
>the University of Masachusetts at Boston near Columbia (now JFK/UMass)
>station.
If I'm not mistaken, during the period when Harvard Station was being rebuilt
for the Alewife extension, and the main Harvard Square exit was closed, they
built a temporary station called "Harvard-Brattle" at approximately the same
location as the old "Stadium" station, and this was the terminal of the Red
Line for a few years.
Bob Weinstein
m00...@mbvms.mitre.org
> rne...@josquin.media.mit.edu (Ron Newman) writes:
>>To my knowledge, [the unused stub of the Tremont St tunnel south of
>>Boylston St station] is the only unused subway tunnel in Boston.
>
> You must have forgotten the old Red Line tunnel from Harvard Square to the
> storage yard on Memorial Drive that was abandoned when the Harvard-Alewife
> extension was built. Along one side of the storage yard was a raised plat-
> form known as "Stadium Station"; it was used in revenue service only on
> Harvard football game days. I rode to Stadium Station on my way to the
> Harvard-Yale game in November 1958. ;^)
>
> That same storage yard was the first proposed site of the Kennedy Library,
> but Cambridge NIMBYs didn't want the additional tourist traffic they
> thought the library would bring. So instead it was built on the campus of
> the University of Masachusetts at Boston near Columbia (now JFK/UMass)
> station.
Also, though I don't know its present state, there was a tunnel extending
west from Bowdoin Station to a portal in the middle of Cambridge Street.
In "recent" years, this was used by the "East Boston Tunnel" trains to
reach the servicing facility that you mention near Harvard Square.
The East Boston Tunnel existed as a heavy rapid transit line running between
Bowdoin and Maverick from the time it was converted from a streetcar tunnel
(1923?) until it was extended to Orient Heights (1953?). Someone with a better
memory than I may correct the dates by a year or two, but that's approximately
correct. While in this configuration, the line had loops at both ends, but
no servicing yard. Where they stored cars overnight I do not know, as until
about 1953, "Owl" service was operated between Maverick and Scollay Under (now
Government Center - the "Blue Line" station was unaffected by the changes at
the "Green Line" level). I think the trains in "Owl" service ran through w/o
passengers to Bowdoin to go around the loop (though I'm not certain of that),
so I don't know where they could have stored extra cars. Was there a storage
track at Maverick - I think maybe there was. In any case, the "East Boston
Tunnel" line was the only one of the three heavy rapid lines that ran 24 hours
a day. Until the line was extended to Orient Heights and the present yard and
shops were built there (on the site of the former narrow gauge shops), the
"East Boston Tunnel" cars (this was years before the lines were "colorized")
were maintained at the Harvard (Eliot) shops. They had trolley poles that
were used ONLY for the trip to Harvard. The track ran out the portal into
Cambridge Street, through Charles Street Circle (I forget the exact track
layout here), and onto the Longfellow Bridge, which then was paved with
cobblestones. In the middle (approximately) of the bridge, the track joined
the "Cambridge Subway" track. I believe you can still see the breaks in the
fence where the line used to cut in. Trolley poles were used in the section
where the track was in the street.
The afore-mentioned conversion of "Scollay Square" to "Government Center" and
all the construction that went along with that caused extensive rebuilding
of the "Central Subway" tunnels between Scollay and Haymarket. The former
"Brattle" and "Adams" stations were discontinued, along with the loops that
had been used by the cars from Charlestown (the "Brattle Loop", which was
roughly in the same spot as the present seldom-used north-facing loop at
Government Center) and the smaller tighter loop that the Eastern Mass.
trolleys used to use at Adams Square. "Adams" was a northbound stop only,
as there were two completely separate tunnels. The northbound tunnel ran
under Cornhill and Washington Streets and contained the Adams Square Station
underneath Adams Square, while the southbound tunnel ran under Sudbury Street.
Neither Cornhill Street nor Sudbury Street (as it was then) exist today - the
present "New Sudbury Street" is on a different alignment.
Somebody mentioned the tunnel that goes south under Tremont Street from
Boylston Street Station. The original Subway had two southward-facing
entrances or portals. The "Pleasant Street" entrance was located at the
intersection of Tremont Street, Shawmut Avenue and Pleasant Street. "Pleasant
Street" is the present "Broadway" (part of which is now "Charles Street South"
on a slightly changed alignment). The other portal came out in Boylston Street
in the block where the Colonial Theatre is. The "Public Garden Entrance", that
was used by Huntington Avenue cars until the Huntington Avenue Subway opened
in 1940, was built when the tunnel was extended to Governors Square (Kenmore
Square) later. (There may have been an intervening extension part way - I
can't remember off the top of my head, and of course all my books on the
subject are at home.) I think that was about 1910. The original plan for
the Tremont Street Subway called for cars from lines to the south to loop at
Park Street, and cars from lines to the north to loop at Brattle Street. There
were also through tracks as at present. However, from something like 1901 to
1904 (again, dates are at home), the through tracks were used by the "Main Line
Elevated" trains only, and I assume they had a third rail although I suppose it
is possible that the early "El" trains also were equipped with trolley poles? I
don't know if that use of the subway was part of the original plan or an after-
thought, but I suspect the former. In any case, it was always intended to be
"temporary", and unlike the "temporary" terminal at Everett that lasted until
197x, this one really was.
The "Main Line Elevated" opened in 1901 between Sullivan Square and Dudley
Street. Enormous and elaborate terminals for connecting streetcar lines were
built at both ends. Both survived essentially untouched though of course no
longer used for streetcars until the El was torn down. This "Main Line
Elevated" was the "Orange Line" as we knew it until the 1970s, except of course
that it had long since been extended at both ends. When they designed the "Main
Line", they realized that the hardest and longest part of the construction would
be the planned tunnel under Washington Street in the center of Boston, so they
planned for "temporary" operation of the Elevated trains through the Tremont
Street Subway. I think the connection at the north end was built alongside
Canal Street essentially where the "Green Line" cars to Lechmere climb to the
(soon to be torn down) elevated structure today. I know that the south end
connection was made from the Pleasant Street entrance by running alongside
Shawmut Avenue and up a ramp to a short elevated structure over (or possibly
beside but I don't think so) Castle Street, then curving onto the "permanent"
structure over Washington Street. Castle Street no longer exists. It was
destroyed in the extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike. It was about where
Herald Street is now.
Through trains were operated between Sullivan and Dudley through the Tremont
Street Subway for about 3 years until the Washington Street Subway was
completed, at which time the connections were removed, and the Tremont Street
Subway became simply a streetcar subway as it is now. The "Atlantic Avenue
Elevated" was opened at the same time as the "Main Line". It ran from Keany
Square (the junction of Causeway, North Washington and Commercial Streets and
the Charlestown High Bridge) over Commercial Street and Atlantic Avenue.
Stations were (if I remember correctly) at "Battery" (near the foot of Hanover
Street), "State Street" (the present Aquarium site), "Rowes Wharf" (connection
to the narrow gauge ferries to East Boston), "South Station" (at Dewey Square,
the reason that the present "Red Line" station was always called "South Station
Under"). It passed by South Station over Atlantic Avenue, then curved over
Beach Street and I think Harrison Avenue to roughly where the Turnpike is now,
then over one of the short streets there (I forget which one) to join the
"Main Line Elevated" over Washington Street. Signal towers were located at
both junctions, and both remained until very recent times. I think there was
another station somewhere in Chinatown, but I'd have to look it up to be sure.
The original plan called for through service over both routes between Sullivan
and Dudley, and that was operated for many years. However, there was more
demand for service on the south end than on the north, so they also operated
a sort of loop service that went from Dudley northward through the Washington
Street Subway (I don't know if this service was started while they were still
running through the Tremont Street subway) and then returning over Atlantic
Avenue to Dudley. This "loop" service operated in both directions. In later
years, as ridership fell off on the Atlantic Avenue line, service between the
south connection with the "Main Line" and South Station was discontinued, and
the Atlantic Avenue line was reduced to a shuttle running between North and
South Stations. (This shuttle service may also have operated at times earlier.
I'd have to look it up. I know there was a layup track with platform that it
used above Causeway Street sort of between the railroad station and the main
"Main Line Elevated" platforms. There was no layover facility at South Station,
only a crossover.) This service ended and the Atlantic Avenue Elevated was
torn down in I believe 1940. I think that the portion south of South Station
had been torn down earlier, but again I'd have to look it up. Certainly it
wasn't used in revenue service after somewhere around 1930.
I can remember the tower and some obvious elongated support structures where the
south connection was. I even better remember the tower at Keany Square, and
a short piece of El structure that was left over Commercial Street at this point
as a place to store spare or disabled cars and occasionally to turn back trains
when there were problems with the Charlestown High Bridge draw. The tower was
preserved and I believe is now at Seashore Trolley Museum.
Writing this has made me realize that there are a lot of things about Boston's
transit history that I do not know, and I should re-read some of my books. Like
did streetcars from Cambridge ever operate into the tunnel on Cambridge Street
or was that built when they converted the East Boston line to "heavy rail"?
Like when did the south end of the Atlantic Avenue line stop running and exactly
when was it torn down?
There's a good deal more I DO know, though, and if anyone has specific questions
I'll try to answer them. Maybe a question would stimulate me to look up some
fact I don't remember! But we've gotten a long ways away from the subject of
abandoned subway tunnels, so I think this is enough for the present.
Len Bachelder m00...@mbvms.mitre.org
m00...@mbvms.mitre.org
>
> If I'm not mistaken, during the period when Harvard Station was being rebuilt
> for the Alewife extension, and the main Harvard Square exit was closed, they
> built a temporary station called "Harvard-Brattle" at approximately the same
> location as the old "Stadium" station, and this was the terminal of the Red
> Line for a few years.
>
The Harvard-Brattle station was closer to Brattle Square and farther from
Memorial Drive and Boylston Street than "Stadium" station.
There was also extensive temporary re-routing of the trackless trolley lines
to accommodate this construction.
Len Bachelder m00...@mbvms.mitre.org
Ron Newman
> Also, though I don't know its present state, there was a tunnel extending
> west from Bowdoin Station to a portal in the middle of Cambridge Street.
If the Blue Line is ever extended to Charles Street to connect to
the Red Line, this tunnel will see service once again.
>I think the trains in "Owl" service ran through w/o
>passengers to Bowdoin to go around the loop (though I'm not certain of that),
That seems likely. Currently Bowdoin station closes at 6:30 pm on
weekdays and is not open at all on Saturdays and Sundays. The plans
for Blue Line reconstruction call for Bowdoin station to close
permanently in a few years, since it is only a block from Government
Center and it would be a real pain to enlarge it to handle six-car
trains. Government Center is supposed to get another entrance
at this time, by reopening one of the old Scollay Square stairways.
>[The Blue Line cars] had trolley poles that
>were used ONLY for the trip to Harvard. The track ran out the portal into
>Cambridge Street, through Charles Street Circle (I forget the exact track
>layout here), and onto the Longfellow Bridge, which then was paved with
>cobblestones. In the middle (approximately) of the bridge, the track joined
>the "Cambridge Subway" track.
Was this route ever used for revenue service? It sounds like it would
have been useful then...it would be even more useful now, to get people
from Cambridge to the airport.
>The former
>"Brattle" and "Adams" stations were discontinued, along with the loops that
>had been used by the cars from Charlestown (the "Brattle Loop", which was
>roughly in the same spot as the present seldom-used north-facing loop at
>Government Center) and the smaller tighter loop that the Eastern Mass.
>trolleys used to use at Adams Square.
What was the Eastern Mass. trolley system, and what routes did their
cars serve?
>Somebody mentioned the tunnel that goes south under Tremont Street from
>Boylston Street Station. The original Subway had two southward-facing
>entrances or portals. The "Pleasant Street" entrance was located at the
>intersection of Tremont Street, Shawmut Avenue and Pleasant Street.
Did the tracks from here run down Broadway to South Boston, down Tremont
to Egleston, or divide here and serve both routes? I thought there
were at some point two separate portals for these routes.
>The "Public Garden Entrance", that
>was used by Huntington Avenue cars until the Huntington Avenue Subway opened
>in 1940, was built when the tunnel was extended to Governors Square (Kenmore
>Square) later. (There may have been an intervening extension part way - I
>can't remember off the top of my head, and of course all my books on the
>subject are at home.)
There was definitely an intervening extension--you can see an old,
filled-in portal in the middle of Commonwealth Avenue at Charlesgate,
a long block east of Kenmore Square.
Do you, or anyone else, happen to know what routes the original
Boston subway (now Green Line) served? My impression is that 50 years
ago there were a LOT more branches than there are today.
m00...@mbvms.mitre.org
> In article <1994May4...@mbvms.mitre.org> m00...@mbvms.mitre.org writes:
[ I'm going to delete some of the quoted text to appease my mailer which
will reject a message with more quoted than new text.]
>> Also, though I don't know its present state, there was a tunnel extending
>> west from Bowdoin Station to a portal in the middle of Cambridge Street.
>
> If the Blue Line is ever extended to Charles Street to connect to
> the Red Line, this tunnel will see service once again.
>
When pigs fly?
>
>>[The Blue Line cars] had trolley poles that
>>were used ONLY for the trip to Harvard. The track ran out the portal into
>>Cambridge Street, through Charles Street Circle (I forget the exact track
>>layout here), and onto the Longfellow Bridge, which then was paved with
>>cobblestones. In the middle (approximately) of the bridge, the track joined
>>the "Cambridge Subway" track.
>
> Was this route ever used for revenue service? It sounds like it would
> have been useful then...it would be even more useful now, to get people
> from Cambridge to the airport.
>
Never that I know of, and I'm certain that it was never used for
revenue service in the configuration described in this paragraph. I don't
know without looking it up when that tunnel was built, that is if it was built
at the time of the conversion of the present "Blue Line" from streetcar to
"heavy rapid" operation. IF it is older than that date, which I think was
1923, then it MAY have been used at some time prior to the opening of the
Cambridge Subway (1913 I think) to bring cars from Cambridge into the Central
(Tremont Street) Subway. I know that at one time cars from Cambridge did go
into the Central Subway, but without looking it up which I haven't had time to
do, I can't say how they got there. If I were to guess, I'd guess it was more
likely that they came over the Charles River Dam Bridge from Lechmere and
entered the Subway at Canal and Causeway Streets.
>>The former
>>"Brattle" and "Adams" stations were discontinued, along with the loops that
>>had been used by the cars from Charlestown (the "Brattle Loop", which was
>>roughly in the same spot as the present seldom-used north-facing loop at
>>Government Center) and the smaller tighter loop that the Eastern Mass.
>>trolleys used to use at Adams Square.
>
> What was the Eastern Mass. trolley system, and what routes did their
> cars serve?
>
The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway was formed circa 1920 as the
reorganization of the bankrupt Bay State Street Railway system. That system
in turn was essentially the amalgamation of the Boston and Northern Street
Railway and the Old Colony Street Railway. Prior to the bankruptcy, they
were controlled by the Massachusetts Electric Power companies. The Boston
and Northern and the Old Colony were large systems operating virtually all
the trolley lines north and south of Boston respectively outside the areas
served by the Boston Elevated. They had grown up over the years through
the acquisition by the power company and subsequent merger of scores of
independently built small trolley companies in the various cities and towns.
The Eastern Mass. was created as a private corporation but was assisted and
at first (until it became solidly profitable) heavily regulated by the State.
Sort of an early "Conrail". In particular, it was allowed to abandon many
of the marginal and unprofitable lines that the Bay State had been operating.
These were mostly rural operations, but did include a few whole Divisions,
such as Nashua NH, Gloucester and Newport RI. The Eastern Mass. eventually
settled down to an operation consisting of eleven Divisions:
Haverhill
Lawrence
Lowell
Melrose-Woburn
Salem
Lynn
Quincy
Brockton
Taunton
Fall River
Norwood
Two other Divisions - Hyde Park and Chelsea/Everett - were sold to the Boston
Elevated circa 1930 and became part of that company's system. The Eastern
Massachusetts never operated any passenger service THROUGH Boston, though
cars of several of its Divisions entered the City to reach Boston Elevated
Rapid Transit terminals at such places as Fields Corner, Ashmont, Mattapan,
Dudley (discontinued fairly early), Forest Hills, Sullivan and Everett.
They also operated freight trolley service (using box motors mostly if not
exclusively) to a terminal on Harrison Avenue in the South End near Dover
Street (now East Berkeley Street). This building still stands. It was
used by Bay State/Eastern Mass. freight trolleys as well as by the Boston and
Worcester and possibly other lines as well. (The Eastern Mass. never owned
lines running WEST from Boston - these were the property of the Boston and
Worcester and the Middlesex and Boston systems.)
Beginning in the 20s and continuing aggressively through the 1930s, the
Eastern Mass. converted its trolley routes to bus operation. After 1937,
the only trolley routes left were:
Sullivan Square Station - Stoneham
This line operated over Boston Elevated tracks in Mystic Avenue and in
center reservation in the Fellsway (Route 28) to Elm Street in Medford
which is the present terminus of MBTA bus route 100. From there, it
continued on private right of way through the Middlesex Fells
Reservation roughly paralleling the present Interstate 93 to the north
end of the Reservation, where it returned to the street, Main Street
in Stoneham (Route 28) at the intersection of North Border Road (the
corner where Friendly's Ice Cream Shop is today). Much of the right
of way is still visible, including a couple of stone arch bridges,
one of which you can see from Route 93. From there it ran
in the street to the Boston and Maine Stoneham Branch crossing at
Farm Hill station. About 1940, it was cut back from Farm Hill to
Stoneham Square. The cars were stored at the Elevated's Salem Street
Carhouse in Medford. Elevated men operated the cars to a meeting
point in the Reservation known as the "Sheepfold", where Eastern Mass.
operators took over. At least in non-rush hours, and I think at all
times, the cars ran in local service on the El tracks. The Elevated
operated additional trolleys (Type 5s are what I remember) just
between Sulllivan and Elm Street. The Stoneham service lasted until
1946. After that, the Elevated (and later the MTA) ran to Elm Street
only until the early 50s. This was, I believe, the last streetcar
line operated by the MTA except for the Cambridge lines and the ones
into the Subway. The last car to Stoneham was number 4387, which is
now at Seashore Trolley Musuem. I remember this line very well, as
we were living in Roxbury for a couple of years when I was a small
child, and since the Elevated fare was good to "Spot Pond", the
point where the cars emerged from the Reservation, one could cheaply
travel that far for a day's outing in the Park or to the Stone Zoo.
I don't recall ever riding to Stoneham. We wouldn't have been able to
afford the extra fare to ride just for the fun of it. I do remember
when riding in other people's automobiles seeing the cars in Stoneham
Square.
Fields Corner to Quincy, Houghs Neck and Quincy Point
This route operated from the Elevated's Fields Corner Station along
Neponset Avenue in Dorchester and Hancock Street in Quincy to Quincy
Square, from which point it branched. One branch went all the way out
Sea Street to Houghs Neck. It did not go to Germantown as the present
bus does. I believe there was a short stretch of private right of way
near the end of the line. The other branch went to Quincy Point and
the Fore River Shipyard. I think it ran on Washington Street but I'm
not sure. Needless to say it was a very busy line during the War.
The cars were housed at the Eastern Mass. carhouse in Quincy. Most
of the facility had been converted into a bus garage, but enough rail
storage was left for these remaining cars. I believe the last of the
old buildings there has finally been torn down, but the site is still
used as a bus garage by the MBTA. This route was the most heavily
used route on the entire Eastern Mass. system, and presumably that is
the reason that it remained rail for so long. Service in the rush
hours was every 5 minutes or better, and the cars ran 24 hours a day.
The Elevated had an off-street loop at Neponset Circle, and operated
local service between Fields Corner and Neponset; the Eastern Mass.
cars ran express to Neponset Circle at least in the rush hours.
This line lasted until 1948. I remember seeing the cars in Fields
Corner Station, but I don't think I ever rode it. In the 1946-8
period, numerous fantrips were run on this line, at least one of which
featured operation of a Boston Elevated PCC streetcar to the Shipyard.
There was a loop at the Shipyard but not at Houghs Neck.
The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway continued to operate its eleven
Division bus system for many years after the last two rail lines had been
converted to bus. In my school age years, when we lived in Beverly (even
during the war), they sold a "Ride all Day for $1.00" ticket. I persuaded my
mother on as many occasions as I could to use this cheap ticket (kids could
get one for 50 cents) to ride as many bus lines as possible. In this way I
managed by the time I was 12 years old to ride all Eastern Mass. bus lines
except the Fall River Division. The only place in modern times where they
left Massachusetts was a line from Taunton to Providence along Route 44.
Also, summer only special service from Lawrence to Canobie Lake Park in
Salem NH. Gradually of course especially after 1960, the ridership and
service followed the usual pattern of reductions. The Haverhill, Taunton
and Fall River Divisions were sold off; Norwood (which had only one line)
was combined with Brockton, and Melrose with Lynn. The most heavily used line
remained the route between Fields Corner and Quincy Square. In a very
controversial decision (allegedly at the insistence of the MTA operators'
unions), the Eastern Mass. was denied the right to operate busses on the
Southeast Expressway into Downtown Boston when the Expressway opened,
although a short-lived temporary operation was run when the rail service on
the New Haven Railroad to the South Shore was abandoned in 1959 (?). When
the State and the MTA began to talk seriously about building the Rapid
Transit (now the "Red Line") to Quincy and Braintree, the Eastern Mass.
strenuously objected as it would kill their heaviest and most profitable route.
When all the dust settled and all the politicians had had their "innings", etc.,
the "solution" was the creation of the MBTA (which coincidentally happened just
a few months before the Boston and Maine was allowed to discontinue almost all
its passenger service), and the State purchase of the Eastern Mass. system.
The MBTA operated all its routes for about a year allowing time for the cities
involved to get their act together and establish Regional Transit Authorities
in Lowell, Lawrence and Brockton to take over. The remaining Eastern Mass.
routes, within the statutory MBTA district, are still operated by the MBTA,
with some contraction, some expansion and some integration with previous
Boston Elevated / MTA services. I was at one time going to write a history
of the Eastern Mass., but I've not yet had time to do so. Maybe one day I will!
Now in all of the above discussion I have been answering the general question of
"what was the Eastern Mass.", and have not mentioned their operation into the
Subway. I do not know for sure if this operation was part of the original
Subway plans, but I suspect it was. Certainly it was begun very early if not
at the actual beginning of the Subway. The only Eastern Mass. (and Bay State
before it - and I believe it even dates from the days of the Boston and Northern
and probably the original Lynn and Boston Street Railway) routes ever to enter
DOWNTOWN Boston were the lines from Lynn and Salem. They all converged on
Western Avenue (Route 107) in Lynn, passing the carhouse at the site of the
present MBTA West Lynn bus garage (that is the "modern" carhouse - in the
earliest years there were several carhouses in Lynn), and then running along
Broadway through Revere and Chelsea over the OLD Mystic River Bridge into
Charlestown and then over the Charlestown High Bridge (and I think Warren
Avenue - at least the Boston Elevated trolleys that I remember running to
Charlestown used Warren Avenue inbound and the High Bridge outbound) and into
the Subway at Causeway and Canal Streets. They had their own loop just south
of Haymarket Station, in the subway tunnel. Cars ran into the subway at least
from Lynn and Salem and I suspect from most North Shore communities. This
service lasted until the Sumner Tunnel was opened in 1936. At that time, an
off-street bus terminal was built at Haymarket Square (Honk if you remember
how Haymarket Square looked before the Central Artery), and busses were put
in service at first only between Haymarket and Chelsea where they connected with
the cars for Lynn and Salem. This lasted I think less than a year. The
Eastern Mass. sold their Chelsea Division (including some cars that stayed
in service until the lines were converted to trolley coach in 1953) to the
Elevated (but kept their main shops which were located in Chelsea until after
the war when all heavy bus repair operations were consolidated at Campello Shop)
and began running busses on the McLellan Highway and through Sumner Tunnel.
Operation of Eastern Mass. busses over the General Edwards Bridge (Route 1A) did
not begin until after the narrow gauge quit in 1940. The lineal descendant
today of the Eastern Mass. trolley operation into the Subway is MBTA bus routes
440, 441, 442, 450 and 455 (I think I have the numbers right). These busses
now are NOT restricted from carrying passengers between Boston and points in
Revere as the Eastern Mass. busses always were (except for along Route 1A
beyond Revere Street). And of course a large number of passengers transfer
to the Blue Line at Wonderland Station rather than riding the bus all the way
to Haymarket especially in the rush hour.
>>Somebody mentioned the tunnel that goes south under Tremont Street from
>>Boylston Street Station. The original Subway had two southward-facing
>>entrances or portals. The "Pleasant Street" entrance was located at the
>>intersection of Tremont Street, Shawmut Avenue and Pleasant Street.
>
> Did the tracks from here run down Broadway to South Boston, down Tremont
> to Egleston, or divide here and serve both routes? I thought there
> were at some point two separate portals for these routes.
>
Yes. The tracks went down both Broadway and Tremont Streets, and yes, there
were two separate portals although they were right side-by-each, and the tracks
joined as soon as they entered the tunnel. I don't know without looking it up
when it was rebuilt in this fashion, but I know that originally there was only
a single portal. The line to City Point was discontinued about 1950. The line
to Egleston was cut back to a former carhouse that had been retained by the MTA
as a "junk storage area" at Tremont and Lenox Streets just south of
Massachusetts Avenue in the South End at roughly the same time. The track to
Egleston Square and thence under the El along Washington Street to the Arborway
Carhouse was retained for barn access. When they closed the Lenox Street line
circa 1962, a shuttle service was operated for a while, using the ex-Dallas
double-ended PCC cars, between Boylston Street Station and the Broadway and
Tremont Street portal. As I recall, this shuttle service only used one car and
one track, but I forget which one it was.
>>The "Public Garden Entrance", that
>>was used by Huntington Avenue cars until the Huntington Avenue Subway opened
>>in 1940, was built when the tunnel was extended to Governors Square (Kenmore
>>Square) later. (There may have been an intervening extension part way - I
>>can't remember off the top of my head, and of course all my books on the
>>subject are at home.)
>
> There was definitely an intervening extension--you can see an old,
> filled-in portal in the middle of Commonwealth Avenue at Charlesgate,
> a long block east of Kenmore Square.
>
That's the "extension to Governors Square" that I referred to. The construction
of Kenmore Station and the two-way branch tunnels to Blandford Street and Saint
Marys Street came much later - in the 30s.
> Do you, or anyone else, happen to know what routes the original
> Boston subway (now Green Line) served? My impression is that 50 years
> ago there were a LOT more branches than there are today.
I'd guess that if one could compile a list of ALL the routes that at one time
or another used the Central Subway, it would be a damned long list. What was
running circa 1940, which is my personal earliest memory was:
North Station - City Point via Broadway
North Station - Egleston via Tremont Street
Park Street - Arborway via Huntington Avenue, with "short turn"
service to Heath Street, Francis Street (now Brigham Circle)
and Opera Place (now Northeastern University)
Lechmere - Reservoir (Cleveland Circle) via Beacon Street
Lechmere - Lake Street (Boston College) via Commonwealth Avenue
Park Street - Watertown via Brighton Center and Newton Corner
with "short turn" service to Oak Square
Brattle Loop - Sullivan via Bunker Hill Street
Brattle Loop - Sullivan via Main Street
Obviously, the Riverside line did not exist then. For those who may not
know it, that line was converted to "light rail" from a steam and for a few
years Diesel powered commuter rail line of the Boston and Albany Railroad
in 1959. (July 4 as I recall was the opening day.) At the time, this was
loudly proclaimed to be the first conversion of a "railroad" line to transit
use. That of course wasn't true. Not even in Boston. The present "Red Line"
from Andrew Square to Mattapan was a branch of the New Haven Railroad until
1928, and I would not be so bold as to claim that even that was a "first"
without doing a lot of research!
What I would guess would be the most recently discontinued operation prior
to 1940 was operation to Chestnut Hill along Boylston Street (Route 9)
in Brookline, which was discontinued when the afore-mentioned Kenmore Square
station and busway was built, and opened with great promotion and ceremony.
Unfortunately, I can't recall the date - it would have been I think in the
middle 30s. Another interesting operation that lasted until something like
1950 was the operation of "Owl" cars from several destinations in Dorchester,
Roxbury, Hyde Park and West Roxbury into the Central Subway. The Elevated
always (at least in "modern" times - 1920 or later) had a completely separate
set of routes that they operated between approximately 1 A.M. and 5 A.M. They
issued a little booklet of "Owl Schedules", that listed these routes and the
schedules in excruciating detail. Remember that until about 1948 there were
no such things as published schedules for the public for the "normal" service.
All you had was the system map, which on the reverse side had a list of the
routes with the first and last times listed for each one, but no other
schedule information. Anyway, these "Owl" routes in most cases bore little
resemblance to daytime routings. In particular, the present "Red Line" and
"Orange Line" (or to be correct, the contemporary versions of those lines)
did not run. The present "Blue Line", as I said, existed only between
Bowdoin and Maverick in those days. It was operated all night, but Bowdoin
Station was not open. Most of the system was served by streetcars that
eventually found their ways from outlying points into the "Central Subway".
The exceptions generally were lines that had been converted to bus (not many
"important" lines had been converterd by 1940!) or trackless trolley - these
few that did operate in "Owl" hours fed some streetcar line. (For example, in
"Owl" service, trackless trolleys that in normal hours ran from Lebanon Street
in Malden to the end of the Main Line Elevated at Everett Station were extended
in "Owl" hours to connect at Sullivan Square Station with streetcars coming in
from Broadway in Somerville.) All the street-car routes that went into the
Subway were listed in the timetable as terminating at Scollay or Brattle.
Everything was timed to make reasonable connections at Scollay/Brattle. Of
course, then there was no south-facing loop at Scollay (as there is today at
Government Center), so the cars actually ran to Canal Street loop. Even though
most of them would have been Type 5s that of course were double-ended, it would
have been an operational nightmare to have cars reversing ends at Scollay Square
Station. Anyway, several of the routes from the south converged on the Dudley
Street terminal, and then ran up Washington Street under the El, then onto Dover
Street, to Tremont Street and thence into the Subway. This "Owl" operation was
the only revenue operation in that era over tracks along Washington from
Northampton to Dover and along Dover from Washington to Tremont.
Well, I've already written about ten times as much as I intended to, so
I'll sign off for now.
> --
> Ron Newman MIT Media Laboratory
> rne...@media.mit.edu
Len Bachelder m00...@mbvms.mitre.org
Dennis Rockwell
>roughly in the same spot as the present seldom-used north-facing loop at
Seldom? There is a North Station-Government Center route
that uses this loop, if I read you correctly. I got on one
by mistake just last week. It went by the old Scollay
Square Under tiled wall; is this the loop you meant?
--
Dennis Rockwell den...@osf.org
Open Software Foundation Voice: +1-617-621-7268
Research Institute Fax: +1-617-621-8696
m00...@mbvms.mitre.org
> In article <1994May4...@mbvms.mitre.org> m00...@mbvms.mitre.org writes:
>> [ ... whew! ...] (the "Brattle Loop", which was
>>roughly in the same spot as the present seldom-used north-facing loop at
>>Government Center) [ ... ]
>
> Seldom? There is a North Station-Government Center route
> that uses this loop, if I read you correctly. I got on one
> by mistake just last week. It went by the old Scollay
> Square Under tiled wall; is this the loop you meant?
> --
It's the "Brattle" tiled wall that you went by. Scollay Square Under was the
present Blue Line station - it's "under" the Green Line.
Yeah, they do sometimes run North Station - Government Center, but unless they
have made a recent change, it's not a regular route. It runs at times when
they expect big loads coming out of the Garden, like Circus, Bruins games,
Celtics games, etc. to add extra service into the main part of the subway.
By the way, since we're talking about North Station and loops and such, do
you recall that the present Canal Street stub-end terminal was a loop before
they got the LRVs? It was traditionally the terminus for the lines to City
Point and Egleston, which if my memory is correct were the first Central
Subway routes to get PCCs - probably because they had the lightest traffic.
Extra trips and turnbacks are quite common on the Green Line. Occasionally
they'll snarf a "Lechmere" train and turn it at Government Center if it's
real late. They have a loop at Kenmore that sees occasional use when things
get fouled up, and cars can be turned back at Blandford Street and other
places when necessary. In fact, there used to be a semi-regular rush hour
operation to Blandford Street of two or three trips in the evening. That is
what they kept the last 8 Type 5s for, along with the more regularly operated
Northeastern University turnbacks.
Len Bachelder m00...@mbvms.mitre.org
Robert Coe
> [ ... whew! ...] (the "Brattle Loop", which was roughly in the same spot
>as the present seldom-used north-facing loop at Government Center) [ ... ]
And den...@brunel.osf.org (Dennis Rockwell) replied:
>Seldom? There is a North Station-Government Center route that uses this
>loop, if I read you correctly. I got on one by mistake just last week.
Nowadays that qualifies as rare milage. For a brief period in the late
70s or early 80s the MBTA operated the Lechmere service as a shuttle to
Government Center, but ever since then the loop has been used only in
cases of severe track congestion south of Government Center.
>It went by the old Scollay Square Under tiled wall;
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Brattle Street". "Scollay Under" was the Blue Line station one level
lower.
>Is this the loop you meant?
Did you exit at Government Center from the right-hand side of the car?
If so, it was that loop. All other cars load/unload from the left-hand
side at Government Center.