On Saturday morning, March 15 2008, I took a ride on the Greenbush Branch of the MBTA commuter rail system.
This former New Haven RR, Old Colony line which was closed in the 1950’s has been brought up to 21st century standards. All new station platforms and crossing signals. The grade was lowered in a few places to avoid crossing at grade. A tunnel was dug through Hingham Center to appease the “we are too good for trains” crowd in this faux affluent community. It’s funny, the track from the old line was never taken up and the right of way has lied dormant for many years. I suppose no one imagined the line being revitilize. They won, those Hingham nimbys. The tunnel and other efforts to appease the grade crossing issue added millions of dollars to the project. It will probably be the last commuter rail project to be done in Massachusetts. All future plans to reopen a few other old lines are gathering dust. Lessons learned from the Greenbush line I suppose.
It opened on Halloween Day in 2007 to much concern over the fact that it is not using horn signals at crossings. A quite line. Well the horns sounded that day, out of concern for the trick or treaters. Since then it has been silent. Just the low rumble of the locomotive pulling the outbound consist of sleek double deck coaches from South Station to the lines end in Scituate.
I purchased my round trip ticket ($15.75) at a computer terminal. It issued the two passes and I waited for the announcement to board. The train departed on time from South Station, track 12. Only one or two of the coaches were open, the others would not be needed for the light ridership of the weekend. The upper deck seemed like the most logical place to be, so up I went. To my suprise I was able to sit at the three wide table, facing forward. On the other side of the car was the same arrangement,
It’s ironic – commuter trains and rapid transit bring out any class bias in the suburbanites until the route is actually built, at which time the trains can’t be run fast enough or cheap enough to suit them – yet they patronize them anyway.
About 15 years ago it was suggested that the Skokie Swift, which connected Dempster Street in Skokie to the Howard/Red Line L terminal on the Chicago border, be extended a mile north to a new terminus at the Old Orchard shopping center. The capital costs were estimated at all of a million dollars because no more cars were needed and the ROW was pre-paid: it was simply the old abandoned Chicago North Shore/Skokie Valley route with a utility easement. CTA riders were delighted, Skokie citizens were mixed, the shopping mall came out against it. Not their kinda people, I suppose. But when it was proposed to put a full 4-way exchange at the Edens Expy (I-94 West) and Old Orchard Road, why it couldn’t be done fast enough.
I personally am thrilled that my late Uncle Tip finally got his legacy back. He regularly commuted into Boston on that line during the forties, when he and Aunt Mae lived in North Scituate. In the fifties, after the line had been abandoned, he had to find a way to get to Rte. 128 station for the trip into South Station. Then as now, Beantown is not a great place in which to drive a car unless it’s really unavoidable.
The trash situation may not be that horrible for too many years into the future. As you said, it took decades for the trash to pile up, so it won’t be banished immediately, but what’s really needed more than taxpayer $$$ to clean it up is civic pride. If the suburban communities with their new depots and parking lots can keep the station premises clean, eventually there will probably be enough civic pride and “adopt a stretch” of clean-up crews from organizations like the Rotary, Boy Scouts, chu
Thanks for an excellent report.
Al-
Here is some follow up of your reply to my original post.
The coach was a BTC-4A Blind Trailer Coach built by Kawasaki. My research indicates that it was purchased new and has been in use exclusively with the MBTA. It is of the bi-level configuration. The locomotive is a F40PH. I didn’t get a look at the number so I can’t tell you for sure who the mfg. was. I could have been a Morrison-Knudsen or an EMD. My guess is Morrison-Knudsen, because I think they are using the newer locomotives on the Greenbush.
I hope to do some more “joy riding” in the coming months. The MBTA commuter rail system goes out from Boston from two separate stations, 10 lines from South Station and 5 lines from North Station. There is no direct link between these two stations. They are on the north and south boundries of downtown Boston, only about a mile apart. A few subway connections connect the two stations and its not an impossible walk if you were so inclined. Most commuter rail lines do not terminate in such “bucolic” environs as Scituate so I will be chosing my rides carefully.
I will be sure to pay the correct price this time. I took the word of a frantic station attendant that Greenbush was in fare zone 8. It is actually in zone 6. I ended up paying a few dollars more than I should have, no big deal, but I will be sure to know the costs in the future.
Thanks for showing an interest in my post. I will be posting more adventures as time goes on.
Pete
FYI for Non-New Englanders — added information
The MBTA operates and maintains 638 miles of track and 257 protected Grade Crossings in two states. They own 80 locomotives (55 F40PH-2 and 25 GP40-MC) as well as 377 passenger coaches (107 double deck). The current MBTA map shows as “PROPOSED” the extention of the Stoughton line to Tanton, Fall River, and New Bedford. Freight service to Tanton, Fall River, and New Bedford is run today by way of Attleboro. To re-activate the line from Stoughton to Tanton is a problem, it goes through a Swamp, the fight goes on. Governor Patrick campained on opening service to Fall River and New Bedford.
A typical MBTA Commuter Rail Train. One or two standard coaches are used as a buffer between the Diesel and the “Double Deck” coaches to prevent diesel smoke entering. The Tains run in Push/Pull with the diesel on the outbound end.
This photo was taken on the Stoughton, MA line.
Peter - I really liked your report, but is that true that no other lines are underway? I’ve read periodically that the Fall River line is under consideration for refurbishment - but maybe that is wishful thinking. (I lived in Cambridge in the early 70s, so I recall a little about the Boston area. I remember when the T Red Line extension through Quincy opened.)