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Making tracks
By adamg on Wed, 11/20/2013 - 10:38am
When and where? The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place the photo. See it larger.
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Comments
Boston Collegiate Charter School?
215 Sydney St., Dorchester, at Crescent Avenue right up against I-93?
http://www.peterli.com/spm/archive.php?article_id=3435
The End of Harvard St. and Braintree St. in Allston
Now basically under the Cambridge St. overpass by the Pike.
Not 100% sure but I don't think so
I was going to guess this too, but the smaller building in the foreground is not the same as the
Sports DepotPizzeria Regina, which is a stone building and I always assumed was an actual depot at one point.Allston train depot
I thought the same at first glance but knew better as soon as I looked at the large version of the photo. As you say, the Allston building is stone - it was indeed a working train station when it was built.
http://www.bahistory.org/AllstonDepot.htm (Sorry, I can't seem to embed links properly lately.)
Dorchester
Red Line tracks between what is now JFK and Savin Hill. The Skinner Organ compnay was near Sydney and Crescent Street.
Sidney Street ca. 1920s?
http://web.archive.org/web/20120302073858/http://aeolian-skinner.110mb.com/
Ashmont line south of JFK?
Ashmont line south of JFK?
Dorchester
This is the current Boston Collegiate Charter School at the corner of Sydney and Crescent Avenue by the SE Expressway. Skinner Organ was there from 1914 on....had a daughter attend the school. Interesting reuse of the building!
JFK/UMASS
I'm pretty sure that's taken from the red line tracks where JFK/UMASS station now stands facing south. The Skinner Organ building is now the Boston Collegiate Charter School at 215 Sydney St, Boston, MA 02125. The tracks to the left are the commuter rail. I-93 now runs above these tracks.
The semaphores on the
The semaphores on the railroad mainline suggest this picture is in or before the 1930's.
I agree with Bayview
Skinner moved to Dorchester in 1914
Until now, I didn't realize
Until now, I didn't realize that chain-link fencing was around that long ago.
Hurricane Fence, Cyclone Fence, etc.
It started with fencing produced using wire and modified cloth weaving machines in 1844: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain-link_fencing
1925 - 1927
Undoubtedly.
This is dated between 1914
This is dated between 1914 and the late 1920s. IIRC it was 1927 or 1928 when the Red Line was extended south of Andrew. Wikipedia says the factory opened in 1914. Next time I take the train that way, I'll look to see if the faded paint identifying it as Skinner Organ is still present.
What this also means is the Shawmut branch railroad was electrified, based on the wires above. I hadn't known that.
Wouldn't be surprised
In 1895, the first electric train in the United States ran from Boston to Nantasket Beach, Hull via the right of way pictured here.
The 1895 electrification in
The 1895 electrification in Hull was only on the Nantasket Beach branch between Hull and Nantasket Junction in Hingham with overhead wire, and then a later extension with third rail to East Weymouth (1896), Braintree (1898) and Cohasset ((1899), but not all the way to Boston.
The wires in this photo are for the construction of the Red Line from Andrew to Fields Corner. The work cars used the overhead wires for power, not third-rail. For many years, even after the line was completed and in service, the overhead wires remained in place for use by work cars at night. That allowed the third-rail power to be killed while still providing power for the work cars.
That makes sense, had read
That makes sense, had read that about the work cars before. Thanks for filling in the gaps.
Approximate view from Google Maps
The original photo is taken from the railroad tracks, but this view if a little bit to the right of that viewpoint:
http://goo.gl/maps/WVLpZ
I'm Finally Going To Get One Right!
This is the Red Line being built near Savin Hill, circa 1920.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Maybe a little bit later
Looks to me that this has already been built -- and they are just doing track repairs.
It looks like construction of
It looks like construction of the line. The third rail is only partially in place on the northbound track in the foreground and does not look to be installed yet on the southbound track to the right. Also, the old railroad station is still in place and has not been torn down yet. Looks like it is being used as a construction staging area.
The Answer!
Thanks for playing everyone! This was taken from Crescent Ave in Dorchester and shows the Skinner Organ Factor on Sidney Street (And the current location of JFK/UMass Station). The date is July 19, 1927.