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Guess this means the dream of restoring the E Line through JP is really dead
By adamg on Wed, 11/08/2023 - 2:36pm
As he rested his weary feet and got a bite to eat inside Cafe Beirut on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain today, roving UHub photographer Sam Greenblatt had a ringside seat to watch a crew taking down at least some of the trolley power poles that had remained up along Centre Street, South Street and South Huntington Avenue long after the T stopped running the E Line between Heath Street and the Arborway. In December, 1985. Like 38 years ago.
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Comments
The old Arborway cars were fun to ride and …
… beautiful to look at. I suppose a few of them now run on the ashmont mattapan line. Though minus the comfortable well worn furnishings.
The 39 just doesn’t stack up.
Not only doesn't the 39 stack
Not only doesn't the 39 stack up speed and comfort wise (especially when the E line is underground vs 39 in traffic) but the 39 stops at Back Bay T instead of going to downtown, North Station and then all the way to Somerville).
39 is faster
In my experience the 39 is much faster than the E line. It's also just as comfortable
You'll know the Arborway line is entirely gone...
...when they dig up the rails that have been buried under South St, Centre St and South Huntington Avenue for the past 38 years.
This.
In Chelsealand.. they re-did the main street near my house. Guess what was under the asphalt? old trolley rails and cobble stones. (they just repaved over them)
We even have some trolley wire poles still around here and there that have been repurposed as poles for street lights or reinforcers for other utility poles.
And the best part.. Streetcars haven't been in Chelsea since the 1930s. Long before the Tobin Bridge existed.
There must be a reason why the City of Boston is removing those poles. No real need to remove them unless they are rusted to all hell.
Last streetcars in Chelsea
Last streetcars in Chelsea was 1952 when what are now the 116 and 117 bus routes were converted to trackless trolley, which in turn were replaced by diesel buses in 1961.
MBTA, not city project
I believe this is the MBTA taking these down, with the help of a contractor. If I had to guess, they’ve probably finally become a hazard the rustier they get, although I wonder if there are plans afoot to redo sidewalks or something that these would get in the way of.
And yes, we still see the tracks emerge on South Huntington Ave. when the potholes get really big…
maybe this will help
Stretches of Centre in that area are impassable in a wheelchair-- poles, projections on the store fronts, and street furniture eat into the sidewalk and leave less than 30" clearance. The JP Licks side is better but still has tight spots. My partner doesn't even try to get around the Same Old Place block anymore.
Those rails are the undead.
The dream lives on without the poles.
Gone
They were dug up in 1996. long gone
Still could come back
While the old rails may be coming up it is worth noting that if any transit is returned, they would need to dig up and replace all of the rails and old wooded railroad ties that are buried under there. The last time railroad ties went in those streets, concrete ties had not been implemented as yet in many places.
I don’t think trolley tracks
I don’t think trolley tracks used any kind of ties.
This just made me think.
This just made me think. Wouldn't it be great if all work and that the MBTA says they are doing could be filmed and made public? And why are escalators shut down for weeks and over a month with no completion date posted or announced on site or by the invisible man sitting in the booth at North Station Valenti Way escalator for example?
How about the visible man …
… lounging at one end of the slow you down gates to the commuter rail waiting area? While passengers wanting to exit at the other end have to wait for an entering passenger to open the gates to get out because phone app tickets have become once again unintelligible on the exit side. Makes you wonder if a fire or bomb or something more urgent than getting to work would necessitate fast exits. Where do people go? At least in theaters and on airplanes you know.
Green Line to Jamaica Plain
The Arborway Committee for Public Transit, Inc., has been working with JP state legislators and the city to restore the Green Line E-branch at least as far as Hyde/Canary Square. Transportation Bond Bills in 2020 and 2022 authorized the state to spend $2.42 million for a feasibility study to restore the service. Just last week the legislators and the mayor sent a letter to the Secretary of Administration and Finance requesting the expenditure. While streetcar service along Centre ended on December 28, 1985, the return of service to South Huntington to serve the Latino community of Hyde Square, the Angell Animal Medical Center, and the other institutions and residents on South Huntington is a work in progress.
As Tull would sing, "Oh, we
As Tull would sing, "Oh, we won't give in, we'll keep living in the past."