Last night I went to a members-only double Mugar Omni Theater show (think movie theater with a giant dome for a screen going over your head and to either side!) at the Boston Museum of Science, and I got to do a bit of railfanning from the top of the parking garage. The MBTA Green Line goes over the Charles River Dam Viaduct just across the street, and the Red Line goes over the Longfellow Bridge (tracks in the middle, road lanes on either side) about a mile away in the other direction. You can also see the approach and the ex-B&M lift bridges to North Station past the Green Line about a half mile away. I caught two videos last night, one taken when we arrived around 5:30, when it was still light out, then another before leaving at night. This one was taken before night, although the video washed out all the color in the beautiful sunset and sky! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObpWU5mrw2w This was taken after dark, with the lights of the city and the Leonard P. Zakim Bridge in the background. The first clip is the Red Line (Bombardier subway cars) crossing the Longfellow Bridge over the Charles River, and the others are of the Green Line (Kinki-Sharyo and Breda light rail vehicles) crossing the Charles River Dam Viaduct. All of these clips were taken from the top floor of the Boston Museum of Science parking garage around 9:45 PM last night. Sorry about the occasional shake; I was without a tripod, and trying to manually focus (my camera's automatic focus fails at night), zoom, pan, and attempting to compose an interesting scene while keeping the camera steady is not easy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5rzknYlCLE
I would have photos too, but I'm having technical issues with the camera card reader at the moment... Enjoy!
I rebooted the computer and now the card reader works fine...After finding out that the little point-and-shoot camera can't shoot with a fast enough shutter speed to capture the train without blur, I used it to my advantage... This first one is a pan shot.And on this one I attempted to capture the speed of the train...
Boston has one of the most exciting transit systems in the country. Each of the colored subway lines is unique--one of them even switches between catenary and third rail running. The new low-floor green line trolleys were like nothing I had ever seen, and the diesel/electric Silver Line bus was interesting. Not to mention the aggressive commuter rail program, too.
The museum of science has quite a nice parking garage for photography :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-6ZMAeITPkMZ7VMGsh2Cmg?authkey=YywfzmNuh4s&feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Gk-evhteaVJtyq6uLbXicg?authkey=YywfzmNuh4s&feat=directlink
(I used to have more online in this gallery, but I was running out of space. . . .)
I got this shot from a different public parking garage.
http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=2006072420564114645.jpg&order=byposter&page=27&key=Trolleyguy
Nice stuff! I've spent a pleasant afternoon last fall shooting from that other public garage you mention at the bottom of your post. It's fantastic! Seeing subways and commuter trains from one good spot was remarkable.
Thank you all for sharing some excellent photos!
Matt Van Hattem
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.