Vintage PCC Cars in Boston (and a couple bonus shots) - 11 IMG

[CopCarSS]

Good morning, everyone!

On my last trip to Boston, I took time to ride and photograph the Mattapan High Speed line which still uses 1940's vintage PCC cars in everyday service.

 

The day started on the Orange Line at the Oak Grove Station. I took this shot before boarding the train:

Orange Line Equipment by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

I made a stop at South Station before heading down to Ashmont. I didn't shoot as much as I would have liked there because a guard said it wasn't allowed (and I had forgotten to print the information from MBTA's website that said it was...). Here are two shots, though. I need to do the exterior during blue hour sometime:

Boston's South Station by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

Amtrak Acela at South Station by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

After this, I jumped on the Red Line and headed to Ashmont. Here's PCC Car No. 3268 (built in 1946) approaching the Ashmont Platform:

Approaching Ashmont by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

After riding to Mattapan, I basically walked most of the route to get some pictures of the equipment in service:

Approaching Central Ave. by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

Central Ave. by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

Here are a couple details from Car No. 3268:

Vintage Logo by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

PCC Stop Light by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

Here's a shot from the interior of Car No. 3254:

On the Car by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

And here's Car No. 3254 boarding new passengers at Ashmont:

Mattapan High Speed Line by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

And finally, here's a shot from the Ashmont Station of a boarding Red Line Train:

Ashmont Station by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

It really proved to be a fascinating day and there were times when I felt that I had stepped back in time. If you ever find yourself in the Boston area, I highly recommend an outing on the line!

As always, comments, critiques, questions and criticisms always more than welcome!

[samfp1943]

  Thanks, Chris for the memories!  Great Photos, as always..

{Ck P.M. for further comments}

[edblysard]

 

The “Central Ave.” one just jumps out at you…so, that one is going to be in the calendar?

Hey, it don't hurt to ask......

 

[dknelson]

For those in the midwest with a desire to ride on vintage PCC cars, don't forget that downtown Kenosha WI has a fairly large loop (soon to expand) and a collection of PCCs that are painted to honor various cities that ran them.  The loop includes some nice little museums that can make for a pretty full day of trolley riding.

http://www.wisconsintrails.com/travel/kenoshas-streetcars-offer-a-travel-history-lesson-b99371053z1-279578122.html

Dave Nelson

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Really like most of the shots - especially the composition - when are you coming to Philly to do the same with some of our lines ? 

My favorites of the bunch:

"Approaching Ashmont" - but I would have included more of the left/ outer rail of the curve.

"Approaching Central Ave."

"Central Ave."

"On the Car"

"Mattapan High Speed Line"

"PCC Stop Light" - but I think you lost the context: unless you know the PCC cars, you might not know that they're a pair, on the back - contrast with this photo (not mine): http://www.brooklynrail.net/images/fleet/3303/110-1058_IMG.JPG 

Thanks for sharing ! 

- Paul North. 

 

 

[zugmann]

Awesome stuff as always, Chris. Thanks for sharing.

[Murphy Siding]

     The black and whites are especially cool!

[CopCarSS]

Thank you, everyone, for the kind comments. I'm sorry that I'm so tardy in responding. I've been hanging around at some steel industry conferences lately and haven't had the spare time to respond like I would have liked to. I do appreciate all the kind comments, though!