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, only two seats wide. I wanted to see the world from the train. I had the newspaper and a cup of coffee. It was nice to be comfortable. I am sure this location is taken first during the weekdays too. A fellow rider joined me on the other side. He had no interest in looking out the window. As it turned out he was on his way to help his parents move from their home in Cohasset. I was joy riding.
The train stopped shortly after moving to wait for an inbound from who knows where. All the lines that go south of Boston go into South Station and I suppose delays are common place. The one thing I noticed is how filthy and upkept the right of way is. I don't understand why it is such a mess. It appears as if every bit of junk that makes the whole scene ugly has been there for some time. Does anyone care what it looks like? Is it anyones job to pick up this crap or does the MBTA think it will just disappear on its own? It's not like I was suprised to see all this garbage everywhere, I just don't see any reason for it.
We lumbered to the first stop JFK/UMASS. We picked up some speed and proceeded south without delay, but were stopped at a signal just south of North Quincy Red Line Station. I was kind of looking forward to cruising through that portion of the trip. It's a cool little right - left "s" curve. Not today, we waited for about 10 minutes, the crew annouced some signal problems and a northbound train passed. It was nice they let us know what was going on. We were about 20 minutes behind schedule when we pulled into Quincy Center Station. The rest of the trip south went off without any further delay. The transition onto the actual Greenbush Line at Braintree was alot slower than I thought it was going to be. We really slowed down and didnt really pick up any speed until we were almost at the Commercial Street crossing. Soon after that we pulled into the Weymouth Landing Station.
This area is a major portion of the line which was depressed to eliminate grade crossings. South of the Commercial Street crossing the rails start to go down. Under route 18 and to the station beyond and then up to the grade crossing at Front Street. To accomplish this major excavating of rock had to be done south of the Weymouth Landing Station. As the train pulls out of the station it is down in a rock chasm, blasted out to make a nice new right of way about 40 feet lower than the original. The rock face is covered with steel net to prevent any rocks from falling on the tracks and train. It really is quite a sight.
The new stations and parking lots probably are an eye sore to some of the residents of the communities which the train goes through. It all looks nice to me. It is unfortunate that people have the attitude they do about such things. It's not like the use of trains is a new idea, you know what I mean. The MBTA did there best to satisfy everyone, short of not revitilizing the line.
The train ran a bit late into the remaining stations and didn't stay long at any of them. We made it to Greenbush Station ontime and waited for a short time. We departed only 2 minutes late. The train boarded about 10 passengers on the top deck and about as many below. I switched over to the other side of the train, taking position at the two seat table so I could look out the opposite side for the trip north. A family with a bunch of train loving children took up my former position at the big table. I think they were heading for the Children's Museum or the Aquarium in Boston. Heading north the train was on schedule all the way until we got to Quincy Center Station and JFK/UMASS, being a few minutes late for each stop. As things would have it we rolled into South Station a minute early and it was time to go. The only regret is that the trip was short, 2 hours and 10 minutes round trip.
I didn't realize how smooth the ride was until I was back on the Red Line Subway going home. I wanted to finish my suduko puzzle and it was difficult to write the numbers in the squares without bracing myself against the pitch and roll of the Red Line ride.
I really enjoyed relaxing, reading the paper and looking out the window at the parts of the South Shore which have before now gone unseen. When the summer foliage fills in it will not be so revealing. The forests and wetlands will creep right up to the edge of the right of way. The looks into peoples backyards will be covered up by brush and trees. The occasional mess will be covered up too. The people of the South Shore have a bonafide passenger railroad. I hope it gains popularity and succeeds.
Peter
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, church groups, etc., will come in. That's presuming there aren't too many arcane Massachusetts laws about access to rail ROW, union mandates and such.
Once these expensive commuter lines are built, it is very difficult NOT to justify spending more to make them safer, faster and more comfortable. It sounds already as though there needs to be additional capital spent to re-grade slow areas, fix a curve or two, or possibly (if it has not already been done) go to a higher-tech mode of signalling. I have, however, noticed on some of the Metra lines here radiating out of downtown Chicago that the weekend runs can be surprisingly jerky while the a.m. and p.m. (particulary p.m.) rush is handled quite efficiently with minimal delays. The operating authority will say it has to defer heavy maintenance until the weekend with its much lower passenger haul. It could also be said, I suppose, that class bias is showing itself here, too: weekend riders may or may not have had other means of transit at their disposal, but it's really the Monday-Friday rush hour commuters who most transit agencies set out to please, the pass-holders who pack the train and generate realiable income from the cashbox. Of course, it's also true that they're the ones who pass the bond proposals or agree to take on additional tax burdens.
As for Hingham, may it rot in its own snobbery. The more successful the new Scituate line is, the more property values in Hingham will plateau out because the town chose to exempt itself from that exact part of the transportation grid with the most revitalization potential. Especially if, as I suspect, the older retail areas are the ones nearest the track. To the immediate north of my Chicago neighborhood lies "dear" Evanston, which has been doing its best for decades to decide not only what's best for its own citizens but by implication, for the rest of us too. There's an old Southern saying that goes back at least as far as the Great Depression: "Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash." That metaphor agrees with your analysis that some suburbs are more faux affluent than others.
BTW would you happen to know who supplied the motive power and whether the coaches are the "gallery" type like here in Chicago (floor-to-ceiling is open) or "bilevel" (two distinct levels like two stories of a house). From whom were they purchased or were they rehabbed from service in some other line? --
Great report. I really appreciate your taking the time. Best, Al Smalling ("al-in-chgo").
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.
Don U. TCA 73-5735
gardenengineer wrote: 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.
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.)
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