The Central Square, Cambridge, MS - Watertown streetcar line, Type 4 cars, 1950

[daveklepper]

Some photos.   The Green Street Loop. off Central Sqaure, near Simeoni's reataurant, popular hangout for MIT students:

At the Central Square, Massachusetts Avenue, loading island:

Central Square, junction of Massachusetts Avenue and Arsenal Street:

Arsenal Street, between Central Square and the Charles River:

Arsenal Street Bridge:

At the traffic circle west of the Bridge:

Between the circle and Watertown Square:

At Watertown Square.  The Type 5 is on the Harvard Square - Watertown line:

At the wye across the Charles from the Square where cars from Harvard and Central Square entered on the right leg and cars from Park Street on the left, to loops at the Watertown Carhouse.  The line from Central Square crossed the Charles three times, once between Cambridge and Watertown and twice within Watertown.  The line was relatively straight, but the Charles curves a lot:

The loading area at Watertown C, H. with a Type 5 for Harvard Square. 

Some views at the Watertown Carhouse:

 

 

 

 

[Miningman]

The last 2 pictures were an everyday common scene in Toronto well into the 80's and on some routes beyond that. 

They ran and still do a Dewitt during the summer and fall season as a tour of the city and on a regular schedule. 

Also a couple of PCC's on the new Lakefront development.

Great pictures.

So sensible. Big big mistake killing them off. 

[daveklepper]

[daveklepper]

In September 1949, the very day I moved from my home to MIT, the Harvard - Massachusetts Station was cut back, with a temporary "pancake" crossover, to Memorial Drive, at MIT, because the Massachusetts Ave. "Harvard Bridge" was closed for rebuilding without streetcar tracks.  The truncated line ran for one week, and then was closed between Central and Harvard Squares for street repaving, again without tracks.  So Watertown - Central Sq. was extended down Mass. Ave. to the temporary crossover at Mem Dr. with Type 4s.  This continued until the bridge re-opened, when buses ran Mass. Sta.Harvard until the Brill TTs took over.   Type 4s at MIT:

[daveklepper]

In 1957. my Graduate School roomate, Joe Patrick,  and I lived in a Watertown apartment on North Beacon Street, not far from this Arsenal Avenue location, where this piscture shows a Type 4 just after existing the Western Avenue Bridge from Cambridge:  But I think the line was TTT by the time I lived nearby, and the photo is from my undergraduae days.

[daveklepper]

A just-scanned and repaired photo at MIT.  There was no "Memorial Drive" destination sign in this Type-4s roll-sign box, so the operator displayed Central square, the normal destination before the temporary extension to MIT, Memorial Drive.  The car will proceed north through the pan-cake crossover to Central Square and to Watertown.

[daveklepper]

The Masssachusetts Avenue - B&A Grand Junction grade crossing, with the MIT main building in the background-right:

[daveklepper]

All photos near or at MIt were from October - November 194i9.

[MidlandMike]

Was that a B&A branch line?  What precautions would the trolley take before crossing a railroad line?

[daveklepper]

1.  The line still exists, owned either by CSX, who have freight customers in Chelsie and also interchane to Pan Am's Sommerville Yard, or the  MBTA, using it to transfer equipment between N. Sta. and S. Sta. lines and repair facilities.  It was used by the MBTA Vaccination Special about two months ago.  Both systems use it regularly.

2.  Full stop before proceeding across, just like a bus.

[rcdrye]

The Grand Junction Branch is owned by MBTA, and used by MBTA and Amtrak to transfer equipment between North and South stations. 

[MidlandMike]

daveklepper

2.  Full stop before proceeding across, just like a bus.

Michigan had a law that traction lines could not cross railroads at grade, resulting in some impressive trestles for traction lines to hop over railroad lines.  They might have made exceptions in later years.

[daveklepper]

RC:  And still also used by occasional CSX freight transfers.

[daveklepper]

One more, other direction, at the grade crossing, and then the same Type 4 headed for Watertown, in front of MIT

[daveklepper]

A 1949 side view of a Type 4 in front of MIT, with both complete an  incomplete editing, the latter for those who actually prefer to have the intruding auto:

 

 

 

[daveklepper]

I'm in my ROTC uniform, riding my Raleigh bicycle.  Autumn, 1949, an MIT Freshman.  John Stern took the picture, using my camera: