Boston Streetcars in Transition 1962-1985

[JCitron]

Watching these videos brings back a lot of memories. I rode the PCC streetcars in Boston from the time I was born.

Part 1 - The various then existing lines

In this video, the following lines no longer exist.

Watertown
Arborway
Mainline EL
The elevated portion near North Station and Lechmere yard and station.

This has been replaced by the new underground station within North Station with cross-platform access with the Orange line subway. Lechmere station has been ripped out due to the line being extended above ground to Somerville Union Square and Medford Square via the former B&M Lowell line. The light rail shares the ROW with the freights, what's left of them, and the commuter trains to Lowell.

Part 2 - Fan Trips

Former Dallas 2-ended cars, and some old Peter Witt trolleys. Plus views of then current operations with Boeing LRVs and PCC cars.

 

[Forester1]

Thanks John, it sure is good to see some of this footage has been preserved.

 

[JCitron]

Thanks John, it sure is good to see some of this footage has been preserved.

I agree. It's footage like this that's our window in the past.

Iike the old late 50s and early 60s cars. Every car regardless of the make and model had wings and points.

The videos were of the Boston trolleys as I remembered them and some of the videos brought back memories. It's sad that the NIMBYs and the anti-trolley/pro-bus MBTA administration cut back on two very busy lines and replaced the service with busses instead. The reason for cutting both lines? It's a temporary cost-cutting. The Arborway line sat in mothballs until the mid-2000s. There were promises of starting up service soon(tm). Eventually, the T was brought to court and the service was shut down the next day after a judge ruled in favor of the T to kill the service. The court was packed with people from both sides but the NIMBYs screamed and yelled the loudest because they didn't want the trolleys making noise and tying up traffic on Centre Street. It was pretty obvious that the lawyers for the T brought a lot of the people in to scream loudly against the service. There were rumors of payola too because of how quickly the decision was handed out by the judge but that was never proven.

With Boston having the reputation of being the 8th worst city to drive in in the world, maybe they are regretting killing this transit line and maybe there will be a reason to expand the service more.

 

[G.M.]

Parallel lives, these street cars drove in Den Haag and Delft (my hometown) in the Netherlands
a few still drive

 

[JCitron]

Parallel lives, these street cars drove in Den Haag and Delft (my hometown) in the Netherlands
a few still drive

I subscribed to a tram driver on YouTube from Den Haag and on one of his videos I saw what I thought was a PCC trolley. They are in fact, PCCs! These trams/trolleys never die and run for decades unlike the new plastic ones we have today.