Orange Line
Of all of Boston's transit lines, the Orange Line has by far gone through the most changes. The Orange Line Boston's riders knew until 1987 was radically different from the Orange Line Boston's riders know today.
Until 1987, the Orange Line was an elevated train, similar to the "Els" in New York and Chicago, that ran above Boston's Washington Street from Jamaica Plain through Roxbury and the South End to the Washington Street Tunnel downtown, where it continued underground until North Station.
Until 1987, the Orange Line was an elevated train, similar to the "Els" in New York and Chicago, that ran above Boston's Washington Street from Jamaica Plain through Roxbury and the South End to the Washington Street Tunnel downtown, where it continued underground until North Station.
Washington Street Elevated running over the South End. Thank you John Kyper for providing me with the photo!
From North Station onward, the train continued to Charlestown and Everett as another elevated train until 1975, when the northern elevated structure was torn down and replaced with a private right-of-way to Malden through which the Orange Line runs today.
Charlestown Elevated running over the North Washington Street/Charlestown Bridge in 1929.
While the train is gone, the bridge still stands. If one looks closely enough, one can still see where the train once ran in the center of the bridge—the elevated supports are distinct from the metalwork of the bridge:
While the train is gone, the bridge still stands. If one looks closely enough, one can still see where the train once ran in the center of the bridge—the elevated supports are distinct from the metalwork of the bridge:
By the 1970s, Bostonians had grown tired of having noisy elevated trains tearing through their neighborhood, and for justified reason, for the structures were beginning to fall apart and left people in the dark below,:
The "El" over Washington Street in the South End in 1979. Image copyright Frank Florianz.
Therefore, Boston's "Els" were torn down, and new routes were built for the trains. Today's Orange Line takes the appearance of a suburban commuter train rather than the neighborhood train it once was. While the old elevated Orange Line stopped in busy commercial centers such as Dudley Square and Egleston Square, the new Orange Line runs in its own right-of-way further off from most of the squares and from the Washington Street Corridor. The new train also serves communities, such as Malden north of downtown and Jamaica Plain and Roxbury Crossing south of downtown, that it did not serve before. (The story behind the new Orange Line's right-of-way south of downtown is very compelling, to find out why read "Boston's Cancelled Highways" under the "Articles" tab of this website!)
While the new Orange Line north of downtown still follows roughly the same route the old elevated train followed and still serves Sullivan Square and other major commercial centers, the new Orange Line south of downtown moved the train further away from Washington Street in the South End and Roxbury than their residents would have liked:
Southern Orange Line—New train on left, old train on right. Note the distance between the two trains.
Northern Orange Line-New train on left, old train on right.
Note how close the two trains are to one another, and how the new train serves the old areas and extends service to new ones as well.
Note how close the two trains are to one another, and how the new train serves the old areas and extends service to new ones as well.
In order to bring local public transportation back to the Washington Street Corridor north of Dudley Square, the MBTA opened a new line, the Silver Line, in 2002. The Silver Line replaced the 49 bus, which temporarily served the corridor, and improved upon the bus by running buses along dedicated red bus lanes on Washington Street from Dudley Square to downtown, thereby speeding up service closer to the speed of the old elevated train.
A Silver Line bus on Washington Street downtown. Image courtesy Boston Transit Library. I will soon upload a video of the Silver Line running along the dedicated bus lane.
If you still want to get a sense of how the old elevated Orange Line looked, check out these photography websites:
Frank's Photography Site:
http://viewoftheblue.com/photography/bel.html
http://viewoftheblue.com/photography/bel2.html
Bob's Photography Site:
http://www.bcoolidge.com/Boston%20Subway%20Els%20Page.htm
This clip by Peter Kingman is an amazing account of what the El looked like from below and of the Boston of the 80s: http://youtu.be/9V2wYlf9sQ8. You can also watch it here:
Frank's Photography Site:
http://viewoftheblue.com/photography/bel.html
http://viewoftheblue.com/photography/bel2.html
Bob's Photography Site:
http://www.bcoolidge.com/Boston%20Subway%20Els%20Page.htm
This clip by Peter Kingman is an amazing account of what the El looked like from below and of the Boston of the 80s: http://youtu.be/9V2wYlf9sQ8. You can also watch it here:
Also, check out this clip of the Washington Street Elevated running from Dudley Station to downtown, where the Silver Line now runs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmyCLBKkzfA. The clip is also embedded below:
Another great clip that details a ride on the El in color is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gpJlcYelWM and below:
