Checking Out MBTA

MBTA; North Station, Boston, Mass.; November 9, 2014

Back in November I had a chance to visit a city I've spent way too little time in. Boston has a diverse transit scene, and I've photographed the streetcars and rapid transit in the past. But my coverage of the commuter railroads operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has been rather thin. On November 9, 2014, I spent a day tracking down some of those operations, along with Mike Burkhart.

We were coming down from Maine that morning, so our first stop was near the far end of the Rockport line at Gloucester, Mass. The marshes along the coast provide plenty of causeways and bridges. We got an outbound train here.

MBTA; Gloucester, Mass.; November 9, 2014

After looking for some angles near Logan Airport around Revere and Chelsea and not finding much, we headed south of the city along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, which is also used by MBTA trains heading to Providence, R.I. We caught an inbound train at the Attleboro station pushing towards Beantown. The tower in the distance is, sadly, inaccessible.

MBTA; Attleboro, Mass.; November 9, 2014

One of MBTA's newest locomotives, HSP46 No. 2002, led a southbound train through the station. The last remnants of fall foliage were clinging to the area.

MBTA; Attleboro, Mass.; November 9, 2014

From here we entered the Big Dig under the city and emerged across the Charles River from North Station. A pedestrian bridge over the yard throat made for a nice vantage point, although some design elements of the bridge limited some of the angles.

MBTA; North Station, Boston, Mass.; November 9, 2014

Just beneath the pedestrian bridge is Tower A, which still controls some movements in and out of the station, as well as the moveable bridges over the Charles.

MBTA; North Station, Boston, Mass.; November 9, 2014

Tower A still has the name of its original owner cast in concrete above the windows.

MBTA; Tower A, Boston, Mass.; November 9, 2014

The vantage point is adjacent to North Point Park, and adjacent to the park is the MBTA Green Line rapid transit bridge over the Charles. Boston's Duck Boats enter the river directly beneath the footbridge, so there seems to always be one of the amphibious crafts around. The Science Park station is adjacent to the light rail bridge over the river.

MBTA; Science Park, Boston, Mass.; November 9, 2014

While we were there, one of MBTA's eco-friendly "genset" locomotives made an appearance. MBTA has a shop just northwest of North Station, so there are always deadhead moves under the pedestrian bridge going back and forth between the shop and the station.

MBTA; North Station, Boston, Mass.; November 9, 2014

The last stop of the day was at Waltham on the Fitchburg line, where a tower still stands. There was a lot of track work going on -- so much, in fact, that service was suspended on the line for the weekend, so we didn't see a train here. The tower closed fairly recently, and one has to wonder if the new track work might mean the end of the tower.

MBTA; Waltham, Mass.; November 9, 2014

This day filled in some gaps in my MBTA coverage. But it also showed I need to get back to Boston again soon. There is a lot to see along the MBTA's commuter lines. More photos from this day can be found here.