Upon departing Back Bay Station, we run through a tunnel that is several blocks long. We then are running through a cut for several miles. This is known as Boston's Southwest Corridor. It also carries AMTRAK's Northeast Corridor trains, and to our right is the Orange Line.

Most commuter trains will make stops at an intermediate stop known as Ruggles. Just before the Forest Hills station, the Needham Line tracks diverge from those used by AMTRAK and the Attleboro-Providence, Stoughton, and Franklin MBTA trains. Only Needham trains stop at Forest Hills.

Beyond this station we curve to the west onto the Needham Line. On your right you will see a layover yard for Orange Line trains.

Most of the inner station stops on this line are in residential areas, such as Roslindale Village, Bellevue, Highland, and West Roxbury. Then we pass on the right a rather large landfill.

The station at Hersey is again in a residential area. This is not to be confused with "Hershey" in Pennsylvania where chocolate is made.

Now we come to the three Needhams. The first of these is Needham Junction. There is actually a junction here. Our train now turns due north (remember we started out facing south), so we've made a big "U". After we pass Needham Junction, and the rail junction itself, the next station in downtown Needham is Needham Center.

Finally, it's Needham Heights, the final stop. There are some storage tracks before the station. There is not much to do here if you will be returning on the same equipment, as we are. If we arrived on time, we should have about ten minutes here to await our inbound trip.

Here we go back to Boston, making the "U" in reverse. Enjoy the trip!