It's Saturday, by far the longest and busiest day of the Boston "T" Party Rail Fest. Today, our main focus will be on riding all existing branches of the Green Line trolleys, with a turn to Haverhill on AMTRAK's DOWNEASTER and the Haverhill Commuter Rail back. We also will ride the Blue Line and most of the Orange Line today. If you don't think you can stand twelve hours on the rails, you can feel free to join the group later, or leave the group early as you so desire.
We start out from Braintree. If anyone is staying near the JFK/U-Mass station, they can join us on the Red Line about 8:10 AM. Those coming from other points within and north of the city can join the group as we make our transfer to the Orange Line at Downtown Crossing, on the southbound (towards Forest Hills) platform.
There really is no "C" line. The "C" designation is carried by all trains bound for Alewife, coming from either the "A" Ashmont or "B" Braintree branches. So the letter "C" denotes the direction of the train more than the destination.
This is our first of many trips on the Red Line. Most of the line will be ridden tomorrow, for those who will be with us on Sunday. Today we are just going to use it to go downtown. The commentary here is specific to the Braintree, or "B" branch of the Red Line.
Braintree and Quincy lie in a second fare zone from Boston. You might have noticed that Braintree's commuter rail station is in Zone 2, not Zone 1A or 1B like most other inner commuter stations. And so, the fare between Braintree and Boston is double the fare on the rest of the system. Those boarding the Red Line at Braintree need to use two tokens ($2), while those who leave the system at Braintree have to pay an exit fare, in one token ($1). With the Visitors Passes we should be able to bypass this situation. Quincy Adams and Quincy Center also are in the double fare zone, but they do not have exit fares. Those who ride within the second zone, say between Braintree and Quincy Center only, pay the double fare but they get a warrant good for another trip.
At the Braintree station you can see a storage yard just beyond the station. On the east side of the rapid transit tracks are two tracks used by the ex-Old Colony commuter rail lines. Just beyond here, the Middleborough- Lakeville and Plymouth/Kingston Lines diverge. Just north of the rapid transit station is the Braintree station for the commuter rail line. And just a bit further north is where the Greenbush Line will join the trunk line. We will cross over or under the railroad tracks a few times. We will also run on either side of the Southeast Expressway at various times.
The next station is Quincy Adams. Its parking garage is filled with cars that come from the southeastern suburbs of Boston, as it provides easy access to and from the Southeast Expressway. The line then enters a depression, and we come to Quincy Center, the main station in Quincy and also another commuter rail station. (It's now west of the rapid transit tracks instead of east.) The Red Line used to end here before it was extended to Braintree.
When we come out of the depression, we approach the Wollaston station. Beyond this, we will alternate between running in a depression, and running on an embankment. Next station is North Quincy, the last of four stations in Quincy. You may notice that the Wollaston and North Quincy stations were designed very similarly. All stations between Braintree and North Quincy have island platforms.
Now it's time to enter Boston, namely the Dorchester area, as we traverse a bridge over the Neponset River. We cross to the other side of the Southeast Expressway once again. And now, the other Red Line, the branch to Ashmont, comes in from the southwest.
The two Red Line branches run parallel, but don't interface, for a few miles. You can see the Ashmont branch's Savin Hill station, which this branch bypasses. We will go over a flyover that lets us once again trade sides with the Old Colony commuter line. Then the rail corridor (Red Line Ashmont branch, Red Line Braintree branch, and the commuter rail line passes under the Southeast Expressway yet another time. What were they thinking when they built all of this?
We now approach the JFK/U-Mass station. This station was once called Columbia, and for years it too was bypassed by the Braintree branch as only the Ashmont trains stopped there. It was rebuilt to accomodate both branches, and it functions as a transfer point for those going from one branch to another. The station has two parallel island platforms, one for each branch. Obviously, inbound trains stop at both platforms, so those boarding here have to take a guess at where the next train might stop. In 2001, a commuter rail platform was opened, so that almost all Old Colony trains now stop here as well, at a side platform on the east side of the complex.
After the JFK/U-Mass station, we enter the interchange where the two branches finally come together (or split southbound). This is fully grade-separated, so there are never any trains crossing other tracks.
Also at this junction is a track that leads to the Cabot Yard. Cabot Yard is unique
in that it is located at a point that is not trackside. Its neighbor is
AMTRAK's Southampton Yard. You can see where Red Line cars are stored and maintained
from
So we're now in the subway. From here, the only place the Red Line resurfaces is to cross the Longfellow Bridge into Cambridge. More on that on Sunday's portion of the Fest, Part C5.
Andrew is the first subway station, and it has two side platforms. Then we come to Broadway, which has a center platform.
Beyond Broadway, the Red Line turns sharply to the west, and enters South Station. You won't see the station itself since we're in the subway under Summer Street. This station has two side platforms. The rapid transit station has been under construction for years, and it continues to be a maze to follow the detour passageways. This is partly due to the Big Dig project, and partly to accomodate a station for a new Silver Line, an electric bus system that will serve South Boston and eventually provide replacement service along Washington Street for the old Orange Line elevated that was closed in 1987 and subsequently torn down.
After South Station, it's a short way to Downtown Crossing. Formerly known as "Washington", this station provides free transfer between the Red Line and the Orange Line upstairs. On the street level is what could be the main intersection in downtown Boston, Washington & Summer. The original Filene's department store is on this corner; in fact, Filene's Basement is really in the basement and can be accessed from the subway station.
We will switch here to the Orange Line southbound.