avondale don’t even look like that anymore

It's two tracks there now

When was this filmed?? Looks like ‘85 of something…….

One time end of the line? Nope. The el always went to Forest HIlls station.

Amazing. Single car to the airport.

BOWDOIN LOOP. Thanks I’ve always wanted to see the loop from the front rail fan window. All passengers are required to get off the train because Bowdoin is the last stop and have to get back on at the Wonderland platform. We duct down low so nobody from the MBTA employees or drivers saw us and yelled at us to get off. Luckily nobody saw us and we got to stay on the train as it went through the extremely tight loop. Still remember it like it was yesterday, I had to have been 7-8 years old then, so it was probably in 2011-12.

30:43, wow, the green line when it was still elevated above causeway street and the section from the haymarket portal to lechmere was all elevated until 2004. 31:00, The old boston garden, cries I wish it held off another few months after I was born because sadly the causeway street el at north station closed on June 25, 2004 and I was born a month later on July 11th and it was already being demolished. science park is still elevated to this day since its opening in 1955 and in 2023, the mbta opened the green line extension which brought the green line to union square in somerville and medford/tufts in cambridge and medford. The line now serves a new elevated lechmere station and seven new stations. E trains now go to union square and D trains now go to medford/tufts.

Good to hear no screeches when the train pulled into Boylston. Now it’s so loud down there and even right outside the head houses or a mile down Tremont/Boylston Streets, you can still hear it, trust me, I’ve walked in that area before and I could hear the squeak emitting from the trains wheels due to the sharp curvature of the track.

25:12, I see we were in a non-rebuilt 15 or 1600 series car because the car had the pre-1980s rebuild seat layout where they were not along the sides like now. The cars were delivered in 1969-70 with that type of seating arrangement seen at 25:12.

The Cambridge Tunnel opened for passenger service on March 23, 1912 with stations at Park Street Under, Kendall MIT, Central Square and Harvard Square.

9:30, Wow, does charles station look different in this video than it does today.

1:40, I never knew at one point andrew station had a section where you could see the outside on a short portion? Same for south station at 5:45.

The sounding of the air brake hiss whenever the train stops and starts means I know right away that we’re riding on a pullman 15 or 1600 series car.

Back in 1987, the red line had the 01400s and classic 015/01600s, now it’s the 015/01600s, the 01700s, 01800s and 1900s. The 01400s had no air conditioning so during the hot summer months if the train broke down, passengers would be hot and sweating due to the car filling up with smoke and not having any air conditioning inside. The 19s will be fully replacing the 015/01600s, 01700s and 01800s by 2026.

This was taken during the Red Line Renovation Project where Broadway, South Station, Downtown Crossing, Park Street, Kendall, Central and Harvard stations were rebuilt with their platforms lengthened to accommodate six-car trains by the late 1990s. The entire project was completed by the summer of 1993. Also happening between 1987 and 1993 was the classic Pullman car rebuild program, the 01700s rolling into service in late 1987 and the 01800s entering service in 1993.

10:11, looks like state street station was undergoing reconstruction. The station received a major renovation between 1985 and 1989. Only orange line portion of the station.

The last of the hawkers went out for scrapping last month, so none remain. R.I.P 1980-2024. These cars were taken out of service and they were on an elevated orange line 40 years ago and if that doesn’t sit with you enough the first rapid transit line in all of U.S. history. These cars played a critical role in MBTA history as well as them being part of the history books of the Orange Line, one of the four rapid transit heavy rail subway lines run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in the Greater downtown Boston area.

Before north station became a bi-level station. The green line was still elevated above causeway street/canal street next to the boston garden arena where the celtics play basketball games and served an elevated north station stop. In 2004, the elevated structure was closed/demolished and the green line and orange line both shared a new north station “superstation” underground which opened on June 28, 2004. The full project was completed on November 12, 2005 and green line service resumed to science park and lechmere stations with a new tunnel portal and ramp. The station was only served by the orange line underground in 1987. The forest hills and oak grove bound-platforms were across the way of the riverside and heath street-bound platform with the union square and medford/tufts-bound platform above it, both platform were next to each other.

At around the 13:15 mark, on the right you can see the new tunnel that would lead to new england medical center now tufts medical center, back bay and mass ave. The southwest corridor with other new stations at ruggles, roxbury crossing, jackson square, stony brook, green street and new forest hills would open on May 4, 1987, with the last revenue train rumbling down the el from forest hills to oak grove shortly before 1:30 a.m. on May 1, 1987. The tunnel after the cut off would be demolished and the tunnel right after chinatown would connect to the new one.

Interesting video. Any idea of the exact date this was filmed? Judging by the Braintree branch, the date is sometime between September 1983 and July 1987. Quincy Adams (the newest Braintree branch station) opened at the former and addition of the Braintree platform at JFK/UMass didn't break ground until the latter. Takes me back to when I was a kid.

Did they even really stop for more than a second at Porter, or was that where he had to change the tape?

According to the cars and infrastructure, this video was shot in either 1985 or 1986, four years from then, the Gloucesters would be retired by the M6s and the M1s would be retired 13 years later in 1999 by the T1s.

0:55 Gloucester subway cars and 1:00 M1s.

Notice the tunnel to the Tufts New England Medical Center at 13:15, a station that was built in the late 1960s.

That accent. You can rarely find it anywhere in Atlanta anymore. Just the native older folks of which there are few.

The 01400s were rebuilt in-house at the agency’s Cabot Center shops in South Boston between late 1979 and mid-1984. The first pairs, Nos. 01422/01423 and 01426/01427, completed the overhaul program and re-entered service on December 23, 1980, with the last pairs, Nos. 01400/01401 and 01404/01405, completing the program and returning to service on June 12, 1984.

13:15, Suffolk Downs station was still fairly new back then, what year was this 1986-87ish? Originally opened on April 21, 1952 and renovated from September 17, 1982 to January 3, 1984, only three years old at the time of this video. Now, it’s deteriorating at a rapid pace and the pedestrian bridge that you cross in order to get to the Bowdoin-bound platform’s fare control area because the entrance is on the Wonderland-bound platform is also in a state of disrepair. The MBTA is making improvements to the station and the pedestrian bridge was in such bad condition that wooden beams had to be placed under it to keep it up so it wouldn’t crash down on the tracks in May 2022. This caused Blue Line service to be suspended and replaced by shuttle buses between Beachmont and Airport for four consecutive weekends. Listen, the station was last renovated in 1995 and that’s nearly 30 years ago and the 1984 renovation sure wore off after 40 years. Unlike most MBTA rapid transit stations, Suffolk Downs has no direct MBTA bus connections; the nearest route is the 120 about 700 feet (210 m) to the southwest. However, during the 2013 reconstruction and closure of Orient Heights, Suffolk Downs was used as the terminus of the replacement shuttle bus service. The footbridge was closed on March 22, 2021, due to structural deterioration, but the station remained open. Passengers needing to cross between platforms had to take a train one stop to Orient Heights or Beachmont. The footbridge deck was replaced during closure of the outer portion of the Blue Line from May 22 to June 8, 2022. The footbridge reopened in October 2022. Averaging just 521 daily boardings in FY 2019, Suffolk Downs is the least-used fare-controlled station on the MBTA subway system. The redevelopment of the Suffolk Downs site is expected to substantially increase ridership to Suffolk Downs and Beachmont stations. The developer, HYM Investment Group, has committed $20 million for transit projects including modifications to both stations. Reconstruction of the station is expected to begin between FY 2023 and FY 2027. Conceptual design began in mid-2022. We’re planning to improve Suffolk Downs station in East Boston. This project will improve station functionality and accessibility and include track upgrades for increased reliability, resiliency and safety. Project includes: - Reconstruct Suffolk Downs station to modernize and achieve full accessibility compliance - Upgrade sidewalk and pedestrian plaza area at Walley Street. - Support an increase in pedestrian and bike connections to the station. - Update station amenities, including station lighting and signage. Improve track drainage and resiliency. Rider Benefits include: - Improved station accessibility, walking paths and way finding. - Improved safety, reliability and rider experience - Improved connectivity to surrounding neighborhoods, including the Suffolk Downs Development. Building a Better T As part of our $9.6 billion, 5-year capital investment plan, we’re renovating stations, modernizing fare collection systems, upgrading services for our buses, subways and ferries and improving the accessibility of the entire system. Anticipated Concept Design Phase: Summer 2022 - Spring 2023 Full Design Schedule: TBD (Pending Full Design Funding) Budget: TBD Status: Concept Design

Probably around the 2:50 mark in the video is where the present Aquarium station would be.

Extremely late but great video

Boy this has this has be old footage, look at all the freight on the right!

Boy this has this has be old footage, look at all the freight on the right!

What’s the under construction station at the beginning?

Filmed after 1980 (when Braintree station opened), but before 1982 (when Columbia was rebranded JFK/UMass). What memories.

Camera is pretty steady, I wonder how is was secured.

28:30 OMG, it’s 3648! The Type 7 set that barely had more than 2 years because of getting wrecked. That set was wrecked in March 1989 so this has got to be 1987 or 1988 before that set was wrecked. It was a parts source for 23 years and was stripped of its parts to keep the other cars running until it was completely scrapped in mid-2012.

0:58, Pullman-Standard 01400 series. Another one is seen at 9:02!!

If you look very closely to the left at around the 16:20 mark, you’ll be able to see remnants of the old abandoned “Harvard/Holyoke” Station, which is located just before the curve to the current Harvard Station (outbound upper level platform) and since Harvard is a bi-level subway station, the inbound platform is located on the lower level.

Back when the red line was only 4 cars long, the mbta started running 6-car red line trains in the late 90s (around 1997 or 1998). The orange line was also 4 cars long until the late 90s and the blue line transitioned to 6-car trains in November 2009.

2:15, the first two cars on the train were still in the silverbird scheme. The other two were in the current white paint and red trim scheme when the Pullman car rebuild program commenced in 1984. This scheme still can be seen on the 01500/01600 series cars today. Another one can be seen at 12:15, this time the first two cars were painted white with red trim, with the last two in the silverbird paint scheme.

Whatever happened to the uploader who posted the 1994 ride of this line?

32:30 gorgeous T/O ❤

Super cool to see all of these semaphores.

This reminds me of a cab ride on the broad street line on dvd

Still semaphores in 1985!

Underneath the tracks along the Orange line were a set of heavy DC cables that powered the third rail, and many of the insulators that supported these cables were made by the New England Glass Manufacturing Company of Boston. A fair number of these were rescued by insulator collectors during the demolition of the elevated section and are sought-after additions to one's insulator collection today. (Insulator collectors have a system for identifying glass insulators, and the two styles were assigned CD 267 and CD 267.5).

Never realized how raw Boston was back then

This was a great train system in the 80s it was brand new; it was run by professionals. the people running MARTA in 2023 are JACK ASSES.

I've been thru these tunnels through the 70's many times on foot...it looks like they're actually shortening the platforms, just look at how each station is bulkheaded at end of the stops....hmmm. Has anyone seen 6 car trains ?? And do they go end to end of each station ? Or...are the train sets actually shorter .,??

Why are the stations so close to each other? They've got to get rid of every other station on this line! How can the train make good progress if it has to stop every several hundred feet?😂🤣

I had totally forgotten about they branch of the Atlanta-Fulton Country library on the mezzanine of 5 PTS