The MBTA Orange Line in Boston

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The MBTA Orange Line in Boston

Рет қаралды 7,190

2 жыл бұрын

You may be surprised to learn that the subway lines in Boston weren’t assigned random colors. Instead, the colors refer to areas the trains run through. So why is the orange line orange?
The Orange Line's history dates back to the first elevated railroad in Boston, which opened in 1901. Ironically, none of the orange line today operates over any of the original elevated tracks.
We rode the line from Boston North Station to Back Bay.
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Пікірлер: 35

@Bobrogers99 Жыл бұрын

I used to ride the Orange Line before it was orange, when it was Boston's last remaining elevated railway. While I admit that the el made Washington Street dark and noisy, it was a reliable and convenient way to get from Forest Hills and Roxbury to downtown Boston. The rerouting has meant that some neighborhoods are no longer well served by rapid transit.

@Thom-TRA Жыл бұрын

As a Chicago resident, elevated transit is still very much a part of my daily life. It would have been interesting to experience the same thing in Boston. I agree that the Silver Line is a bad alternative to the old Orange Line routing.

@DoubleHCreations Ай бұрын

Those older trains are now retired. A lot of them have been scrapped, but two of them have been sent to the seashore trolley museum, and four of them have been kept on the line to function as a snowplow train.

@rikkichunn8856 7 ай бұрын

I had read somewhere that the Orange Line got its name from the old MBTA paint color, which was orange. To see that color scheme, look at the Mattapan High Speed Line. So, when the other subway lines got their colors and paint jobs, the Orange Line got its name because they alone were keeping the old colors. I've gotta say, I miss the old Washington St. el (the original Orange Line). It had some unique stations, in some cases overdone for the needs of the neighborhoods. Some had snack bars on the platform, some had bus transfer platforms one level down, and one was even round to facilitate short run round trips. And it had big railroad-style block signals too, just like the Red Line where it ran elevated over the bridge to Cambridge.

@roblox_solera4936 2 жыл бұрын

There will be NO Orange Line Service tonight between Oak Grove & Forest Hills beginning at 9pm through September 18.

@danielueblacker9118 2 жыл бұрын

thank you for the information.

@roblox_solera4936 2 жыл бұрын

@@danielueblacker9118 no problem!

@CameronLandels 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the history lesson Thom. I do like the new Orange line trains. A lot more modern than the late 70's model. I was saddened to hear there was a fire on one of the old trains last month. Looking forward to the next video! 🙂

@JHogan914 Жыл бұрын

The car that caught on fire, #01251, is seen at the 1:30 mark of this video

@DoubleHCreations 29 күн бұрын

Believe it or not, there is still one station that is slightly elevated: Malden Center.

@gnarled128 Жыл бұрын

The Orange Line was actually named because it was originally routed on Orange Street, which no longer exists. Also, as a Boston local, I love the new train cars - so much more spacious than the older cars. Shame they had to close down the line for an entire month, though :/

@johndevine2868 Жыл бұрын

The street still exists, but it was renamed after George Washington.

@edwardmiessner6502 Жыл бұрын

@@johndevine2868 Thanks, I came here to say that! 😏👍

@coolwoof2700 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing video trains are awesome and keep up the good work

@timjordan4411 2 ай бұрын

Haha, those poor old trains. They ran em hard right up to the end, rust holes and all.

@Thom-TRA 2 ай бұрын

I just rode the new ones last week. Video coming soon.

@hehehehehaw222 Жыл бұрын

The orange line is named after the street it went over when it was elevated (pretty sure it was the 80s), that street’s name is Orange Street, which is why the orange line is named “the orange line”.

@Thom-TRA Жыл бұрын

From what i can tell, that’s a persistent but unproven fan theory. When MBTA management was involved in the naming process, they did not take that into consideration. If you think about it, it doesn’t make a lot of sense that they would name all the other lines after geographic features, but name this line after a street that hadn’t been called that in years.

@hehehehehaw222 Жыл бұрын

Here’s a link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmmanKmOm6ihes0. This video leads to the official MBTA’s KZbin channel, and the video states that the line has been apparently called the orange line because of it’s original route along the orange st (currently a section of Washington St where the orange line operates around) when it was the “El”, FYI, although you are somewhat correct, because they stated it has been “said” to be named after the street. Also, at this point this comment was posted, all of the old orange line trains have been sent to a yard to be scrapped, they are not in service, now there are only new trains running on the orange line, if you didn’t know. The old trains were a favorite memory of my childhood. I was saddened when I heard they were going to be scrapped.

@Jackyliu009 Жыл бұрын

I was in Boston earlier this month and I am very saddened to see the 01200-series cars going away soon. There apparently seems to be only a few left in service. Hopefully some of them get saved up in museums or something.

@Thom-TRA Жыл бұрын

Oh really? That was fast! They’re all I saw mostly when I was there in May.

@Jackyliu009 Жыл бұрын

@@Thom-TRA Yeah, the CRRC cars had to be taken out of service nearly at the time you went. I'm glad you got to see much of the old cars back then.

@Thom-TRA Жыл бұрын

@@Jackyliu009 wait what’s going on with the CRRC cars again?

@spacedust6491 2 жыл бұрын

I recently took Amtrak from Brunswick, ME to Boston's North Station and needed to get to Boston's Back Bay Station to continue my trip on Amtrak to Wash, DC. I was told by most people to take an Uber to do this, but now I see I could have just gotten on the Orange Line, am I right? I think my holdover time between Amtrak trains was an hour. So is it a crap shoot to take the Orange Line and take the chance of missing my Amtrak or do they run constantly. And typically, what do you think the cost would be to take the Orange Line from North to Back Bay? Obviously less then an Uber. Thanks! Scott.

@Thom-TRA 2 жыл бұрын

I think you could have made it on the train (though not right now, since the line is closed). North station it’s a short walk from Amtrak to the subway station, and at Back Bay the platforms are next to each other. It would certainly have been cheaper, just around $2. I tend to avoid rideshares downtown just because the time taken just doesn’t seem to justify the cost. Especially Boston’s subway is pretty frequent (come to Chicago and I might have some different advice depending on the line and the time…)

@spacedust6491 2 жыл бұрын

@@Thom-TRA Thanks! Love your channel

@Thom-TRA 2 жыл бұрын

@@spacedust6491 I’m glad! We’re actually uploading a video of the train from Boston to Maine next week!