WBZ Archives: The Final Ride of the Orange Line ‘El’

On this day in 1987, the MBTA’s elevated Orange Line ran for the final time. People packed the final train and toasted with champagne! Several days later, the Orange Line was rerouted onto the current Southwest Corridor route.

[@staycgirlsitsgoingdown2]

It’s insane how even 40 years later, the orange line trains look exactly the same on the inside

[@radanju3]

yup

[@abowolewa]

That's the problem! It's the same exact trains!

[@mela6885]

Lol not anymore with the new trains

[@IonicPixels]

@@abowolewa Those cars are better than the new cars. The issues were due to maintenance issues.

[@jag-vs5em]

Fare jumping as a kid at Egleston station headed downtown to Chinatown to watch kung Fu movies on Saturday good times

[@ItsBlackjack115]

Forever immortalized by the opening intro to "St. Elsewhere".

[@TheChicagoL]

Always wanted to ride the Orange Line "L". I was old enough at that time to visit Boston and do so, but I missed the opportunity. However, for what it's worth, I'm glad Chicago kept most of its els.

[@charlesfranklinhall]

TheChicagoL no, they kept them. They never went anywhere.

[@crazyexpressofficial]

true and it still has a orange line

[@static4939]

They didn't get rid of any of them. The blue and red have been subways in the loop since the beginning, and they still transition to either elevated or at-grade outside the loop

[@TheChicagoL]

@@static4939 Not so. First, the Red Line (as it is known today) used to be aligned with the Lake Street "L" via the Loop and on out to the Oak Park terminal. At that time it was known as the "Lake/Dan Ryan" Line. It wasn't until the early 1990s that the Dan Ryan section (95th/State to Cermak Road/Chinatown) was realigned to run into and through the State Street subway to the Howard Street terminal on the north side. In the meantime, the Jackson Park and Englewood Lines (now known as the Green Line) would no longer run via the State Street subway to Howard (the original alignment from 1943) but would now run via the Loop "L" structure to the West side via the Lake Street "L" to Oak Park. Thus, the Green Line would then become totally elevated. Again, this happened in the early 1990s. As for the Blue Line, it did not see subway alignment until the early 1950s. Before that time, it was composed of separate "L" lines that converged together at Marshfield Ave on the west side and then ran along a four-track elevated line adjacent Van Buren Street to reach the downtown Loop. The separate lines that branched off at Marshfield Ave. were the Douglas Park "L" to Cicero (known as the Pink Line today), the Garfield Park "L" to Desplaines (this line was displaced by the Eisenhower Expressway or I -290 and a new line was built in the expressway median as you see it today as the west side leg of the Blue Line). The third branch was the Milwaukee Ave/Logan Square (including the Humbolt Park "L") line that ran up to the Northwest side, the Logan Square segment being part of what is known as the Blue Line today. During the late 1960s, the Logan Square "L" was extended to Jefferson Park via the Kennedy Expressway median and eventually to O'hare AP in the early 1980s. However, before 1951 ALL OF THIS WAS ELEVATED and operating with very different alignments from what you see today.

[@Wingnutcaseman]

Now 30 plus years later, it’s time for those cars to join the el in the dustbin of history.

[@americangiant1003]

Well here in Sept. 2019, the first "new" MBTA Orange Line subway cars in almost 40 years are now in service. Barring delays, MBTA said, the old cars will be out of service by 2021.

[@GeneralLiuofBoston1911]

And now, they finally have

[@Streetcar_RBLX]

RIP the EL :(

[@sandrasoares9262]

Thankyou for very thing ☺ We well miss the ride in to Boston.

[@shawnebradley6542]

R.I.P Dudley and Egleston Stations

[@shawnebradley6542]

@Tesco I know. Its like 20 mins from and i havent been down there since the change. And its been Nubian for awhile now. Shame on me 🤣

[@kevinwong6588]

Dudley station still remains as a bus terminal.

[@shawnebradley6542]

@@kevinwong6588 Facts

[@stanleywallace2692]

@@shawnebradley6542 Dudley is still don’t let Nubian square confuses you

[@shawnebradley6542]

@@stanleywallace2692 I aint confused bruh. How we gonna have a Nubian Square WITHOUT Nubian Notion? 😂 Only thing Dudley good for now is ppl who want newports, walgreens, and Joes steak cheese (when they are open.) Lets see whos confused, u tell me whats good about Dudley today? 😂 ✌🏾 Peace fellow Bostonian.

[@edwardmccarthy4333]

Shelby Scott did a story that didn’t have to do with a blizzard?

[@NickLeeds]

So many old people back then

[@ratedprogram6947]

4:06 "Now I need to find out how to get home" 😆😆😆

[@tylersmith4265]

So weird to see those train cars clean and not rusted to shit.

[@closedpermanently9723]

Some are starting to rust

[@sostdm617]

@@closedpermanently9723 all of the orange line trains

[@IcyNylon]

R.I.P Everett Station

[@HayastAnFedayi]

4:15 this gentleman's view i share currently in 2022 about they are doing and what they have done to Boston smh

[@burbank]

He was exactly right when he said he didn't like what they were doing with the city and many are not happy with what's being done in the present time 35 years later!

[@nickinca4317]

Back then Sad day in boston

[@blm479]

The shutdown didn't do a darn thing.

[@mrjamesprince]

Vintage Boston

[@hellochii1675]

2:54 can you believe it? They said "the El will be replaced by a new high-speed line"! Where is it, it is the end of 2019????

[@redsox1935]

chi zhang That’s because of aging. I do remember when I was a baby back then the trains use to be much faster than it is now.

[@timwheelock9627]

the real truth of the matter really is the green line gets over crowded on Park Street in the district of the State Capital #2 the flow of travelers and through the next several stops which will continue to grow in numbers every year it doesn't matter if they want to have over 140 new orange line and red line trains why not go for a easy 200 new ones because park street in Downtown Boston will keep getting crowding up all over again then how many riders will think of trashing up red line trains and orange line trains really think of getting trash cans i really think the train designs are horrible looking and should be upgraded to stealthier look state of the art type of look Boston doesn't deserve riding inn sardine cans which stinks and looks disgusting

[@zackaBOSSSSS2]

This has aged poorly.

[@abowolewa]

No crap! We didn't take care of the system! Look what we're seeing now!

[@injustifiiable]

My thought exactly lol

[@cheesewizz_]

L

[@Wadser]

It means the

[@GeneralJackRipper]

El, is short for Elevated.

[@bostonswaggin6479]

The new orange Line Sucks and it's too expensive.

[@timwheelock9627]

it still looks like trash cans if the Chinese are building new ones in Springfield if the elevated trains were going to make a come back try a different system better really think twice