By Scott Moore
Photos collection of: George Chiasson (GC), Larry Mills (LM), & George Haddad (GH)
I'd like to take the time to say first that this photo essay has proven to be the most difficult and time consuming project on this web site to date. Over 170 images have been submitted for this project, and it's been very hard to decide which images to keep, and which ones to leave out. Believe me, it was not easy. Many of the images were quite good. However, some of the images that were not quite as good (lighting, composition, etc.), had more information in them than some of the really nice images. In the end, I've had to go with the images that best give the "feel" of the El, and show something that was removed from Charlestown over twenty years ago.
I would like to thank everyone that contributed images and helped with this project, as without them, this would not have been possible!
One of the things that intrigues me about the Orange Line today is that none of it is original. Pieces of the original Orange Line (or Main Line as it was called prior to 1965) still exist, but most of them are almost unnoticeable as a former transit facility. The only part of the original routing of the Main Line that still resembles a transit facility - the Tremont Street Subway - is used by Green Line trolleys today! While looking at these images, try to compare them to the lines you ride today. Imagine the thunder and the squeal of a passing train today - magnify it; feel the platform rumble under your feet, yes, THAT was the El! Look out the windows and down at the street below; there is life down there and you are simply gliding through it, above it, between it. A ride on the El was unmatched!
Please feel free to download any of these images. If you do use any of these images in one of your own projects, please make sure to give credit to the person who submitted the image, and please drop me a note so I may pass the word on.
Thank you.
Scott Moore (NETransit@aol.com)
The El opened in 1901 between Sullivan Square and Dudley terminals via the Tremont Street Subway. Intended to be the first of several planned routes, the line was a showpiece. Later that year, the Atlantic Avenue El opened and gave the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) a variety of options for scheduling and routing trains. Junctions for the two routes existed at Tower "C", Keany Square (Current location: Intersection of Causeway, Commercial, and Washington Street North), and Tower "D" (Roughly the intersection of Washington Street and the Mass. Turnpike).
When the line opened, the stations on the Main Line were (from north to south) Sullivan Square, City Square, North Union Station, Haymarket, Adams (Northbound only), Scollay, Park Street, Boylston, Pleasant, Dover, Northampton, and Dudley. Stations on the Atlantic Avenue route were (north to south) Battery Street, State Street, Rowe's Wharf, South Station, and Beach Street. Thompson Square in Charlestown was opened in 1902. In 1908, the Main Line was rerouted into the Washington Street tunnel, and the extension to Forest Hills opened in 1909.
As the extension to Forest Hills was progressing, an extension of the Charlestown El to Malden Square via Main Street was announced. Arguments between the El and the local communities ensued as the local residents were in favor of the rapid transit extension, but not with an El structure. Alternate solutions were to extend the line via the use of a tunnel, but BERy, still a privately owned company, preferred the cheaper El over the more expensive subway. An alternate alignment was devised which BERy could build a structure next to the "Saugus Branch" of the Boston & Maine Railroad, but financing never materialized.
Work on the Malden Extension had started around 1910 at Sullivan Square, and in a related project, the El was extended to the Mystic River in 1914. By 1915, a drawbridge was installed over the river and lay dormant waiting for the extension to be completed. Finally, BERy sought to extend the line only as far as Everett - a location slightly south of the originally proposed Everett station - and constructed a "temporary" station on the site which opened in 1919. The "temporary" station remained the northern terminal for the Main Line until 1975.
The only major change to the El after the addition of Everett Station was the closing of the Atlantic Avenue El in 1938 due to low ridership. It was torn down in 1942 for war-time scrap.
The Els had fallen out of public favor as early as 1910, and while rapid transit services were preferred over streetcar service, the public wanted the more costly subways over the less expensive Els. With this in mind, plans were devised to remove the Els from Boston, in favor of new routes and alignments. Work commenced in the mid-1960s to relocate the Orange Line, and abandon the El structures. Tunnel construction was in progress on both ends of the line, to take the trains from the existing Washington Street tunnel to the new alignments.
As planned, the northern end of the line would ultimately provide frequent rapid transit service to Reading, while the southern end of the line would branch and go to Dedham and Needham. The new routes would use alignments that would duplicate the current Commuter Rail lines to those areas, eliminating the need for such services. The Washington Street El replacement line would also use the median of the new Interstate 95 that would come through Jamaica Plain on the "former" railroad alignment, and meet with the "inner beltway" (I-695) at the present day Ruggles station.
Work on the southern end of the line ceased in 1970 after then Governor Sargent placed a moratorium on all highway construction within the Route 128 belt. However, the wheels were in motion, and much of the connection work was completed between 1968 and 1970, which could get the Orange Line to just shy of Back Bay station. In fact, New England Medical Center station (opened in 1987 with the rest of the Southwest Corridor) has existed, as an unused shell, since around 1969!
With work on the northern end of the line less reliant on highway construction for completion, work progressed. Upkeep of the Charlestown El was reduced only to the bare essentials. A number of speed restrictions were placed on segments of the line that required work, but would "get by" for the last few months. On April 4, 1975, the Charlestown Elevated was closed, and with it came about the completion of the first phase in relocating the Orange Line, a project that would be "completed" some twelve years later.
You may begin your tour of the El by selecting one of the areas listed below. The order of the images progresses from North Station to Everett. Enjoy!
North Station | Tower C & Charlestown Bridge | City Square | Thompson Square | Sullivan Square | Everett