History Boston Elevated Railway

1 history

1.1 elevated railway
1.2 power generation
1.3 conversion of routes trolleybuses , buses

history

former mta pcc car #3295 on display @ boylston



retired bery-era heavy rail subway cars @ mbta red line s former eliot yard, 1967

originally intended build short electric trolley line brookline, west end street railway organized in 1887. next year had consolidated ownership of number of horse-drawn streetcar lines, composing fleet of 7816 horses , 1480 rail vehicles. system grew, switch underground pulled-cable propulsion (modeled after san francisco cable cars) contemplated. after visiting frank sprague , witnessing richmond, virginia system in action, wesr president henry whitney chose deploy electric propulsion systems. section of track used test bentley-knight underground power line, abandoned because of failures , safety concerns (especially after electrocution of team of horses in 1889). after competing in operational tests sprague streetcar system, thomson-houston company chosen system-wide deployment of overhead wires. electrified rapid transit system named ieee milestone in electrical engineering in 2004.

the first electric trolley line built west end street railway between union square, allston , park square, downtown, via harvard street, beacon street, massachusetts avenue , boylston street. trolleys first ran in 1889. green line branch later served same purpose.

the last horse car line along marlborough street in bay, , never electrified. closed around 1900.

in late 19th century, electric power industry in infancy; power grid know today did not exist. railway company constructed own power stations; 1897, these included distributed generation stations in downtown boston, allston, cambridge (near harvard), dorchester, charlestown, east cambridge, , east boston. 1904, system had 36 megawatts of generating capacity, 421 miles (678 km) of track on 1550 street cars (mostly closed open), , 16 miles (26 km) of elevated track 174 elevated cars.

the central power station of west end street railway in south end, built 1889-91

on 7 november 1916, boston elevated railway co. street car no. 393 smashed through warning gates of open summer street drawbridge in boston, plunging frigid waters of fort point channel, killing 46 people.

the first bus route in 1922, between union square, allston , faneuil street. in 1933 merged union square - central bus , later became 64 bus.

elevated railway

in 1890, west end railway authorized state construct elevated railways, did not pursue possibility. state consequently authorized new franchise such endeavor, resulted in founding in 1894 in establishment of boston elevated railway. first stretch of elevated track put in service in 1901, between sullivan square in charlestown , dudley square in roxbury. in 1897, bery acquired long-term lease on west end s lines, , 2 companies formally merged in 1922. elevated network expanded include 6 end-points, vehicles run on tracks in routes design reach destination without changing.

power generation

the difficulty of transporting coal on land port of boston , short range of direct current system prevented significant expansion inland. in 1911, large generating station built in south boston produced 25 hertz alternating current, transmitted long distances @ high voltage, substations drop voltage , convert direct current use trains. system gradually converted until completion in 1931, when 14 substations in place. station operate until 1981, when mbta had completed converting of active substations able use 60 hertz alternating current, , switch purchasing energy local utility companies instead of running own generators.

conversion of routes trolleybuses , buses

the first route of boston trackless trolley system opened bery, on april 11, 1936. route 77 (later 69), harvard – lechmere via cambridge street. trackless trolleys still run harvard station, west , north, not east lechmere since 1963.