We rode on the Mattapan line a couple of years ago. I have got pictures of the PCC car that got badly damaged. I noticed that unlike the San Francisco and Mexico City ones, they don't have the second set of standee windows. My daughter just got back from Boston this morning. JNS , Rugby ,Warwickshire, England.
Beautiful!! You made my day and brought back many memories of my youth. I'm from Philadelphia and rode these "bullet" trolleys. Our longest route was the 23 line from south Philly to Chestnut Hill, just northwest of the city. I lived 2 blocks from the 60 line from Port Richmond to 35th & Allegheny Ave. I got a kick of stepping down when the trolley stopped and the doors automatically opened. Thanks again..
Thanks for taking us somewhere different and showing us something new. Those charming old trolleys are truly a piece of the past. I can see why the locals cherish them.
Thank you for the memories! I'm from the Boston area, and rode the "T" Red Line in the early 70's from what was then the southern terminus, Quincy Center, to Park Street on my way to college. Back then, Harvard was the northern terminus before the extension to Alewife was constructed. Red Line cars back then had forward-facing seating in a two-by-two configuration.
As a Baltimore citizen, I've been to the local trolley club location. A certain time of the year, members can operate a PCC on the private rail line for about 1/2 mile. BTW the gauge was widened to 5 ft. so locomotives couldn't use the rails in the city. So anytime the club gets another trolley, the wheel axles have to be resized to fit.
Re-living a fun vacation vicariously through your videos. JFK/UMass was our 'home' station as our hotel was slightly over a block away, and we rode the Red Line into the downtown area daily. I also had a chance to do an afternoon of railfanning that included riding the Mattapan-Ashmont line. Thanks for bringing back great memories!
Being Irish and a Red Sox fan, I can’t tolerate that. I want to adapt to the Boston area way of life. I’m a native Long Islander, still live there so I guess I can be forgiven. In addition I don’t want to try to speak with a Boston accent otherwise people will be insulted so I find it best to be myself. I bet if I lived there for a while the accent would come automatically without me trying. Incidentally I’ve heard a lot of people mispronouncing our Long Island towns. I guess it can make a native cringe. My apologies. I know enough to pronounce Swampscott like Swamp-scut. Not Swamp-Scott
Oh yes! Welcome back to Massachusetts, you should come back when the CapeFlyer runs down to cape cod. You’ll also be able to see 2 EX Metro north FL9’s in NH paint numbered 2011 and 2026
Our Toronto PCCs never had doors on the left side as they were all street running; I have fond memories of them. These PCCs accelerate like mad ! Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario
I rode many of them in Toronto in the 70s and 80s and always enjoyed riding on them. Rode on them on the King Street line and the Dundas Street line. Stayed in a hotel by Mapleleaf Gardens and heard those things clanking down Carlton Street
Great to see PCCs in service. Rode them as a kid on the Shaker Heights line in Cleveland. We have a few awaiting some TLC at the Northern Ohio Railway Museum.
I have always found it strange that JFK/UMASS did not allow an easy transfer from the Commuter Rail platform to the Red Line platform, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Red Line platform was built in 1972 and the Commuter Rail platform in 1997, but I am not sure
The Mattapan Line was originally a Boston & Albany line. The hiking trail that partially parallels it was a New Haven line which was probably an Old Colony line originally. Anyway, another fine video.
In Milan We called this TRAM...the city of Milan some years ago sell to the city of San Francisco some tram built in 1930 ca. Very nice video as always. Thank You Tim !!
Don't forget El Paso with refurbished ex-San Diego St. Louis Car Co. Air/Electrics. Refurbish spec based on SEPTA PCC-II cars refurbished by Brookville in 2016. El Paso cars are now PCC-III spec with pantographs.
The best part about the Mattash line, is that it is not over engineered and out of scale with the locales it serves; it fits nicely and discreetly in a suburban residential land use pattern. I had promoted the idea of wider use of this style of limited stop tramway in this metro area, but no one was interested , and rails to trails promoters have now purloined all the potential corridors.
The tracks at South station are better lit than the platforms 🤦♂️ I just don't understand why they don't subwayify the Mattapan line. The tracks need to be replaced anyway, they would just need to grade separate in two places, build new platforms (closing Milton and Capen street) and maybe an extra substation. Then they could extend some of the subway trains so they get a 10min rush hour service and maybe 15min other times. The residents would get a one seat ride downtown and the MBTA would have one separate system less.
I was already scolded by another viewer about that. Being a native Long Islander, I still live there I guess I can be forgiven. I am a Red Sox fan however
@@adamasimolowo8285 he already has videos from philly if you haven't seen those, but i hate the HSPs, and i live in the ny area so i want some "other content" lol
@@3985uprr I am a railroad employee in the metro Boston area and I can assure you for a fact that nobody calls it or has ever called it the “new colony.” I promise you.
@@thetravelingrailroadist I just remember after they revive the service years ago down there they initially referred it as the New Colony lines. It was a brand for the new revival services. It just stuck with me that’s all. I am well aware of the original name of old colony lines
Just for that, if we ever meet, I am SO going to MEOW at you - though MARC has no Garfields. (My favorite cousin used to live in T Country (Shirley MA) and went to school (and later taught) at Tufts University - which means she is also aware of the "Iced T" jokes in the winter.)
Wow trolley s are making a comeback and. We are getting more light rail in America I am happy I just love train s I hate auto mobile traffic and flying scares me I just love train s.
Most of the F40's and the 2 MP36s they run are still awaiting their rebuilds sadly. All of them should hopefully be back by the end of the year, so then there won't be Garfields on almost every train.
@@MattyC62185 The EMUs idea was scrapped last I heard, however Electrification is likely coming. And with Amtrak likely downsizing ACS64's, we may someday see ACS64's in the Purple Tux!
A big part of the reason why these are still in service is because they had to be extensively rebuilt back in the 80s because these were all supposed to disappear once the Boeing LRV came in but that which will go down as being the single most god-awful piece of crap the MBTA ever put on their tracks necessitated that they be kept around and now here they are having outlived what was meant to replace them as most of the LRVs thankfully have been scrapped they served on the green line until 87 when the type 7 came out and then 10 years later and additional order of type7 cars came out and then the type 8 Which was the first one designed with ADA compliance in mind came in and that was the end of those L RV garbage
I enjoyed this video as always. I definitely want to visit Boston one day. I live on Long Island, so obviously, I would have to take the LIRR to Penn Station first. I wouldn't take Amtrak straight there, though. I would take the NYC Subway to Grand Central Terminal, Metro-North to New Haven, Shore Line East to Old Saybrook or New London, Amtrak to Providence, and the MBTA Commuter Rail. However, when I go back home, I would take Amtrak straight to Penn Station. I saw someone do this in a video. Also, I'm just curious. How come you dislike the HSP46s so much?
Interesting shots from Boston. Your Trollys have the charm of a mueumsbahn. Is there only this type of car? our trollies in Berlin have been modernized in recent years. the old Tatra railways are all gone. Our oldest cars at trolly are from 1991. I myself have only made 2 videos of the Berlin Straßenbahn in Berlin so far. Maybe this is something for you. Greetings from Berlin/ Germany. Sven
I'm not privy about the diesel locomotives. You have inside information about why you don't like those 'Garfields', and why are they called that ? You had plenty of time to explain this during the video. I'm a track layout nut, and not a roster nut, so to me, it's just a locomotive. Fill me in on what should apparently be so obvious that you didn't have to mention it. Thanks much, Aarre Peltomaa
Hey RRF Outstanding video. Well deserving of many more views & likes. A question: at the end you said the commuter train from Boston to NY would be suspended due to covid. What gives? What's the rationale? Too few passengers? Lack of interest? Some suspected hazard?? I don't get it.
I saw Garfields in the title and (forgetting I had already seen another Boston video where you used the term) thought you meant the PCCs, because they're orange (I think...or are they yellow? I'm a little colorblind) and bulbous and the split windscreen kind of looks like Garfield's eyes. That's no knock on the PCCs, just a weird connection my mind made.
@@3985uprr I’m glad to know there are still PCC’s running at all, I remember taking a detour on my way home when I was in high school to ride the ones on the Newark City Subway before they were replaced.
@@3985uprr I hate em, they’ve invaded my line. I was lucky to see the 1075 the other day when I railfanned. I saw 2025, 2000, and 1075. Cab cars had nice horns though
@@nancyjasper169 no I’m just kidding, but I get you. I don’t like it when people mispronounce names, and I certainly could kick myself in a butt doing it too.
![Kodak Black - Versatile 4 [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VcP_1Ua__vY/mqdefault.jpg)
For trolley fans, there's a terrific trolley museum (with a working track/trolleys) in Kennebunk Maine. A great way to spend a summer day.
It is actually in Kennebunkport (next town over from Kennebunkport) it is called the Seashore trolley Museum in it is awesome
It also has a sister museum in Lowell Massachusetts called the National Streetcar Museum
We rode on the Mattapan line a couple of years ago. I have got pictures of the PCC car that got badly damaged. I noticed that unlike the San Francisco and Mexico City ones, they don't have the second set of standee windows. My daughter just got back from Boston this morning. JNS , Rugby ,Warwickshire, England.
Beautiful!! You made my day and brought back many memories of my youth. I'm from Philadelphia and rode these "bullet" trolleys. Our longest route was the 23 line from south Philly to Chestnut Hill, just northwest of the city. I lived 2 blocks from the 60 line from Port Richmond to 35th & Allegheny Ave. I got a kick of stepping down when the trolley stopped and the doors automatically opened. Thanks again..
Went to BU in early 2000s and then lived in boston for a few yrs after. Thanks for bringing back awesome memories of riding the T!
Thanks for taking us somewhere different and showing us something new. Those charming old trolleys are truly a piece of the past. I can see why the locals cherish them.
Thank you for the memories! I'm from the Boston area, and rode the "T" Red Line in the early 70's from what was then the southern terminus, Quincy Center, to Park Street on my way to college. Back then, Harvard was the northern terminus before the extension to Alewife was constructed. Red Line cars back then had forward-facing seating in a two-by-two configuration.
As a Baltimore citizen, I've been to the local trolley club location. A certain time of the year, members can operate a PCC on the private rail line for about 1/2 mile. BTW the gauge was widened to 5 ft. so locomotives couldn't use the rails in the city. So anytime the club gets another trolley, the wheel axles have to be resized to fit.
Re-living a fun vacation vicariously through your videos. JFK/UMass was our 'home' station as our hotel was slightly over a block away, and we rode the Red Line into the downtown area daily. I also had a chance to do an afternoon of railfanning that included riding the Mattapan-Ashmont line. Thanks for bringing back great memories!
I stopped there to go to the JFK museum. Nice experience.
Great video! I used to ride the trolleys back in the late 60s when I was attending Boston College. Cost a quarter if I recall correctly.
The “pan” in Mattapan is emphasized. Otherwise people know “you’re not from around here…”
Being Irish and a Red Sox fan, I can’t tolerate that. I want to adapt to the Boston area way of life. I’m a native Long Islander, still live there so I guess I can be forgiven. In addition I don’t want to try to speak with a Boston accent otherwise people will be insulted so I find it best to be myself. I bet if I lived there for a while the accent would come automatically without me trying. Incidentally I’ve heard a lot of people mispronouncing our Long Island towns. I guess it can make a native cringe. My apologies. I know enough to pronounce Swampscott like Swamp-scut. Not Swamp-Scott
Oh yes! Welcome back to Massachusetts, you should come back when the CapeFlyer runs down to cape cod. You’ll also be able to see 2 EX Metro north FL9’s in NH paint numbered 2011 and 2026
Our Toronto PCCs never had doors on the left side as they were all street running; I have fond memories of them. These PCCs accelerate like mad !
Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario
I rode many of them in Toronto in the 70s and 80s and always enjoyed riding on them. Rode on them on the King Street line and the Dundas Street line. Stayed in a hotel by Mapleleaf Gardens and heard those things clanking down Carlton Street
I rode those trolleys when I lived in Boston and Cambridge back in the late 60s 🙂
Those Orange Trams certainly look and work well given they're at least 70 years old.
Great video. Love the trolley, so much history. Your vast knowledge of railroading is amazing. Thank you.
Seeing an F40 on the south side is something to celebrate at this point!
I take those to get home from school they are truly a piece of history
Great to see PCCs in service. Rode them as a kid on the Shaker Heights line in Cleveland. We have a few awaiting some TLC at the Northern Ohio Railway Museum.
I rolled those yellow PCCs back into December 1971
The rather interesting architecture was the baker chocolate factory that got supplies by train that ran along the bike trail you see
Formerly the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory but would be better known to Retired Railfan and the cinema going world as Willy Wonka's.
I have always found it strange that JFK/UMASS did not allow an easy transfer from the Commuter Rail platform to the Red Line platform, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Red Line platform was built in 1972 and the Commuter Rail platform in 1997, but I am not sure
The Mattapan Line was originally a Boston & Albany line. The hiking trail that partially parallels it was a New Haven line which was probably an Old Colony line originally. Anyway, another fine video.
I know the Riverside line was a Boston and Albany line.
In Milan We called this TRAM...the city of Milan some years ago sell to the city of San Francisco some tram built in 1930 ca. Very nice video as always. Thank You Tim !!
Don't forget El Paso with refurbished ex-San Diego St. Louis Car Co. Air/Electrics. Refurbish spec based on SEPTA PCC-II cars refurbished by Brookville in 2016. El Paso cars are now PCC-III spec with pantographs.
Don’t know when I’ll ever get to El Paso
The “Garfields” are like the M7s of MBTA. Way too many of them...
M7’s look better
Designed by the same guy who designed the GE genesis
Great video. I live in Milton about a mile way from this line.
Hope you enjoyed those articulated trolleybuses because they are due for retirement starting this year in March. They're being replaced by the XDE60s.
There are also straight trolley uses at Harvard square
@@MattyC62185 The T is supposed to be replacing the trackless trolley buses with electric buses in a few years
@@genel8233 ya I’d love to see that but I’d rather they replace the diesel ones forst
the pcc cars on that line were bult in worcester mass at pullman standerd
The best part about the Mattash line, is that it is not over engineered and out of scale with the locales it serves; it fits nicely and discreetly in a suburban residential land use pattern. I had promoted the idea of wider use of this style of limited stop tramway in this metro area, but no one was interested , and rails to trails promoters have now purloined all the potential corridors.
The tracks at South station are better lit than the platforms 🤦♂️
I just don't understand why they don't subwayify the Mattapan line.
The tracks need to be replaced anyway, they would just need to grade separate in two places, build new platforms (closing Milton and Capen street) and maybe an extra substation.
Then they could extend some of the subway trains so they get a 10min rush hour service and maybe 15min other times.
The residents would get a one seat ride downtown and the MBTA would have one separate system less.
that same plant all so made trolley busses for the mta in the 1950s
The neighborhood is pronounced: Matt-ah-pann, not "Mattapin" and here in good ol' Bean-Town we locals call our old Pullmans, "Streetcars".
I used to ride this line...very cool. It's pronounced MAT_TA_PAN....
I was already scolded by another viewer about that. Being a native Long Islander, I still live there I guess I can be forgiven. I am a Red Sox fan however
@@3985uprr , but you got "Neponset" right (8:45), which is impressive! Most out-of-towners say NEP'n'set.
loving it. great intro's always.u have a good eye for the camera, keep it up sir.
would love to see you go back down to Philly or DC some time soon. great video and commentary so far as always!
30th street station in philly? I hope he comes too
@@adamasimolowo8285 he already has videos from philly if you haven't seen those, but i hate the HSPs, and i live in the ny area so i want some "other content" lol
aye, that's up near where i live!
edit: 1:25 hey! That's my home town lmao, they still run them.
The Commuter Rail trains that operate to Kingston, middleboro/ lakeville, greenbush operate on the Old Colony Mainline, it’s not the new Colony!
Supposedly that’s what they call it since the services were revived
@@3985uprr I am a railroad employee in the metro Boston area and I can assure you for a fact that nobody calls it or has ever called it the “new colony.” I promise you.
@@thetravelingrailroadist I just remember after they revive the service years ago down there they initially referred it as the New Colony lines. It was a brand for the new revival services. It just stuck with me that’s all. I am well aware of the original name of old colony lines
Just for that, if we ever meet, I am SO going to MEOW at you - though MARC has no Garfields. (My favorite cousin used to live in T Country (Shirley MA) and went to school (and later taught) at Tufts University - which means she is also aware of the "Iced T" jokes in the winter.)
Great story. I wondered.
49:56 trust me, you have no idea how frustrating it is lol. It took me a few minutes to realize how bad the design is
Wow trolley s are making a comeback and. We are getting more light rail in America I am happy I just love train s I hate auto mobile traffic and flying scares me I just love train s.
I;ll make it up there when the new trains are running on the orange line
Most of the F40's and the 2 MP36s they run are still awaiting their rebuilds sadly. All of them should hopefully be back by the end of the year, so then there won't be Garfields on almost every train.
I certainly hope so. I felt a bit cheated yesterday.
@@3985uprr Agreed. While I don't hate the HSP's, I miss the F40's. I grew up with them on almost every train.
@@MasterOfNoise not my favorite but not a bad loco. Although there is talk of electrification and EMUs on the MBTA
@@MattyC62185 The EMUs idea was scrapped last I heard, however Electrification is likely coming. And with Amtrak likely downsizing ACS64's, we may someday see ACS64's in the Purple Tux!
@@MasterOfNoise I’d love to see that
51:50 Philly shout-out!!!
A big part of the reason why these are still in service is because they had to be extensively rebuilt back in the 80s because these were all supposed to disappear once the Boeing LRV came in but that which will go down as being the single most god-awful piece of crap the MBTA ever put on their tracks necessitated that they be kept around and now here they are having outlived what was meant to replace them as most of the LRVs thankfully have been scrapped they served on the green line until 87 when the type 7 came out and then 10 years later and additional order of type7 cars came out and then the type 8 Which was the first one designed with ADA compliance in mind came in and that was the end of those L RV garbage
Awesome video!
I enjoyed this video as always. I definitely want to visit Boston one day. I live on Long Island, so obviously, I would have to take the LIRR to Penn Station first. I wouldn't take Amtrak straight there, though. I would take the NYC Subway to Grand Central Terminal, Metro-North to New Haven, Shore Line East to Old Saybrook or New London, Amtrak to Providence, and the MBTA Commuter Rail. However, when I go back home, I would take Amtrak straight to Penn Station. I saw someone do this in a video.
Also, I'm just curious. How come you dislike the HSP46s so much?
They are ugly looking. They break down a lot. Their inner workings are made out of GE parts and I’m not a fan of GE locomotives.
Interesting shots from Boston. Your Trollys have the charm of a mueumsbahn. Is there only this type of car? our trollies in Berlin have been modernized in recent years. the old Tatra railways are all gone. Our oldest cars at trolly are from 1991. I myself have only made 2 videos of the Berlin Straßenbahn in Berlin so far. Maybe this is something for you. Greetings from Berlin/ Germany. Sven
El Paso and Toronto have PCC cars
You're throwing me with the pronunciation of 'Bombardier'. It's Bomb-ba-Deer.
I’ve heard both.
like bus
I'm not privy about the diesel locomotives. You have inside information about why you don't like those 'Garfields', and why are they called that ? You had plenty of time to explain this during the video. I'm a track layout nut, and not a roster nut, so to me, it's just a locomotive.
Fill me in on what should apparently be so obvious that you didn't have to mention it.
Thanks much,
Aarre Peltomaa
Ugh that pepto bismol pink, just makes me sickened to see it.
Hey RRF
Outstanding video. Well deserving of many more views & likes.
A question: at the end you said the commuter train from Boston to NY would be suspended due to covid. What gives? What's the rationale? Too few passengers? Lack of interest? Some suspected hazard?? I don't get it.
Lower ridership on Amtrak due to omicron. It didn’t stop me but I got over it.
More junk and running 5 minutes late with Junk Loco 2009
I saw Garfields in the title and (forgetting I had already seen another Boston video where you used the term) thought you meant the PCCs, because they're orange (I think...or are they yellow? I'm a little colorblind) and bulbous and the split windscreen kind of looks like Garfield's eyes. That's no knock on the PCCs, just a weird connection my mind made.
The PCC’s look gorgeous by comparison. I was talking about the HSP46’s. Ugly locomotives and trouble prone.
@@3985uprr I’m glad to know there are still PCC’s running at all, I remember taking a detour on my way home when I was in high school to ride the ones on the Newark City Subway before they were replaced.
LOL Garfields! They are really ugly but they sound good.
Believe it or not they have a GEVO-12 prime mover, technically making them a passenger GEVO!
@@MiddleboroLakevilleRailfan The fact that they have General Electric parts in them doesn’t exactly endear themselves to me either
@@3985uprr I hate em, they’ve invaded my line. I was lucky to see the 1075 the other day when I railfanned. I saw 2025, 2000, and 1075. Cab cars had nice horns though
@@MiddleboroLakevilleRailfan Yeah people call them that sometimes
i hate the HSPs
MATTA - PAN not Matapin
I’ve been scolded about that before. You should hear the way people mispronounce our Long Island towns. My mistake seemed trivial by comparison 😁
@3985uprr Not scolding you. Just saying the way to pronounce, thats all.
30yrs with the MBTA
@@nancyjasper169 no I’m just kidding, but I get you. I don’t like it when people mispronounce names, and I certainly could kick myself in a butt doing it too.
@@nancyjasper169 what do you do with them?
It's matt-a-pan not matt-a-pin