Trip Reports - Memory of my first (sort of) trip report: The "T" in Boston

I was 9 years old, and I used to love to take the "T" (Boston's rapid transit system). Whenever we drove past a T station, I would beg my parents to let me out, and I would "race" them home on the T.

Anyway, one Sunday, my father and I took the day off to see if we could ride the entire T system together in one day. My job was to plan, and I loved doing it, even then.

Boston has four T lines, and one of them splits off into three branches. So we had quite a day ahead of us.

We began on the Green Line at Riverside (D line). (Un)fortunately, the train broke down at Reservoir, and we had to exchange to the other brach (the C branch) of the Green Line. That was actually an adventure for me at the time.

Eventually we "did" the Green Line. Next was the Blue Line, my favorite because it went to the airport.

Next was the Orange Line. When we got to the end of the line, we stayed on the train for the turn around. The conductor saw us and was so amazed at what we were doing. He then gave me a map of the "T" system. Boy, was that a treat!

By this time it was late in the afternoon, and we were both a bit "T-ed" out. So we saved the Red Line for another day.

Unfortunately, we never got around to it.

But what a fun trip, just for the sake of travelling... and not getting anywhere, that was.

"rapid transit" is a stretch...

Ok, I had to laugh at this for one reason. The whole time I was growing up my father always made me promise to never ever go on the Orange line. I would always take the "T" but never the Orange line. I'm 30, and to this day...I still have not taken the Orange line. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

How was it??

When I was working in north suburban Boston, the few times I stayed over the weekend & wanted to go into town, I would drive to a nearby Orange line station to take the T (I was up in the Reading/Wakefield area). The Orange line north of downtown was fine, it never felt particularly dangerous. I did take it once south of downtown to go to the Sam Adams brewery in Jamaica Plain and that was a much rougher-looking area. As it was 2PM and daylight, it wasn't too bad, but I never took the Orange line south of downtown again.

------------------
Regards,
- Anna

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif See that just shows what a good kid I was. I never asked why I should not take it, I just knew not to...and never did.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pointsgirl:
Ok, I had to laugh at this for one reason. The whole time I was growing up my father always made me promise to never ever go on the Orange line. I would always take the "T" but never the Orange line. I'm 30, and to this day...I still have not taken the Orange line. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

How was it??

</font>

As a former resident of Boston, I'm pretty sure that your father was not referring to the Orange Line you see now, but the "old" Orange Line El which ran above Washington Street just south of the Chinatown (Essex) subway station. I did ride the old Orange Line El a few times, and your father was right. I didn't feel very safe, and I encountered many shady people, one of whom tried to sell me a Sony Trinitron television. I turned him down...

Unlike zrs70 I have in fact ridden all 4 of the T lines, as I'm a big rapid transit and train buff. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

zrs70,

You should read a book called "Tunnel Vision" by Keith Lowe. I really enjoyed it - it is a novel about a "tube" fan in London who agrees to try to get to all tube stops in 24 hours - the 24 hours before he is to leave for France on Eurostar to get married. It really is a good book and I think you would relate.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743423526/qid=1017241266/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/104-6663064-8192766

I consider myself lucky of I can make it from Riverside to Resevoir, with only one breakdown. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

After living in London last year, I cannot think of anything more impossible than trying to ride the whole Tube system in one day. Even if it was theoretically possible, the inevitable staff shortages, signal failures, and the Norhtern "Misery" Line would mess-up the best made plan.

Once I saw a guy trying to race up the down escalator at Porter Square - did not (could not) stay long enough to see if he made it!

I'm gonna put my two cents in for tunnel vision too. I loved it- though it got a bit tedious. I could relate to many of those tube stations.

lala

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kyklin:
Once I saw a guy trying to race up the down escalator at Porter Square - did not (could not) stay long enough to see if he made it!</font>

Oh yeah, I know what you mean. That is the LONGEST escalator I have ever seen! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Morrissey:
Oh yeah, I know what you mean. That is the LONGEST escalator I have ever seen! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif</font>

The longest escalator in the world is at Angel station in London. This used to be my local station, and I used to run up it every day .... :-)

Does anyone remember the WOODEN escalator at the State St Orange Line stop. I think my first, last and only ride on the old Orange Line was the last run before they tore it down. There is a bit of nostalgia.
Having grown up within a block of the so-called "Southern" end of the new Orange Line (and on occasion within smelling distance of the Brewery) I can confess that 10 years ago it was not the safest neighborhood, however times have changed. Gentrification has brought Saabs and Volovos to the neighborhood but if anyone cares to venture down my way we can still take in a meal at an excellent Cuban or Salvadoran restaurant.

Charley on the MTA anyone?
He must have been the pre-aviation version of an FTér!

Oooh, how about the "escalator" at Downtown Crossing.

The one that was just like an assembly line belt, with small bumps (&lt;6 inches) instead of full, flat steps.

Many people were afraid to take it, but I rather liked it.

During the dog days of summer, the "T" was a place to escape the heat. We used to ride all over - except south on the Orange Line. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

------------------
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

That sounds almost like (gasp) a mileage run! Maybe they should give out a free token every 100 stops? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Impressed that you managed to cover as much as you did!

My own "trip report": One evening a few years back, I took 3 hours to cover the Green line from North Station to Woodland. Of course it did involve a fire in Park Street Station, crammed Green line trains (when one managed to go somewhere), detours onto Blue/Orange/Red lines, and for the icing on the cake, a guy drove his car off a bridge onto the wires somewhere down the D line, adding another transfer and a nice bus ride to the itinerary.

I intended to book the non-stop, but got five connections, endless waits, and a bus. Three hours later, I finally got there more than a couple hours late... and not a single bump voucher! :P

It was wonderful to take the T to Bruins and Red Sox games, especially once the Riverside line came online. For Bruins games, it was a snap, because the station was at the same level as the entrance to the Garden. Things changed, though: Scollay and Adams stations disappeared, then you had to enter the Garden from street level, and now it seems that the Garden has been misplaced.

============

Some years later, after I'd learned about the joys of air travel, I was at the Aquarium station (talk about a great escalator!) and asked to buy two tokens at the booth. I gave the T guy the money, and he gave me 1 MBTA token and 1 (French) 10-centime coin. I tried to correct him, but he brushed me away and said that the coin would work in the turnstile. On my next trip to Paris, I made sure to return with several rouleaux of 10-centime pieces (10 centimes was worth just less than 2 U.S. cents), and for years I was able to ride the T at discount rates. [Alas, they changed the turnstile system about 6-8 years ago, and the 10-centime pieces no longer work. Hell, for that matter, they're no longer valid currency in France.]