Framingham–Worcester Line
Framingham station
Looking across at the mini-high on the "outbound" platform. The locations of the platforms are offset here because the north platform has to fit between the two branches of the wye.
Framingham station
Beyond the end of the platform, you can see the switches that connect the Milford Branch (on the left-hand track) and the yard (right-hand track). The stretch of track between Ashland and South Station is signaled for two-way traffic on both tracks.
Framingham station
Looking west at the end of the south ("inbound") platform.
Framingham station
This ad for Mass Bay Community College is less creepy when you see it from the bottom of the stairs rather than halfway up.
Framingham station
More corrosion. I'm sure the deicer doesn't help.
Framingham station
Looking north up the Fitchburg Secondary into the Franingham north yard, where CSX 6236 and 8019 are working.
West Natick station
Big expanses of parking lot are kind of a theme on this excursion.
West Natick station
This is the temporary pedestrian bridge over the tracks which was erected after an improperly secured load struck and severely damaged the Boden Lane vehicular bridge, just east of West Natick station. A residential neighborhood just north of the tracks was cut off from the station and nearby commercial establishments when the bridge was declared unsafe. Before being demolished, the vehicular bridge was weight-limited and one-way southbound.
West Natick station
I'm not sure Natick Center is the best place to look for additional parking, although it is in the same zone (Framingham is the next zone higher).
West Natick station
West Natick is the only out-of-town station on the line to have these new video departure displays. Unfortunately, that is its only redeeming feature. At this station, unlike all the others on the line, the tracks must be crossed at grade.
West Natick station
At this station, unlike all the others on the line, the tracks must be crossed at grade.
West Natick station
Because this is a four-track right of way, the Boden Lane bridge abutments are far enough apart to allow the southern platform to extend some distance beyond the bridge.
West Natick station
The mini-highs on this line are always located at the west ends of the platforms, and unfortunately, that means that the boarding location is a very long way away from the station entrance (at least 800 feet)!
West Natick station
It's a bit of a walk, but we made it to the west end of the platform. Because the south platform extends farther east, under the Boden Lane bridge, the south mini-high is a bit farther east as well.
West Natick station
The north mini-high is not much to look at, but it's the newest station on the suburban part of the line, for the moment.
West Natick station
Looking over again at the south mini-high, this time from the north mini-high.
Natick Center station
I never managed to go see Natick Center station before it started to get demolished. It's in the middle of a four-year project to implement full accessibility, as it was the busiest station on the line not have any sort of accommodations for disabled passengers.
Natick Center station
The line runs in an open trench through Natick Center. The new station will include full high platforms, elevators, and a connection to the Cochituate Rail Trail; it will be the first station along the line to be constructed with room for a third track since the old express tracks were lifted decades ago (although the third track won't be built; space will merely be reserved for it in the station footprint).
Natick Center station
At the east end of the southern platform work zone, you can see micropiles being installed to support the new station — about the only tangible sign of progress so far.
Natick Center station
On the north side of the station, a temporary stair leads down to the old platform. Construction staging for this project will have passengers accessing new high platforms at the east end of the station for about a year so the old platforms can be demolished and the trackbed widened.
Natick Center station
The pedestrian bridge at top will be replaced as a part of the station reconstruction project. Beyond the vehicular bridge at center, the former Cochituate Branch diverges to the right (before the small grey building); when the Rail Trail is finished, it will connect directly to the new station.
Natick Center station
A mural called "Next Stop — Natick" painted by local schoolchildren decorates the retaining walls on the south side of the station.
Wellesley Square station
All of the parking at commuter-rail stations in Wellesley is town-owned. Here at Wellesley Square, the spaces are metered and limited to four hours per day — apparently there's another lot adjacent to the northern platform, in a part of the business district I had no idea even existed. This is a nice, dense, walkable part of down and really deserves better than this.
Wellesley Square station
This station, like the others in Wellesley, is completely inaccessable, and requires patrons to climb stairs to cross the tracks via a public road.
Wellesley Square station
Looking across the tracks at the stairs down from the parking lot on the other side. The street on the overpass is Crest Road.
Wellesley Square station
As if things weren't confusing enough, the trains swap tracks during PM peak.
Wellesley Hills station
Wellesley Hills is a secondary business district along Washington St. Here, we can clearly see another Richardson-style Romanesque station building hiding under the Caffè Nero. There's relatively little parking at this station.
Wellesley Hills station
As at West Natick, passengers must cross the tracks at grade, unprotected, to get from the "outbound" track to the parking lot and local destinations; the entirety of the left-hand platform is cut into the rock ledge.
Wellesley Hills station
Platforms here are staggered as well. This at least presents a design opportunity for a pedestrian bridge: you could cross the tracks beyond the south end of the "outbound" platform and still end up within the footprint of the parking lot.
Wellesley Farms station
Hmmm, I sense a theme here: more oceans of parking. As with the other stations in Wellesley, this is a town-owned lot — but unlike the other stations, this one serves a wooded, low-density single-family residential neighborhood, so nearly all station access is going to be park-and-ride.
Wellesley Farms station
Like the other Wellesley stations, this one is also totally inaccessible. Notice how the center trackway fencing extends all the way to the end of the platform; getting from the parking lot to the opposite platform involves walking all the way to the east end of this platform, climbing stairs up to Glen Road, crossing an overpass, and then back down again. A pedestrian grade crossing at the station was closed in 2004 for safety reasons.
Wellesley Farms station
There is a culvert underneath the tracks and platforms that feeds this small pond.
Wellesley Farms station
There's something odd about this old station building...
Wellesley Farms station
Again, it's another Romanesque ex-B&A ommuter station... but this one has been completely gutted (and re-roofed).
Wellesley Farms station
Like, completely gutted.
Wellesley Farms station
View from the street side (what would have been the entrance in former days)
Wellesley Farms station
Stairs leading down from Glen Road
Auburndale station
Now we're in Newton, at the first of what are unquestionably the three most awful stations in the entire MBTA system. This is Auburndale, squeezed in next to the Mass Pike, and we're looking east from Woodland Road down at steep steel stairway.
Auburndale station
From the platform, looking back up at the stairway, clearly not the first to grace this location.
Auburndale station
The only redeeming feature of these stations is the fairly long shed on the platform that provides some shelter from the weather.
Auburndale station
Past the end of the platform, you can see another stairway, leading up to Auburn St. where the commercial district of Auburndale lies off to the north (left).
Train 2508 stopping at Auburndale
An eastbound train 2508 from Worcester, pushed by MBTA HSP46 #2037, making the 4:14 station stop at Auburndale.
Train 2508 stopping at Auburndale
An eastbound train 2508 from Worcester, pushed by MBTA HSP46 #2037, making the 4:14 station stop at Auburndale.
West Newton station
The station in West Newton is little different from Auburndale, except that the stairs are outboard of the overpasses rather than facing the platforms. These stations are still irretrievably awful with traffic rushing by on the Turnpike — hopefully the rebuild of these stations can add some noise walls.
West Newton station
At platform level, underneath the Washington St. (Rt. 16) overpass, looking at the stairway I just climbed down. Again, these stations are totally inaccessible.
West Newton station
Looking down the length of the platform towards the West Newton exit off the Turnpike. The self-supporting tower was used by the Turnpike Authority before Bill Weld had the ramp tolls here demolished overnight as a political stunt.
West Newton station
Sometimes, trains that are supposed to call at the Newton stations get switched onto the wrong track, and passengers must exit the train onto this wooden walkway (there's one, and only one, at each station) to get on or off.