Garrett Wollman

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  1. MBTA stations

Needham Line

Photos taken March 13, 2021
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  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    Heights Common, across Avery Square from the station

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    Not much of a structure here; while that looks like a bus bay, the 59 bus doesn't enter the station and stops instead on Highland Ave. (out of frame to the left).

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    A section of double- and triple-track, used for layovers, starts immediately south of the station. The right-of-way here is wide enough for two tracks in the station, but not for two platforms.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    Some of the older industrial buildings look to have once had freight service along the line, but none do now. The right-of-way necks down to a single track about a quarter mile norith of Needham Center.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    The platform literally goes right up to the curb on West St. — which is what this station was originally called.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    Looking back up the platform towards the mini-high right before the overpass in the distance. Note the signal equipment house and beyond it, switch heaters.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    A little bit closer view of the weird kink in the platform

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    Make that the weirdly kinked and poorly maintained platform.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    The mini-highs on this line are generally in better shape than the low-level platforms, despite excessive salt use.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    The railroad is out-of-service or just plain abandoned immediately north of here, although the right-of-way is intact and appears to be wide enough for two tracks all the way to Route 128 (where the recent widening project removed a bridge). My proposal for a Needham LRT involves re-extending the line to Gould St., where there is underutilized land that could house a station and light maintenance facility.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Heights station

    Needham Heights station

    It's easier to see from this angle that the platform actually slopes down from the West St. grade crossing to the Hunnewell St. underpass.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    Looking north along the platform toward the mini-high

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    A somewhat closer view of the mini-high and the May St. grade crossing just beyond

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    The wooden bumpers on the mini-highs have seen better days but the concrete platforms are doing just fine. No sign of the steel fold-down platform edges as seen on the Worcester and Fitchburg Lines.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    Yup, "no weekend service" is why I'm here this month.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    Parking lots, I think town-owned, on both sides of the tracks, with grade crossings for platform access

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    Some retail development and amenities on the west side of the station as we get down to Great Plain Ave. in the actual commercial center of Needham

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    Other retail services on the platform side of the tracks north of the Great Plain Ave. grade crossing

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    Great Plain Ave. grade crossing

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Center station

    Needham Center station

    Looking north along the platform from Great Plain Ave.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Junction station

    Needham Junction station

    Not much of a junction any more, but it does have an icre-cream stand (closed for the season)

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Junction station

    Needham Junction station

    Looking west along the platform towards the former wye junction

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Junction station

    Needham Junction station

    There is still a wye here, for the moment, with tracks to the north, east, and southwest. The track to the southwest was the Millis Line, which never saw service in the MBTA era, and which has been rail-trailed just south of the switch for that leg of the wye. All trains follow the active tracks off to the right toward Needham Center.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Junction station

    Needham Junction station

    I'll make a note of that

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Junction station

    Needham Junction station

    From the mini-high, looking back east along the platform toward the overpass at Warren St.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Junction station

    Needham Junction station

    The platform edge treatment they used at this station seems to have largely failed.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Junction station

    Needham Junction station

    Looking east along the line from the end of the platform. Note that the overpass was built for two tracks, but the switch for the double-track section has been moved to the other wide of the overpass and there are now signal houses in the path of the former southern track.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Needham Junction station

    Needham Junction station

    The second track only extended about 50 feet into the station, so it probably made sense to lift it here.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    Looking at the 2018 CTPS passenger counts, I was wondering why Hersey, of all stations, was the busiest on the whole line. It's on the middle of nowhere, right? Surrounded by a golf course! Then I got to this enormous parking lot (one of two) and all became clear.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    While the railroad was on a berm through Needham Junction, it runs in an open cut at Hersey, one of the more difficult sections to build when the original "Needham Cut-off" was built in the early 1900s. The station itself was added about a decade later.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    Pretty steep stairway down from the main parking lot

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    Looking up the platform towards the Great Plain Ave. overpass.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    The parking lot of the south side of the tracks ramps down to track level; it's smaller than the main lot but allows all of the accessible parking spots to be closer to the west end of the platform where the mini-high is. At this end, there's just another stairway and a grade crossing to get to the platform.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    The GPA overpass is clearly wide enough for two tracks, but the right-of-way narrows almost immediately on the other side. The next overpass is Greendale Ave. off in the distance.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    Now looking west along the platform towards Needham Junction

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    Grade crossing between the HP/V parking area and the mini-high platform

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    Mini-high seen side-on

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    Looking west up the line from the mini-high platform at the Needham Golf Club's private grade crossing

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Hersey station

    Hersey station

    Looking back east again showing the whole length of the platform and both stairways

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • Millennium Park

    Millennium Park

    I realize that this doesn't look much like a park — it's actually the Boston Public Works yard in West Roxbury, next to a Home Depot — but of the photos I took in the park, it's the only one that clearly shows the Needham Line tracks. The "Charles River Loop" variant of the 36 bus terminates on Gardner St. just east of the DPW barn.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • West Roxbury station

    West Roxbury station

    Unusual choice to put the HP/V spaces immediately next to the grade crossing that actually allows the users of the spaces to access the platform (although they still have to wheel hundreds of feet up the platform to the mini-high to actually board).

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • West Roxbury station

    West Roxbury station

    Even within city limits, there's still a lot of parking at this station.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • West Roxbury station

    West Roxbury station

    Looking all the way up the platform to where, in the distance, the mini-high allows for level boarding. As with other barely-accessible MBTA lines, passengers are directed to board from the mini-highs at all times except peak periods.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • West Roxbury station

    West Roxbury station

    It's a full-length platform, at least. With a more frequent service, a platform this long would be entirely unnecessary.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • West Roxbury station

    West Roxbury station

    As in Needham, the actual platfrms are not in great condition, either. This station lacks tactile edging, but is well provided with tripping hazards.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • West Roxbury station

    West Roxbury station

    After you've hiked all this way, perhaps you'd like to sit down on a bench before climbing the mini-high to get on your train?

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • West Roxbury station

    West Roxbury station

    The telephoto lens is seriously compressing distance here... it's a "full length" 800-foot platform.

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

  • West Roxbury station

    West Roxbury station

    Sheltered bike racks next to the passenger shelter

    MBTANeedham Linecommuter railtrain stations

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