Garrett Wollman

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  1. MBTA stations

Orange Line

The Orange Line, originally the Main Line Elevated, connects Oak Grove in Malden to Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain. The downtown tunnel segment, under Washington St., runs from Essex Street (Chinatown) to North Station, and was constructed in the early 1900s after several years of elevated cars running into the Tremont Street subway (today's Green Line). The original elevated ran over Washington Street from Arborway to Everett, with a loop (largely over Atlantic Ave.) between the South End and North station; in the 1970s, the Haymarket–North Extension took over most of the B&M Western Route between North station and Melrose, after which the elevated in Charlestown and Everett was demolished. In 1987, the Southwest Corridor Extension branched off of the existing tunnel south of Chinatown for new stations at Tufts Medical Center and Back Bay, then running parallel to the MBTA/Amtrak Providence Line to Forest Hills; as with the northern extension, the Washington St. elevated was then demolished.
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  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    Looking north toward the Franklin St. end of the northbound platform

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    Looking south toward the Summer St. end of the platform. This station used to be called "Summer", with the adjacent southbound platform station "Winter" and the Red Line station "Washington" — each platform named after its respective cross-street.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    The station is a confusing warren of passages, some inside fare control and some outside.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    Main northbound fare array and exit to the Summer St. Concourse. Filene's Basement had a direct entrance from the concourse, and I think the Roche Bros. supermarket still does. (I didn't leave the fare-paid area on this visit.)

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    Stairs to the cross-under for access to the southbound platform (and also a fare-paid connection to Park Street and the Green Line, although it's not signed here)

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    Looking south through the tunnel you can see the southbound platform, which is entirely offset from the northbound side due to the narrowness of Washington Street, under which the subway runs. This was all built as cut-and-cover, as was common in 1911, and consequently there is no mezzanine.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    These "armrests", widely decried by advocates as hostile architecture, were a recent addition to these much older wooden benches. The MBTA claims that they are required for accessibility (and updated their access design guidelines to say so).

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    This trip was taken during the public engagement period for the bus network redesign, which was ultimately approved by the board in November, 2022.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    Because there is no room in the Washington St. right-of-way for an pre-payment concourse, the Franklin St. entrance has a separate fare array.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Downtown Crossing northbound

    Downtown Crossing northbound

    Looking north up the tunnel. State station, the next stop, is offset vertically as well as horizontally.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Haymarket station fare array

    Haymarket station fare array

    The Green and Orange Lines run parallel between Haymarket and North Station, but the connection is so inconvenient that Green Line passengers are better off using surface streets to enter the Green Line station directly. The Orange Line station is located below the Haymarket Center, a combination tunnel ventilation building, state office building, parking structure, and public market hall.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    A southbound train of #14 cars terminates at Forest Hills. It will shortly turn around and depart for Oak Grove, but you can tell from the destination sign at left that the driver hasn't switched ends yet.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    And now it's gone... next northbound train is boarding on the opposite track (but the signs don't tell us when it's scheduled to depart)

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    See the illuminated "NEXT TRAIN" sign with an arrow, hanging over the staircase

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Looking north from the end of track 1 at the terminal crossover

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Big axial fans to ventilate the platform area should a train pull into the station while on fire (a sadly common occurrence with the old #12 cars)

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Brand new walkway to the brand new north headhouse

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    The north headhouse has only stairs and an elevator, no escalators.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Fare array and exits of the north headhouse

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Southwest Corridor Park

    Southwest Corridor Park

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Southbound train approaching Forest Hills

    Southbound train approaching Forest Hills

    This train is on track 5, so it's heading to Needham

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Northbound Orange Line train taking the terminal crossover to the northbound track

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Photo was taken in the middle of a drought, so all of the grass was brown and dried up. Looking back at the new north headhouse; part of the original headhouse, across the street, can be seen behind it

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Looking north along the Southwest Corridor; tracks are (L–R) OL2, OL1, 5, 3, 1, 2. As at Back Bay, the mainline tracks follow the New Haven Railroad's numbering system.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    The main, original, south headhouse is located across Arborway, a busy highway that you probably wouldn't want to cross if you didn't have to. There used to be an overpass here, blocking the view; the pedestrian tunnel to the north headhouse was built ad s part of the street reconstruction that also demolished the overpass.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    A new apartment complex called "Velo JP" sits opposite the station at the corner of Washington St. and Arborway.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Even after reconstruction, Arborway is not a pleasant street to cross.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Arborway bus garage

    Arborway bus garage

    Looking up Washington St. towards the Arborway bus garage, which is located on the former site of the Arborway carhouse, where various streetcar routes in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Dorchester once terminated. Before the Southwest Corridor project, the Washington St. Elevated ran past the carhouse to its own terminus and streetcar interchange station, east of the current station.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Washington St. mysteriously turns into Hyde Park Ave. when you get south of the station. Washington St. picks up on the west side of the tracks (which are in an open cut) but the two segments are not actually connected. (The railroad used to be on a viaduct here.)

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    The station has two busways, identified as "upper" and "lower". The upper busway is on the far side of the station building, but at grade with the station.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Looking across the Arborway at the new north headhouse, where the huge Casey Overpass used to be. Where I'm standing was originally built with a trolley loop for the Green Line E branch, but the E Line was "temporarily" suspended through Jamaica Plain when the Southwest Corridor opened and never resumed. In the late 1990s the remainder of the embedded track was removed during street repaving, but the trolley loop remained and was used by the 39 bus.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    It was a bit of a walk from the old trolley loop to the north entrance of the (then only) headhouse.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    This "pedal & park" is supposedly the very first one built by the MBTA.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Walking around the west side of the station toward the upper busway

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Big generator behind the station next to the upper busway

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Inside the station, my first reaction was "cruciform" but the aerial photos don't quite bear that out.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    There is a great deal of natural light inside, if only at ground level (track level not so much).

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    These digital service status displays were part of a recent project to improve in-station customer information.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    This display shows upcoming bus departures.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Elevator and stairs down to the commuter rail platforms

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    That's a bit of an uncomfortably narrow stair down to the platform. Since this station historically only serves Needham Line trains, that wasn't considered an issue in 1987.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    It's ... dark on this platform. (It's actually not as dark as this photo makes it seem, because the human eye is more adaptable than the camera.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Looking south of the platform along tracks 2, 1, and 3

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Zooming in on the same picture, you can see the turnout that allows track 3 to access the Needham Line.

    MBTAtrain stations

  • Forest Hills station

    Forest Hills station

    Not so dark when we get out into daylight

    MBTAtrain stations

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