Orange Line 1986

The 1986 NMRA Convention was held in Boston. I went by train, of course, and that was an interesting, in a few bizarre ways. Story for another time. Boston has rapid transit, commuter rail, and streetcars/light rail - a triple header!
One of my friends from Jacksonville, Bill Harding, is a native of Boston, so we were able to do a few activities outside of the Convention program. One of these was to ride the Orange Line, especially the elevated part along Washington Avenue to Forest Hills. A modern subway was being built a few blocks to the west, and once opened a year later, the el would be abandoned and demolished - and leave the neighborhood without good transit.
Boston has three subway lines - Red, Blue, and Orange - and the trains are color-coded accordingly. The streetcars (or light rail) are the Green line, with four routes - B, C, D, and E - and in 1986, were naturally painted green. There is an isolated streetcar line that runs from the Ashmont terminus of the Red line to Mattapan. This line runs on a private right-of-way, and although called a Red line on MBTA maps, uses PCC cars painted green.
The MBTA is the successor to the original MTA made famous by the Kingston Trio in their hit about the saga of Charlie, who had handed in his dime at the Kendall Square station and changed for Jamaica Plain. However, there is no longer a station for his wife to be handing him sandwiches, as the distinctively Boston Scollay Square has been usurped by the bureaucratically bland and generic Government Center.

[@CarmelinaChipman]

I miss the good old days gone are those days, but memories last forever.

[@Aviation380]

What's really trippy is seeing the same train I was on 2 days ago surrounded by stations, cars and people from the '70s and '80s

[@saintonerism]

Got emotional watching this...I took the El everywhere I went. I miss it!

[@sandrasoares9262]

Thankyou so much for take back in time
I live on Washington St. In the south end 😢
From 69 to 86.
I well always miss the south end
I ride the train very day on Washington Street.
Thankyou so much for your time.
Your fan Sandra s Boston mass.
I played at dover Park as a child.
Thankyou for very thing south end.

[@Bobrogers99]

Great video! I rode that line every day to and from work for three years back in the 60s. It's good to know that the Northampton station has been preserved, but there were other structures with green copper roofs that I'm sure someone rescued for personal use.

[@1970volvo144S]

The map is from the late 70s. By 1986, the Red Line terminated at both Braintree and Alewife, not Quincy Center and Harvard. In addition, the Green Line stopped train service to Arborway in 1985.

[@henrysantos121]

I really love watching this type of videos,

[@qjtvaddict]

It should never have been torn down it needs to return

[@Bobrogers99]

The relocated Orange Line serves different neighborhoods, leaving Washington Street underserved.

[@edwardmiessner6502]

The neighborhoods were promised a light railway but instead all they got was this stupid bus "rapid transit"!
I'm sure the Feds had something to do with it.

[@slashmaster2]

I went to that model railroad show too! They would sometimes open the back door and the Orange line would be right there. People would go outside, smoke and watch Orange line trains.

[@sostdm617]

Boston looks totally different now I remember these days

[@jonp4846]

St. Elsewhere, indeed!

[@chicago-l9125]

This footage reminds me so much of the "St. Elsewhere" TV series.

[@edwardmiessner6502]

I'm looking at this old Orange Line elevated structure and thought to myself, They could have refurbished the El as a skytrain and built a transfer stop at the Tufts NEMC T-stop.

[@anthonywilliams7110]

The REAL mbta!

[@cesargomez1965]

Do you have more Boston train?

[@Skullitor]

No sound???

[@andresdelcampo6733]

86 Mets.