That explains why she gave him a sandwich and not a nickel. Left unexplained is how Charlie dealt with the needs of the other end of the alimentary canal.
That was quite fun. And I learnt something new - I think I had just assumed that Charliecard etc. was somehow related to the Charles River, without ever wondering why.
The MTA is one of my favorite Kingston Trio songs 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁. It doesn't matter how old you are good music is timeless. I'm 34 so I didn't grow up in the 50s and 60s obviously but my mom did and she has their albums on vinyl record so it was thanks to my mom that I'm interested in the oldies.
2:50 This contraption does work, but if you jerk it rapidly, it will shake back and forth without hitting the pipes. You need to build momentum like you would on a playground swing: time your pulls to add to the swing of the pendulums in the direction corresponding to the pull.
This video was hilariously awesome! And it also highlighted “a day in the life” MBTA moments, such as wrong signs, weird train sounds questioning safety, not working contraptions, shuttle buses, and the silver line pretending to be a train! 😁 BTW the new extension of the Somerville Community Path has a great view of trains! (Commuter, Amtrak, Greenline)
In New York, one small section of the subway system (the lines to the Rockaway Peninsula, which crossed Jamaica Bay) had exit fares for a number of years. It occurred to me that the song about Charlie (or at least part of it) could be eaily adapted to refer to that: "Charlie handed in his fare at the Herald Square station and he changed for Jamaica Bay..." (He'd change at West 4th St.)
This was such a cool video! I was looking into Charlie On The MTA after I realized that it's actually a song with an entire history after listening to it for years in the podcast/audiodrama Greater Boston
This was great fun to watch and thank you for making and posting it. What is now the Green Line E branch used to be called the Arborway line (the scrolling sign on the front of the car read: "Arborway via Huntington Ave") and ran trollies (the famous PCC cars) all the way out to the now long defunct streetcar and bus yards on the Arborway (duh!) in Jamaica Plain. That is, until service was "temporarily suspended" 40 years ago. At various times , you had to pay an additional exit fare if you rode beyond the Huntington Ave tunnel mouth at what's now the Northeastern University stop. At the Arborway, you could get bus or trolley connections to points further south. The song doesn't specify, but Charlie in all likeleyhood would have disembarked there en route, no doubt , to his workplace in, maybe, Mattapan or Dorchester. Either that, or he might have worked somewhere along South St or Centre St in Jamaica Plain. Of course, if he'd "changed for Forest Hills" rather than for Jamaica Plain at the lower level of what's now Downtown Crossing, he would have had free transfer to the terminus of today's Orange Line at the monolithic Forest Hills station, no more than a block away from the Arborway and avoided having to pay that extra nickel. Something which, along with the fact that Mrs. Charlie never thought to slip a nickel into his sandwich, mystifies me to this day. lol
grew up in boston but live in columbus now.. none of my transit friends know wtf I’m talking about whenever I try to allude to charlie riding forever!!! this video makes me so happy to see you guys all so into the history of it all
The temporary suspension may have been because of the Big Dig, which was going on back then. I was stationed in Boston from 1996-2003, and rode the T a lot. Good to see it again
Addendum; that data came from-tada-Boston Street Railway Association- Bulletin number 23! The title-"Streetcar Lines of the Hub",wh I ch covered the 1940's,and some subsequent aftermaths! See pages 23&24! A most interesting reading,and really should have been acknowledged gang!! Remember your term papers,you always acknowledge your sources! Thank you for the current update on Charlie's adventures! Boston had changed much in those years,and so has New England! It's nice to know,that there are youths out there that are historically minded,and pursue that,even in today's context! Thanks guys,and gals,you are gems,and appreciated 🙏 😊! Thank you! 😇!
I learned about Charlie and the MTA, or it was called MTA Charlie when I went to camp in Vermont. As a New Yorker, I never knew something like that existed. But it's a fun song to sing years later
One reason why "M.T.A." became legendary is that it is a sly parody of an old song titled "The Ship that never Returned" by Henry Work, the same fellow that wrote "Marchin' through Georgia."
My brother loved this song. He was telling our Mom about it, and she asked why Charlie’s wife didn’t give him a nickel to get off instead of a sandwich. And my brother said to her: “stop spoiling the story”.
Most Section 8 New Construction (Its full name) were built pre Reagan so the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) did not apply to them. The Section 8 program had several programs, Section 8, New Construction included any housing built as Section 8 housing. Almost all Section 8 housing for the elderly an disability housing is Section 8 New Construction. Unlike Section 8, Existing Homes (the Section 8 program most people have heard of), Section 8 Substantial Rehabilitation, Section 8 Rural Housing and Section 8 Indian housing. Thus it is not unknown to find Section 8 New construction to be handicap inaccessible.
Thank you very much. As far as I know that Railway company did not charge a fare to exit only to enter a trolley, trolley bus aka electric bus via 2 overhead wires, an L train and a gasoline bus at their time 1898 til 1947.
Thank you for taking me on a ride to know more about the song... about Charlie.. and the MTA ! You guys had such fun .. sharing the facts and music THANK YOU
It's also a little known fact that the reason Charlie got stuck on that train is because the fair increase took effect in the middle of the day, taking many riders by surprise, especially Charlie!
Cute video but they missed the entire point of the song. Charlie doesn't get stuck on the MTA because he forgot his booklet telling him how much the exit fee was. He got stuck because the fare increase went into effect after he boarded at the Kendall Square Station, thus he didn't have enough money with him to pay the exit fee at Jamaica Plain.
His wife must’ve not missed him very much
Was going to add this!
That explains why she gave him a sandwich and not a nickel. Left unexplained is how Charlie dealt with the needs of the other end of the alimentary canal.
@@danrobrish3664 I've been hearing that song since I was a kid growing up in Boston in the early 60s and always wondered those same things! LOL
@@danrobrish3664 lol
She ws probably seeing the mailman.
That was quite fun. And I learnt something new - I think I had just assumed that Charliecard etc. was somehow related to the Charles River, without ever wondering why.
What "never returns" are the green line branches
The MTA is one of my favorite Kingston Trio songs 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁. It doesn't matter how old you are good music is timeless. I'm 34 so I didn't grow up in the 50s and 60s obviously but my mom did and she has their albums on vinyl record so it was thanks to my mom that I'm interested in the oldies.
The Kingston Trio dropped two of the original verses, one of which suggested that the train conductor was not unsympathetic to Charlie's plight.
damn, it's been a VERY long time since I've seen a red line train move faster than 5 mph. Speed and efficiency really is a thing of the past
2:50 This contraption does work, but if you jerk it rapidly, it will shake back and forth without hitting the pipes. You need to build momentum like you would on a playground swing: time your pulls to add to the swing of the pendulums in the direction corresponding to the pull.
This video was hilariously awesome! And it also highlighted “a day in the life” MBTA moments, such as wrong signs, weird train sounds questioning safety, not working contraptions, shuttle buses, and the silver line pretending to be a train! 😁
BTW the new extension of the Somerville Community Path has a great view of trains! (Commuter, Amtrak, Greenline)
This song closed every week at the boy scout camp I worked at for a decade.
Grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. This is hysterical. Never new this.
In New York, one small section of the subway system (the lines to the Rockaway Peninsula, which crossed Jamaica Bay) had exit fares for a number of years. It occurred to me that the song about Charlie (or at least part of it) could be eaily adapted to refer to that: "Charlie handed in his fare at the Herald Square station and he changed for Jamaica Bay..." (He'd change at West 4th St.)
This was such a cool video! I was looking into Charlie On The MTA after I realized that it's actually a song with an entire history after listening to it for years in the podcast/audiodrama Greater Boston
This was great fun to watch and thank you for making and posting it. What is now the Green Line E branch used to be called the Arborway line (the scrolling sign on the front of the car read: "Arborway via Huntington Ave") and ran trollies (the famous PCC cars) all the way out to the now long defunct streetcar and bus yards on the Arborway (duh!) in Jamaica Plain. That is, until service was "temporarily suspended" 40 years ago. At various times , you had to pay an additional exit fare if you rode beyond the Huntington Ave tunnel mouth at what's now the Northeastern University stop. At the Arborway, you could get bus or trolley connections to points further south. The song doesn't specify, but Charlie in all likeleyhood would have disembarked there en route, no doubt , to his workplace in, maybe, Mattapan or Dorchester. Either that, or he might have worked somewhere along South St or Centre St in Jamaica Plain. Of course, if he'd "changed for Forest Hills" rather than for Jamaica Plain at the lower level of what's now Downtown Crossing, he would have had free transfer to the terminus of today's Orange Line at the monolithic Forest Hills station, no more than a block away from the Arborway and avoided having to pay that extra nickel. Something which, along with the fact that Mrs. Charlie never thought to slip a nickel into his sandwich, mystifies me to this day. lol
Somewhere out there there is a PCC with a Charlie still on it.
Behind the cage at Government center.
@@joseflavallee8577 Boing! Right! It was made in 1951 by the Pullman Company. In its original colors.
grew up in boston but live in columbus now.. none of my transit friends know wtf I’m talking about whenever I try to allude to charlie riding forever!!! this video makes me so happy to see you guys all so into the history of it all
Thank you for bringing us this very interesting and informative video presentation which is very much appreciated by the people.
What a kick. I’ve long enjoyed Charlie’s song but never understood what was really going on.
So glad I found this channel.
Good song. One my dad's favorites....and was a native Chicagoan.❤😂
The temporary suspension may have been because of the Big Dig, which was going on back then. I was stationed in Boston from 1996-2003, and rode the T a lot. Good to see it again
Nathan looks like ferris buller
Couldn’t agree more
Let's not forget that the Toronto CLRVs tested in Boston back in the day.
Carried flags that said "No Sopt Government Center".
Formerly Scollay Square.
That some journey you guys had.
Addendum; that data came from-tada-Boston Street Railway Association- Bulletin number 23! The title-"Streetcar Lines of the Hub",wh I ch covered the 1940's,and some subsequent aftermaths! See pages 23&24! A most interesting reading,and really should have been acknowledged gang!! Remember your term papers,you always acknowledge your sources! Thank you for the current update on Charlie's adventures! Boston had changed much in those years,and so has New England! It's nice to know,that there are youths out there that are historically minded,and pursue that,even in today's context! Thanks guys,and gals,you are gems,and appreciated 🙏 😊! Thank you! 😇!
Is it that bulletin that has/had the regular "Ask Charlie" column for questions?
The return of the curve shot at 4:41!
I learned about Charlie and the MTA, or it was called MTA Charlie when I went to camp in Vermont. As a New Yorker, I never knew something like that existed. But it's a fun song to sing years later
Great video.
Loved singing the song at Girl Scout camp in the 60's. We always sang unknown instead of unlearned, otherwise the same words.
One reason why "M.T.A." became legendary is that it is a sly parody of an old song titled "The Ship that never Returned" by Henry Work, the same fellow that wrote "Marchin' through Georgia."
But Charlies wife brought him his lunch everyday but couldn't bring him a Nickle?
You can't eat nickels.
@@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45 but he couldnt have gotten off the train.
My brother loved this song. He was telling our Mom about it, and she asked why Charlie’s wife didn’t give him a nickel to get off instead of a sandwich. And my brother said to her: “stop spoiling the story”.
Most Section 8 New Construction (Its full name) were built pre Reagan so the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) did not apply to them. The Section 8 program had several programs, Section 8, New Construction included any housing built as Section 8 housing. Almost all Section 8 housing for the elderly an disability housing is Section 8 New Construction. Unlike Section 8, Existing Homes (the Section 8 program most people have heard of), Section 8 Substantial Rehabilitation, Section 8 Rural Housing and Section 8 Indian housing.
Thus it is not unknown to find Section 8 New construction to be handicap inaccessible.
I wonder how much trouble a person would get into if they put a skeleton on the MTA with a name tag "Charlie"
I dare you to do it 😆 (your comment made me lol literally)
Give me the old Boston Elevated Railway anytime.
Thank you very much. As far as I know that Railway company did not charge a fare to exit only to enter a trolley, trolley bus aka electric bus via 2 overhead wires, an L train and a gasoline bus at their time 1898 til 1947.
Is it sad that I only know about this song because they sang it in Malcom in the Middle?
This was a cool adventure and also a case study in how obscenely loud rapid transit is in the United States.
One of the biggest disappointments of Fallout 4 was not getting The MTA Song for the in-game radio soundtrack. Thank goodness someone put it in a mod!
ooh this is excellent... excellent ..
Thank you !!!
Thank you for taking me on a ride
to know more about the song... about Charlie.. and the MTA !
You guys had such fun .. sharing the facts and music
THANK YOU
It's also a little known fact that the reason Charlie got stuck on that train is because the fair increase took effect in the middle of the day, taking many riders by surprise, especially Charlie!
At least you asked why his wife didn't give him a nickel.
Fun video! Definitely a legendary tale! But the burning obvious question is why Charlie’s wife didn’t just give him a nickel?
This is nice
Wow, good job 👏
Great Job. Is that live footage of Boston from our little adventure???
Nope, it's from when I rode the train a few days later!
Caleb what will it take for you to get a lab mic?
Kalkidan talked me into getting one after I got back from New England. Will be used in the future!
Silver line doesn't count in my book :)
9:27 at 2:15 (Quarter past two)
6:02
Meta can be mass turnpike authority how far one get with only @ dollar I ninety
Cute video but they missed the entire point of the song. Charlie doesn't get stuck on the MTA because he forgot his booklet telling him how much the exit fee was. He got stuck because the fare increase went into effect after he boarded at the Kendall Square Station, thus he didn't have enough money with him to pay the exit fee at Jamaica Plain.
Huh, I've never heard that interpretation!
fellow. breahtaking content!📢