Trolley Thursday 10/7/21 - Boston's Summer Street Bridge Disaster

Welcome, foolish mortals, to another October trolleypost! This month, we're doing famous streetcar disasters from all over the United States and our first port of call is, appropriately, a port city. Along Boston's famous Charles River (where you'll find me along with lovers, muggers and thieves) are (currently) nine bridges that guide cars, rapid transit, and commuter trains over the waters to safety on the other side. One of these is the Summer Street bridge, a drawbridge on the southeastern side of Boston's South Station, which once carried the Boston Elevated Railway (or BERy) along with normal automobile traffic. So, what happens when a streetcar tries to cross this bridge when it's all drawn up? You get one soaked trolley, forty-six deaths, and the deadliest accident in Boston before the Cocoanut Grove fire of 1946. Put on your scuba gear and sound the alarm, it's time for Trolley Thursday.

Trolley Tuesday 10/6/20 - The Boston Elevated Railway

Today, Boston's North Station is home to the mighty nest of Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, TD Gardens, which sits directly atop one of the city's most prestigious and famous railway terminals, North Station. Not only is this area still the hub of rail transit in Boston for Amtrak, MBTA, and the Green and Orange Line subways, but in 2004, it played host to the final moments of one of the city's most beloved (or maligned) city transit services. On June 25, 2004, the last "streetcar" service along the Washington Street Elevated entered North Station and closed yet another chapter of century-old history in the Hub of the Universe. Today, we'll look back on how the Boston Elevated Railway both captivated and caused distress for the City's people, and why it still deserves to be remembered.

Trolley Thursday 10/1/20 - The Boston Subway System

Another month brings another rich stock of streetcar, interurban, and rapid transit history to sink your teeth into. I want to thank all of the people and museum organizations who frequent, share, and find our series both entertaining and educational, whether it's insulting streetcar executives' facial hair or lamenting the loss of another legendary system. From Nakkune and I, you are all loved.

Today's month of October concerns the City of Boston (or to quote one of its own beloved mayors, "da cittabossun") and its rich electric railway history. The City of Champions is home to many firsts: the first shots fired in the American Revolution, the first American Dynasty through the Kennedys, and where we're concerned: the first subway in America. Despite being well over 120 years old, the combined system continues to serve as the main backbone of the Green and Red lines for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (better known as the MTBA). Today, let's ship up to Boston and uncover the deep, congestive history of the Subway Tunnels!