History of the Boston Tram
The history of the Boston tram describes the developments and changes in the tram network of the New England port city of Boston in Massachusetts ( USA ), which has changed its character in operation and on the route network, in some cases significantly, since the first horse-drawn tram routes were opened in 1856. After the beginnings with horse-drawn wagons and the question of more modern drive options to the construction of the world's first sub-paving tram , there was a rapid development. With simultaneous enlargement and improvement of the rolling stocka solid system developed. This continues to this day regardless of the decline of the tram in the second half of the 20th century . It represents a significant part of the Boston mass transit system.
Beginnings as a horse tram
Like most large cities in the USA , a horse-drawn tram was set up in Boston in the middle of the 19th century , but since no corresponding terminology had yet been developed, its name was not highlighted by the usual railroad lines . That was the name of the first streetcar in the Boston urban area, the Camebridge Railroad . From this, among other things, the Green Line A Branch developed over the course of time , a line branch at that time, which is still in operation today, while it soon no longer played a role as an operational unit. In order to make the train a success, it was initially possible to travel free of charge in order to bring the benefits of the train closer to the residents of Boston. Another route followed in the spring of 1857 under the name Dorchester Railroad , which however, due to the later parallel traffic with the subway ( Red Line ), left no route relics. The third line followed, also in 1857, a route of the West Roxbury Railroad . These routes resulted in a huge number of new lines being built by the now called Street Railway trams in Boston, the last of which was a short stretch along Marlborough Street and was a peculiarity in itself, as it was never electrified and closed at the turn of the century. Today's Green Line C Branch , which opened in 1888 and was electrified only a year later, is the closest opening of a horse-drawn tram line before the imminent electrification .
electrification
There were various planning variants for a new type of drive system for trams, the first of which was almost decided: It was the planning of two cable trams that were to be operated on the model of numerous systems in the cities of the United States, of which the Cable cars operated in San Francisco . Ultimately, however, the project failed because the cable operation was not considered reliable for the extreme winter weather , so explorations of other tram systems were carried out. The various companies agreed on the electric drive with overhead lines . The Boston Elevated Railway was founded by the public sector for this purpose and was commissioned to electrify a test track, as it was unclear whether the overhead line would provide sufficient drive power. In addition, 22 electric trams were purchased. Since the test run of all cars on the test track was successful, a start was made to equip all tram lines with an overhead line as soon as possible.
Public ownership transition and expansion
The newly established Boston Elevated Railway was also used by the public authorities to nationalize the numerous streetcar companies. In 1888, thousands of horse-drawn trams and trains were acquired and integrated into the operation. Nevertheless, numerous routes remained under private management.
Due to the advancing electrification and public competition, further routes have now been built into the suburbs of Boston, in which new districts have been created along the new routes. The tram caused a real boom. The network also developed to be the densest in the United States and enabled extensive fine-tuning. The term street car was used in Boston and during this phase established itself in the city and other networks in the United States.
Restructuring to the underground tram
Especially in the densely built-up inner city area, the high frequency of the tram , which was due to the bundling of numerous suburban lines on a few trunk routes , became a problem, as the speed of travel in the inner city was significantly too low. This meant that pedestrians could cover the shorter distances much faster than trams. With increasing public criticism about the corresponding routes, a committee was convened to deal with the problem. This decided to build intersection-free sections on the affected routes .
As a result of the committee's decision, precise plans for the expansion of the tram were drawn up. Contrary to what the name suggests as a sub-paving tram, the plans included a tunnel and four elevated railway lines, which were also implemented. The Tremont Street Subway , the construction of which was also the most complex and required great pioneering work from the traffic planners, achieved the highest degree of national awareness of these plans , as there had not yet been any corresponding extensions. Different tunneling methods were chosen to build the tunnels under the inner city. On the one hand, the cut and cover method could be used along the course of the road , in which a pit is dug in the street space, in which the tunnel is installed and then closed again. On the other hand, this was time-consuming or even impossible for sections of the route under the important railway lines and port facilities. Here, the tunnels had to be driven with a tunnel shield and lined with cast iron rings, although this extension would not take place until a later construction phase.
Tremont Street Subway
On March 28, 1895, the construction of the first tunnel section could finally begin. But the construction of the tunnels also drew criticism and negative fears on the operators of the tram lines. Among other things, tunnels were considered gloomy at the end of the 19th century and were known as unfriendly places. In response, all walls were painted in light tones and strong lighting was installed. There were no unexpected events during the construction, so that an opening was foreseeable as early as 1897. Station buildings were built on the surface parallel to the tunnels, but they quickly fell victim to the widening of Tremont Street. The opening took place in two sections, the first at the beginning of July from Public Garden to Park Street and the second, a branch to the already opened section, on September 7th via Pleasant Street to Boilston Street . However, these were only two sections of a total of 11 to be opened, but the others followed in just one year. This step to improve the tram network was followed by positive and commendable feedback from the press and residents of Boston. The guiding of a tram through a tunnel in Boston was the first of its kind and thus also represents the world's first light rail route at all, even if the operation was carried out tram-like for a long time.
Elevated viaducts
As a direct continuation of the Tremont Street Tunnel, the Causeway Street Elevated was built in 1898 at the northern exit of Canal Street Incline to connect the tunnel route with the tram route over Craigie's Bridge . After this route turned out to be time-consuming and the tram had to be accelerated again, the ramp at the end of the elevated railway was moved in order to reach the Lechmere Viaduct , which was built to accelerate the railways and which was completed on June 1, 1912 over the Charles River .
Tram operation on elevated lines and tunnels
In 1901 three more Elevated lines were built , which formed the so-called Main Line Elevated . One of the original central sections was Atlantic Avenue Elevated through the port area east of the city. Washington Street Elevated connected to the south and Charlestown Elevated to the north . In order to also operate Atlantic Avenue Elevated as a commuter towards the city center, there was also a connecting line to the Tremont Street Tunnel, which initially served provisionally as the second trunk line of the elevated railways. In 1908 the Washington Street Tunnel was finally built and the provisional name Main Line Elevated was given its own inner-city trunk line.
In contrast to many elevated railways, such as the Chicago Elevated , the elevated railway was designed for light railway operation, which was reflected in the tram vehicles used, even if they were also adapted to the higher platforms. Furthermore, routes in the street space originally reserved for trams were taken over by the Elevated railways and only temporarily adapted to the Light Railway. It was thus also possible to run tram lines over the new connecting routes, which was also used in numerous cases.
Significance for urban development
The tram plays an important role in the urban development of Boston. The most important aspect here is the development of sparsely or hardly populated areas in the greater area around the city. This expansion into untouched land on the periphery of Boston can be seen in many other cities around the world at the time, as well as in the London Underground . As part of this development, numerous tram routes were built to the city limits and into the open countryside, most of which only a few buildings were accessible. Within a few decades, numerous people subsequently settled down along the new routes, turning entire stretches of land into what are known as street car suburbs . Mostly multi-storey buildings and city districts were built with their own supply structure, which prepared large numbers of passengers for the new tram lines. While some of these suburbs were in the urban area of Boston, many emerged outside of the city as an independent community, but they did not develop much less.
But the new routes also brought many advantages for the city dwellers, since in the outskirts of Boston, in addition to the new districts, spacious parks were created that could now be reached quickly and thus represent important local recreation areas. These parks were also based on the names of the trams and were called trolley parks . Another way of urban development was the tram at Franklin Park Zoo , which, despite being 5 miles from the city center, could be reached by visitors by tram. This in turn meant that numerous tram lines were led to the zoo, creating a new local transport hub. Another zoo, Stoneham's Stone Zoo , was built on the same principle in 1909. Some beaches were also accessible by tram.
The Triple Deckers of Boston
The trams also created a special architectural style. These are the Triple Deckers of Boston , which were created along many new tram routes. The advantages of this construction method were a low space consumption and low construction costs. This is due to the use of a large proportion of wood. The construction was not limited to individual quarters, but took place in the entire greater Boston area.
First wave of decommissioning
Effects of the tunnel and elevated railway lines
The construction of new tunnels, especially in the first half of the 20th century, had numerous consequences for the tram: On the one hand, it was possible to have individual lines run faster over the new intersection-free routes to the city center and tram passengers to continue with rapid transit after one change to transport. On the other hand, however, they also caused a decline in the tram lines competing on the corresponding routes. But the established use of elevated lines by the tram was no longer possible and on numerous sections of these routes the trams were no longer able to operate during the period between the world wars.
Conversion to trolleybus operation
Already in the late 1920s, a start was made to convert individual tram lines and branch lines to trolleybus operations. This trend initially prevailed until the early 1940s and resulted in numerous closures. In some cases, buses with diesel engines were also used instead of the trolleybuses on the routes taken over.
(see trolleybus Boston # first operation from 1933 to 1963 )
Decline
As in countless cities around the world, the streetcar in Boston was hit by a huge wave of shutdowns after the Second World War, which led to the abandonment of entire lines and reduced the streetcar network to a few main routes. Trolleybuses were also used on the routes for the now abandoned tram lines, which, however , were only used for a few years except for those served by the Silver Line today . From 1946 to 1985 the network was reduced to the lines through the Tremont Street Tunnel and the Mattapan - Ashmont High Speed Line . The latter, however, was converted into a museum train and is no longer an actual tram service. What was once the largest network in the United States had shrunk to a torso.
Renaming to the Green Line
The official end of the original tram operation is October 28, 1963, on which the lines of the Tremont Street Subway were merged to form the Green Line and the tram line numbers were replaced by those of the newly formed line and thus even a part in a figurative sense of the Boston subway system. To this day, the remaining lines are run through the Tremont Street Tunnel as an underground tram.
Accidents
Tram accident on Summer Street Bridge
On November 7, 1916, around 50 people were killed in the tram accident on Summer Street Bridge when an overcrowded tram could not stop in time at an open bascule bridge and crashed into Fort Point Channel. It was one of the worst tram accidents in the world.
Web links
- www.bostonstreetcars.com , unofficial website for the Boston tram
literature
- David Bennett: Metro , transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-613-71262-8
- Clarke, Bradley H. and Cummings, OR: Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service Boston Street Railway Association, Boston 1997 ISBN 0938315048
Individual evidence
- ^ Scripophily.com - Book on the Cambridge Railroad Company - 1859 Massachusetts
- ↑ Last horse-drawn railway line under the Boston Elevated Railway in the English language Wikipedia
- ^ David Bennett: Metro , p. 44
- ^ Website on the history of the Boston Elevated Railway
- ↑ David Bennett: Metro , pp. 44/45
- ↑ Information page about the Tremont Street Subway at www.bostonstreetcars.com
- ^ David Bennett: Metro , p. 45
- ↑ Clarke: Tremont Street Subway , pp. 39-49
- ↑ Page about the Streetcar Suburbs on www.bostonstreetcars.com
- ↑ The Triple Deckers of Boston page at www.bostonstreetcars.com
- ↑ Table on the closure of the tram lines in the English language Wikipedia