Middlesex and Boston Street Railway
The Middlesex and Boston Street Railway (M&B) was a streetcar and later bus company in the west of the city of Boston in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . The company's trams last ran in 1930. The M&B was merged with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in 1972 .
history
The company was founded as the Natick Electric Street Railway on August 10, 1891 and renamed the South Middlesex Street Railway in 1893 . After the bankruptcy of one was on May 6, 1903 bankruptcy administrator used, the radicals of the company on 15 August 1907 the newly founded Middlesex and Boston Street Railway sold. In 1910, the Boston Suburban Electric Companies holding bought the M&B and all of its components.
In September 1964, the MBTA began to subsidize the M&B and assigned route numbers to their buses. An agreement to promote M&B by the MBTA was signed on December 23, 1964. On July 5, 1972, the complete takeover of the M&B by the MBTA followed, after the M&B had ceased operations on June 30 of the same year after disputes over subsidies. The lines that were taken over were renumbered by placing the number “5” at the beginning. In 1982 and 1996 they were renumbered again.
A Lexington tram (# 41) and an ACF Brill bus from 1948 (# 192) that were saved from the time of the M&B still exist today. Both can be viewed at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport .
Former lines of the M&B
Auburndale-Lake Street via Commonwealth Avenue
The Commonwealth Avenue Street Railway , opened in 1895, was integrated into the Newton Street Railway on January 1, 1904 ; this in turn merged on July 1, 1909 with the M&B. The line ran the entire length of the dividing strip on Commonwealth Avenue in Newton from Norumbega Park at the west end to a connection to the Boston Elevated Railway on Lake Street at the east end, where the Green Line B still ends at Boston College station .
Opened on June 17, 1897, Norumbega Park was an amusement park built by the M&B to increase the number of passengers on its tram lines. The park closed in 1964, long after the M & B's last tram line was replaced by buses in 1930 .
Most recently this was the bus route 35 Auburndale-Lake Street , which became 535 Auburndale-Boston College via Commonwealth Avenue after the takeover by the MBTA . The MBTA buses on this line only ran during the rush hour from January 1973 until the line was closed in 1976.
Bedford-Lowell
From Bedford , cars drove every 15 minutes in summer and every 30 minutes in winter
- Boston via Lexington with a change in Arlington Heights
- Maynard and Hudson with a switch to Concord
- Lowell with a change in Billerica
The tariff boundaries ran along the city limits of Bedford with Lexington, Concord and Billerica.
From Lexington, the line ran over Bedford Street and Great Road to connect to the Boston and Maine Railroad station on Loomis Street and South Road . A siding was on the north side of Bedford Common .
Like Norumbega Park, Lexington also had an amusement park to increase the number of passengers on the line.
Bedford Concord
Today the line no longer has a counterpart.
Lexington-Woburn
The line ran from Massachusetts Avenue in Lexington via Woburn Street and Lexington Street to the B&M station in Woburn .
Needham-Watertown
See Newton and Boston Street Railway .
Newton Corner-Central Square Waltham
Today the line no longer has a counterpart.
Newton Corner-Riverside
Today's bus route 27 Newton Corner-Riverside via Auburndale and Central Square Waltham .
Waltham Center-Lexington Center
Today's bus route 25 Waltham Center-Lexington Center via Lexington Street .
Waltham-Newton
The Waltham and Newton Street Railway was founded on July 13, 1866 and began operating on August 31, 1868. Their tracks ran west of Waltham on the Main , Moody and Crescent streets to the Newton line . From there it went on over the streets Lexington , River , Elm and Washington to the terminus on Highland Street in Newton .
In 1889 the Newton Street Railway bought the line and was bought by the M&B itself on July 1, 1909. The line later became a large part of bus route 20 Newton Corner-Riverside via Roberts and Central Square Waltham , which is now driven by route 553 Roberts-Downtown Boston via Newton Corner and Central Square Waltham .
Watertown Square Waltham
Today's bus route 23 Watertown Square - Stow & Main Street Waltham .
Wayland-South Natick
Today's bus route 36 Wayland-South Natick .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (Ed.): A chronicle of the Boston transit system . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Boston 1981, OCLC 7788416 .
- ↑ Gloria Polizzotti Greis: VIKINGS on the CHARLES. The Strange Saga of Dighton Rock, Norumbega, and Rumford Double-Acting Baking Powder. (No longer available online.) Needham Historical Society, 2009, archived from the original on July 16, 2011 ; accessed on February 18, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- The Middlesex & Boston Street Railway Company at railroad.net
Atlantic Avenue Elevated (1901-1938) | Boston Elevated Railway (1887–1947) | Charlestown Elevated (1901-1975) | Green Line A (1856-1969) | Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway (1892–1968) | Middlesex and Boston Street Railway (1891–1972) | Washington Street Elevated (1901-1987)