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The
Boston Elevated Railway (
BERy) was the precursor to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, operating rapid transit,
Trams and
buses in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It was formerly known as the
West End Street Railway.
The
rapid transit lines have evolved into the
Red Line (MBTA),
Blue Line (MBTA) and Orange Line (MBTA)s. The only streetcars that remain are the various branches of the
Green Line (MBTA) and the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line; the rest have been converted to MBTA Bus.
The Boston Elevated Railway operated in the following cities and towns:
- Arlington, Massachusetts
- Belmont, Massachusetts
- Boston, Massachusetts and the municipalities that have been merged into it
- Brookline, Massachusetts
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Chelsea, Massachusetts
- Everett, Massachusetts
- Malden, Massachusetts
- Medford, Massachusetts
- Newton, Massachusetts (only to get between Boston and Watertown)
- Somerville, Massachusetts
- Stoneham, Massachusetts (only the southern bit, in the Middlesex Fells)
- Watertown, Massachusetts
Additionally, streetcars from adjoining towns, run by other companies, operated over Boston Elevated Railway trackage.
History
Originally intended to build a short
electric Light rail line to Brookline, the West End Street Railway was organized in 1887. By the next year it had consolidated ownership of a number of horse-drawn streetcar lines, composing a fleet of 7816 horses and 1480 rail vehicles. As the system grew, a switch to
underground pulled-cable propulsion (modeled after the
San Francisco cable cars) was contemplated. After visiting
Frank Sprague and witnessing the
Richmond, Virginia system in action, WESR President Henry Witney chose to deploy electric propulsion systems. A section of track tested the
Bentley-Knight underground power line, but this was abandoned because of failures and safety concerns (especially after the electrocution of a team of horses in 1889). After competing in operational tests with the Sprague streetcar system, the Thompson-Houston company was chosen for system-wide deployment of overhead wires.History of electrification of the West End Street Railway:
The first Tram line built by the West End Street Railway was between Union Square, Allston, Boston, Massachusetts and Park Square, downtown, via Harvard Street, Beacon Street, Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street. Trolleys first ran in
1889. The Green Line "A" Branch later served roughly the same purpose.
The last horse car line was along Marlborough Street in the Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, and was never electrified. It was closed around
1900.
In the late 1800s, the
electric power industry was in its infancy; the
power grid as we know it today simply did not exist. The railway company constructed its own power stations; by 1897, these included distributed generation stations in downtown Boston, Allston, Cambridge (near Harvard), Dorchester, Charlestown, East Cambridge, and East Boston. By 1904, the system had 36 megawatts of generating capacity, 421 miles of track for over 1550 street cars (mostly closed but some open), and 16 miles of elevated track for 174 elevated cars.
The first bus route was in
1922, between Union Square,
Allston, Boston, Massachusetts and Faneuil Street. In
1933 this was merged with the Union Square -
Central (MBTA station) bus and later became the bus.
The difficulty of transporting coal over land from the Port of Boston and the short range of the
direct current system prevented significant expansion inland. In 1911, a large generating station was built in South Boston which produced 25 Hertz alternating current, which could be transmitted long distances at high voltage, to substations which would drop the voltage for use by trains. The system was gradually converted until completion in 1931, when 14 substations were in place. This station would operate until 1981, when the MBTA decided to purchase energy from local Electric utility instead of running its own generators.
The first Trolleybus route was the
77 (MBTA bus)#77 (later
69 (MBTA bus)#69) Harvard - Lechmere via Cambridge Street on
April 11, 1936; trackless trolleys still run from Harvard (MBTA station) station (but not on that route).
Operations of the company were taken over by the Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1947.
References
The
Boston Elevated Railway (
BERy) was the precursor to the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, operating rapid transit, Trams and buses in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It was formerly known as the
West End Street Railway.
The rapid transit lines have evolved into the Red Line (MBTA), Blue Line (MBTA) and Orange Line (MBTA)s. The only streetcars that remain are the various branches of the
Green Line (MBTA) and the
Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line; the rest have been converted to MBTA Bus.
The Boston Elevated Railway operated in the following cities and towns:
- Arlington, Massachusetts
- Belmont, Massachusetts
- Boston, Massachusetts and the municipalities that have been merged into it
- Brookline, Massachusetts
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Chelsea, Massachusetts
- Everett, Massachusetts
- Malden, Massachusetts
- Medford, Massachusetts
- Newton, Massachusetts (only to get between Boston and Watertown)
- Somerville, Massachusetts
- Stoneham, Massachusetts (only the southern bit, in the Middlesex Fells)
- Watertown, Massachusetts
Additionally, streetcars from adjoining towns, run by other companies, operated over Boston Elevated Railway trackage.
History
Originally intended to build a short
electric Light rail line to Brookline, the West End Street Railway was organized in 1887. By the next year it had consolidated ownership of a number of horse-drawn streetcar lines, composing a fleet of 7816 horses and 1480 rail vehicles. As the system grew, a switch to
underground pulled-cable propulsion (modeled after the
San Francisco cable cars) was contemplated. After visiting Frank Sprague and witnessing the
Richmond, Virginia system in action, WESR President Henry Witney chose to deploy electric propulsion systems. A section of track tested the Bentley-Knight underground power line, but this was abandoned because of failures and safety concerns (especially after the electrocution of a team of horses in 1889). After competing in operational tests with the Sprague streetcar system, the Thompson-Houston company was chosen for system-wide deployment of overhead wires.History of electrification of the West End Street Railway:
The first
Tram line built by the West End Street Railway was between Union Square,
Allston, Boston, Massachusetts and Park Square, downtown, via Harvard Street, Beacon Street, Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street. Trolleys first ran in 1889. The Green Line "A" Branch later served roughly the same purpose.
The last
horse car line was along Marlborough Street in the
Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, and was never electrified. It was closed around 1900.
In the late 1800s, the
electric power industry was in its infancy; the
power grid as we know it today simply did not exist. The railway company constructed its own power stations; by 1897, these included distributed generation stations in downtown Boston, Allston, Cambridge (near Harvard), Dorchester, Charlestown, East Cambridge, and East Boston. By 1904, the system had 36
megawatts of generating capacity, 421 miles of track for over 1550 street cars (mostly closed but some open), and 16 miles of elevated track for 174 elevated cars.
The first bus route was in
1922, between Union Square,
Allston, Boston, Massachusetts and Faneuil Street. In 1933 this was merged with the Union Square - Central (MBTA station) bus and later became the bus.
The difficulty of transporting coal over land from the Port of Boston and the short range of the direct current system prevented significant expansion inland. In 1911, a large generating station was built in South Boston which produced 25 Hertz alternating current, which could be transmitted long distances at high voltage, to substations which would drop the voltage for use by trains. The system was gradually converted until completion in 1931, when 14 substations were in place. This station would operate until 1981, when the MBTA decided to purchase energy from local
Electric utility instead of running its own generators.
The first Trolleybus route was the
77 (MBTA bus)#77 (later
69 (MBTA bus)#69) Harvard - Lechmere via Cambridge Street on
April 11,
1936; trackless trolleys still run from Harvard (MBTA station) station (but not on that route).
Operations of the company were taken over by the Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1947.
References
