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| Breaking News: MBTA Green Line Boeing LRVs -- *FINAL DAY* (402354) | |||
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Breaking News: MBTA Green Line Boeing LRVs -- *FINAL DAY* |
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Posted by Canton Viaduct on Fri Mar 16 02:34:38 2007 Thursday, March 15, 2007Streetcars named perspire reach end of line By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff NEWTON -- To the riders waiting at Riverside station Thursday morning, the old rusting trolley that squealed to a stop was just another old, rusting Green Line trolley. But to the MBTA and a handful of rail enthusiasts snapping away with digital cameras, it was much more: one of the last runs of the 32-year-old Boeing-Vertol light rail vehicles, a rail pioneer to which they are bidding a fond good riddance. "They’re worn out," said Bradley H. Clarke, president of the Boston Street Railway Association. "They’ve done their job, and they should be retired with dignity." They were the first Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trolleys with air conditioning, but the units failed in the 1980s, prompting one scribe to label the trolleys "a streetcar named perspire." They were also the first T trolleys with large picture windows and the first with newfangled doors, but they also routinely failed. They were intended to mark the renaissance of streetcar building in the United States, but they derailed so much that a multimillion dollar legal settlement with Boeing made them free to the T. The 29 remaining Boeing trolleys are distinguished from newer models by their single row of four headlights, traditional windshield wipers, and a train number in the 3400s. They also are some of the last Green Line trolleys with hand-cranked destination signs, which were often wrong. Now, after years of being cannibalized for spare parts, the Boeings -- which first hit the rails on Dec. 29, 1976 -- are making just one trip a day on the D branch of the Green Line. Only two are used on any given day. "If we get one good trip out of it, we feel good," said Peter Messina, chief inspector at Riverside. "It’s like having an old person around, you know? They can only walk so much. They can only go so far. I came on the job before they were here, and they’re going to retire before me." The last trips were scheduled for Friday, but snow could cancel them. Most of the remaining trolleys will be disassembled by backhoe for scrap metal. One car may go to a trolley museum in Maine, and about six could find new life scraping slush off overhead trolley lines. Link I really wish I could be there for this. |
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