A Month Riding the MBCR

Silver Hill is listed in Zone 3, the eighth outbound stop on the Fitchburg Line, and the third of three stops in the town of Weston. This cute little gem sadly receives even less service than the shameful Hastings stop before it. Like Hastings, it lacks the MBCR’s purple and signs but at least it has this little wooden cover that looks like an adorable mini station. 

The sign states that this stop has been servicing passengers since June 17, 1844. Only the outbound platform is paved, but in any event it’s still a huge step up from Hastings. I definitely believe Silver Hill and Hastings should be switched so that Hastings is the stop with the least service.

Hastings is listed in Zone 3, the seventh outbound stop on the Fitchburg Line and the second of three stops in the town of Weston. Definitely my least favorite stop so far. No station, no signs, not even paved platforms. 

A flag stop only, this sign is the only indication that the dirt plot on the left of a railroad crossing is in fact a commuter rail stop. It’s like a speak easy train stop, you have to know that it’s there. 

Kendall Green is the sixth outbound station on the Fitchburg Line and the first of three stops in the town of Weston, all listed in Zone 3. Like Waverley, it appears to be the youth’s hangout spot as well. Yay, young train enthusiasts! 

Kendall Green has two rails parallel to each other but only an outbound platform. Passengers going inbound must climb onto the train via a very small asphalt path crossing over the outbould tracks. I couldn’t find any sort of information on the little station. It offers no public amenities other than shelter from precipitation and from the other side, it appears to actually be a private residence!

Brandeis/Roberts is the fifth outbound stop on the Fitchburg Line and the second of two stops in the city of Waltham. Located right next to the Brandeis University campus, this is another stop that doesn’t actually have its own station. The inbound and outbound platforms are facing each other and both have covered, elevated platforms. 

This building below looks suspiciously like a station. It’s very close to the railroad across the street from the commuter rail platforms but I haven’t been able to find any information to prove my little theory. It houses a deli and a real estate office. Very deceiving…

Brandeis University has a lovely campus, from what I’ve seen in pictures. That’s not what I came to see today however. 0,9 miles away from the commuter rail stop is something called Norumbega Park, something that caught my attention when I was reading up on the city of Waltham to write my post on about the Waltham stop. Get off the train and walk down South Street for about 10 minutes  where you’ll cross into Weston. Turn left onto Norumbega Road, and half a minute later you’ll come across this interesting sight. 

This is the Norumbega Tower. It was built in 1889 by Eben Norton Horsford, a Harvard chemistry professor with a profound interest of the Vikings. Specifically, the Vikings landing in America. He believed the Vikings were the first to discover America, not Christopher Columbus. He claimed that this spot near the Charles River Basin was the site of a Viking settlement and fort. He even claimed to have found archaelogical remains proving his theory. Backed by wealthy Protestants who loved the idea that it wasn’t a Catholic that landed on the New Land first, he had this tower built as well as several other statues and markers erected around Cambridge and Boston. His ideas were more of less debunked but standing in excellent condition, the Norumbega Tower was still a very fun edifice to see in person. 

Waltham is the fourth stop outbound on the Fitchburg Line and the first of two stops in the city of Waltham. 

Waltham, like Waverley, also lacks its own station. Because both inbound and outbound trains share the same tracks going through Waltham, the platforms do not face each other but are actually side by side.

The formerly owned Boston and Maine interlocking tower across the tracks from the inbound Waltham platform. It is one of the few operational interlocking towers remaining in New England. 

Waverley is the third stop outbound on the Fitchburg Line also located in Belmont. 

Waverley Square actually never had its own station. Like Belmont Center, pedestrians and vehicles had to cross over the rails that were on public roads. This was corrected in 1907 for both stops. The rails were elevated in Belmont Center, and lowered at Waverley. 

It’s like an underground station but open-air. Waverley is also the terminus for the 73 trolleybus from Harvard Square. 

Belmont Center is the second stop outbound on the Fitchburg Line. 

Built in the early 1840s, the Wellington Hill Station [pictured above] was originally used as a private school. The Fitchburg Railroad used it as their station from 1852 to 1879. It was replaced by a larger station [pictured below] and was moved to the Underwood Estate for private use as the summer-house and an art studio. It was gifted to the Belmont Historical Soceity in 1974, restorations began in 1975, and the structure was relocated to its current spot across the street from the Belmont Center Station in 1980.

This is the Boston and Maine Station. It was built in 1908 using 365 tons of Belmont fieldstones. It is now used as the Lion’s Club meeting house. 

Doesn’t look like much, eh? Well this is Porter Square Station, the first stop going outbound on the Fitchburg/South Acton Line. Porter Square has had a railroad station since the early 1840’s. The first station was built between 1843-1845 at or near the site of the platform today and it was named “Porter’s Station”. 

The station was renamed several times, changing from North Cambridge to simply Cambridge when the Boston and Maine Railroad built a brick depot in 1937, then finally changed to simply Porter during the 1970’s to match the Red Line stop. In 1984, the new transfer station was completed connecting the commuter rail platform with the Red Line. 

Welcome everyone!

This marks the first day of the month of May, which I have decided will be MBCR Month. What I plan to do this month is explore every inch of the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail’s span. That includes 12 different lines consisting of 134 stations. I plan on riding every train taking loads of pictures and picking up all sorts of information along the way. I have set up this Tumblr to share all my pictures and everything I learn as I go with whomever would like to follow along. So let’s just get right into it since I have a lot of distance to go.

I’m going to start with North Station, the inbound terminus for the Lowell, Haverhill, Fitchburg, and Newburyport/Rockport lines. The Amtrak Downeaster also leaves from North Station to go to Portland, Maine. Because today was a particularly dreary day here in Boston, I thought I’d use some of my more sunny pictures. 

A train leaving North Station with the Zakim Bridge in the background and the Boston & Maine Signal Tower controlling the drawbridge.

For some reason, someone decided it would be a good idea to make the TD Garden and North Station one and the same. Good on one hand, because there are a variety of food stands for commuters; bad on the other, because there is absolutely no aesthetic appeal in the station whatsoever. 

My plan with this Tumblr is to cover each station with its own individual post inlcuding pictures, a little bit of history, and some observational blurbs from me. I really look forward to this month of riding trains and exploring the areas around the stations!