22-02-19 PHOTOS: MBTA Trolleybuses

In February 2022 I was able to able to ride most of the MBTA's Cambridge trolleybus network for the first, and unfortunately last time as it was shut down and scrapped about two weeks after my visit. I was actually quite lucky as the shutdown lined up with my annual late winter trip to the Boston area via Amtrak's NEC that provides the opportunity to utilize any remaining discount and upgrade coupons. The full set of photos ( mirror ) includes both legs of the NEC round trip as well as use of Boston's subway network to reach the trolleybus terminal at Harvard Square.

Although my trip began at Amtrak's BWI Airport Rail Station, I was not catching my Acela Express train from there, even though I arrived in time to see #2029 departing northward. The 10am departure from Washington offered a better price point as well as the ability to ride the entire NEC instead of just most of it. Instead I boarded MARC cab car #7851 in the opposite wirection to begin my trip.

My Acela trainset had power car #2012 on the rear seen here at the typical AX departure platform at Union Station.

K TOWER hanging on, LANDOVER looking sad and ZOO with new windows and a PRR keystone.

One of the nice parts of taking the Acela is no Trenton stop!



At at Manhattan Transfer my Acela was routed on the less frequently used track #1 due to Amtrak ACS-86 #667 being stopped on track #3 while a conductor fouls track #2 to carry out a hotbox inspection on an Amfleet.

A PATH train passing HUDSON tower en-route to Newark.

#2012 at New York Penn during the extended station stop.

P42DCs #106 and #99 leading the Lake Shore Limited at Boston Back Bay.

The next morning I was heading to Harvard Square via Green Line Type 8 trolley #3889 and 1800 series Red Line car #1840.

Although greater Boston once featured quite an extensive trolleybus system, all but 3 routes were shut down by 1963. Those that remained were saved due to the construction of an underground transit tunnel in Harvard Square in 1958 where the exhaust from diesel buses would present a hazzard in the confined space.

Unfortunately both the Routes 71 and 73 had been bustituted that morning due to a problem with the overhead wires. The MBTA was never a fan of the operational complexities of trolleybus operation and the wealthy residents of Cambridge were increasingly hostile to the "unsightly" overhead wires. By 2022 the need to invest in both the overhead power system and new vehicles gave the T an opening to bustitute the entire operation.