RAILFAN GUIDES of the U.S.

 

 

Todd's Railfan Guide to
BOSTON MA's
Light and Heavy Rail Systems


 

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Boston has probably one of the largest transportation systems in the U.S.  If you come to Boston to railfan, whether it is railroading, transit, or both, plan on spending A LOT of time.  Between the Heavy Rail, Light Rail, and Commuter Rail lines criss-crossing everything, you will need at least a week of summer days, as winter days are just not long enough.  Add the rail scene to all of this, and you have a city that doesn't have much competition except for the likes of Chicago.

Fortunately for us, the "T" has recently changed their position on photography on their property, and picture taking for personal use is OK.  Compare that to my trip to Boston in the 90's when an operator called me in and the T-police chased me off :-(

I myself have not had sufficient time in Boston to tell you much of anything.  I've railfaned in Waltham, Newburyport, and Worcester, and I have ridden the Green and Red Lines a smidge.  Boston is on my bucket list to cover.  The Mattapan High Speed Line holds a special place in our (transit fan) hearts, at least for now (early 2016), because it still uses the "historic" PCC car.

A few additional resources are listed here:
http://andywoodruff.com/blog/a-subterranean-birds-eye-view/
http://www.bostonstreetcars.com/the-growth-of-boston-rapid-transit.html


Guides to the various transit lines are as follows:
     The RED line
     The GREEN Line
     The BLUE Line
     The ORANGE Line
     The SILVER Line
     The MATTAPAN HIGH SPEED Line

Commuter Lines:
     The FITCHBURG Line
     The FAIRMOUNT Line
     The GREENBUSH Line
     The HAVERHILL Line
     The KINGSTON/PLYMOUTH Line
     The LOWELL Line
     The MIDDLEBOROUGH/LAKEVILLE Line
     The NEEDHAM Line
     The PROVIDENCE/STOUGHTON Line
     The ROCKPORT/NEWBURYPORT Line
     The WORCESTER/FRAMINGHAM Line


The above map is available here as a PDF

 


Additional Maps I have found from Google Images

















  Fantasy Map by Elvin Wong












New 12/14/2011
last Modified: 17 Jan 2016