BERy Trivia / Seashore Trivia

dieciduej wrote:

Gerry6309 wrote:

Gerry6309 wrote:Next question:

If you were to take a "cah" from Tremont House to Norfolk House exactly where would you be coming from and going to?

The answer is obscure … but its out there. "seek and you shall find".

I be stumbling out of the Tremont House at the corner of Tremont & Beacon. Probably make my way to Park St and catch a North Station to Egleston Station cah. I'd step off at the corners of Tremont and Columbus then catch the Jamaica Plain Loop to Dudley Street Station cah and get off at John Eliot Sq at the Norfork House.

JoeD

Pretty good…

You got the timeframe a little wrong. The Tremont House was torn down in 1895, possibly due to the subway construction. In those days, there was a third track on Tremont St., right in front of the Tremont House, where many routes terminated, so you didn't have to stumble as far. You would have had to take a car via Washington Street, since there was no track on Roxbury St. between Eliot Sq. and Pynchon St. (Columbus Av.) at the time. The venerable Norfolk House still stands on Eliot Sq., now occupied by condominiums and several businesses. It got its name because Roxbury was in Norfolk County prior to being annexed by Boston in 1868.

Not in my back yard!

Every time transit expansion is discussed, that phrase comes to light. What street in Cambridge did not want those noisy electric cars in the early 1890s, delaying a major car line's electrification?

Gerry6309 wrote:Pretty good…

You got the timeframe a little wrong. The Tremont House was torn down in 1895, possibly due to the subway construction. In those days, there was a third track on Tremont St., right in front of the Tremont House, where many routes terminated, so you didn't have to stumble as far. You would have had to take a car via Washington Street, since there was no track on Roxbury St. between Eliot Sq. and Pynchon St. (Columbus Av.) at the time. The venerable Norfolk House still stands on Eliot Sq., now occupied by condominiums and several businesses. It got its name because Roxbury was in Norfolk County prior to being annexed by Boston in 1868.

I knew where the Tremont & Norfolk Houses were located but my knowledge of the streetcar system in the late 1890s is lacking.

JoeD

Gerry6309 wrote:Not in my back yard!

Every time transit expansion is discussed, that phrase comes to light. What street in Cambridge did not want those noisy electric cars in the early 1890s, delaying a major car line's electrification?

This one has been out there way too long…

I'm guess Mt Auburn Street.

Fred Rabin wrote:I'm guess Mt Auburn Street.

Close, but no cigar...

Like the last question, the answer is online … try the Cambridge Historical Society.

Brattle St.?

jonnhrr wrote:Brattle St.?

Correct.

Brattle Street was the original route connecting Harvard Square to Watertown. Neighbors found the noise of electric cars objectionable, forcing the West End to establish two parallel routes, a main line on Mount Auburn Street to the south, and a short route along Huron Av. to the north. This problem caused the Mount Auburn electric cars to terminate at Mount Auburn Carhouse (now Star Market) and exchange passengers with horsecars for the remainder of their trip. The horsecars continued east to Bowdoin Sq. slowing down electrics sharing the tracks east of Harvard Sq. Electric cars started running between Newton Corner and Mount Auburn Carhouse on Dec. 13, 1893. The new line along Mount Auburn Street from the carouse to Eliot St. opened on May 17, 1894, but some horsecar service was retained along Brattle Street and Craigie St. until Nov. 17, 1894, when the Huron Av. line opened as far as Fresh Pond Rd. The Huron Av. line was extended from Fresh Pond Road to Aberdeen Av. and Mount Auburn Street at a later date. Like their brethren on Marlborough Street, the residents of Brattle Street have not had mass transit since.

As we dig out from another "dusting", what storm is the standard by which all others were measured as far as crippling Boston transit is concerned? Hint: It didn't happen in 1978.

Man,... if it's not the "Blizzard of '78," then I don't know what it would be. "Blizzard Of Oz," maybe?

Cosmo wrote:Man,... if it's not the "Blizzard of '78," then I don't know what it would be. "Blizzard Of Oz," maybe?

OK one more clue: it is known for the Day when it happened, rather than the year. Also infamous in a midwestern city.

Ah! Then it would have to be the 2007 "Valentines Day Storm."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2 ... a_blizzard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(Fair use quote) From Wikipedia:
"The February 2007 North America Winter Storm (otherwise referred to as the Valentine's Day Blizzard or Valentine's Day Storm) was a massive winter storm that affected most of the eastern half of North America, starting on February 12, 2007 and peaking on Valentine's Day, February 14. The storm produced heavy snowfalls across the midwestern United States from Nebraska to Ohio and produced similar conditions across parts of the northeastern United States, and into Canada in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Significant sleet and freezing rain fell across the southern Ohio Valley and affected portions of the east coast of the United States, including the cities of Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia."

Cosmo wrote:Ah! Then it would have to be the 2007 "Valentines Day Storm."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2 ... a_blizzard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(Fair use quote) From Wikipedia:
"The February 2007 North America Winter Storm (otherwise referred to as the Valentine's Day Blizzard or Valentine's Day Storm) was a massive winter storm that affected most of the eastern half of North America, starting on February 12, 2007 and peaking on Valentine's Day, February 14. The storm produced heavy snowfalls across the midwestern United States from Nebraska to Ohio and produced similar conditions across parts of the northeastern United States, and into Canada in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Significant sleet and freezing rain fell across the southern Ohio Valley and affected portions of the east coast of the United States, including the cities of Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia."

Close…Right day, wrong year...

There was an earlier Valentine's Day blizzard around 1946 or so. I was around 10 years old - my piano teacher spent the night in a Type 5 in Roslindale Square.