Railroad Forums 

  • Boylston Street Graffiti

  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #1633673  by NaugyRR
 
I'm thinking it might be time to drag them out of there and send them home to Maine. It's not like they get used for excursions and I think most regular riders ignore the fact that they're even there.
 #1633678  by Allouette
 
PCC 3295 still belongs to the T. Type 5 5734 belongs to Seashore, but has not been in Maine since leased to the T in 1979. Changes in Green Line overhead wire configuration and the closure of the Watertown car house made operation of 5734 nearly impossible on T trackage, since a type 5 roof does not have enough structure to support a pantograph. 5734 was tagged as well in the earlier event.
 #1633722  by Disney Guy
 
As long as the T wants to own 3295 they will keep coming out to clean it off whenever it gets tagged. Otherwise Seashore will be gla7d to take it as a donation and perhaps get rid of their other picture window PCC (3274?) to make track space for it.

Type 5 5734 needs a lot of work before it can run, so it won't be in any fan trips in the foreseeable future.

Both of these cars would deterioriate a lot faster sitting outdoors in Maine as opposed to remaining in Boylston Station.
 #1633739  by jwhite07
 
Agreed, those cars might be better off where they are for the most part. The aftermath of prior taggings has been a good, thorough, and well needed clean and wash - something that unfortunately is otherwise not a regular occurrence.

Ideally the T would run 3295 on occasion. It has a pantograph, and last I knew no enormous structural or electrical issues, or at least none that some TLC in Riverside shop couldn't address. It would no longer be able to operate north of Government Center, unless the track configuration at Inner Belt Yard includes a loop (I think it does?) that could be used to turn from Lechmere. But the MBTA seems to have very little interest in charter operations nowadays, so it is highly unlikely.

5734 has some major structural problems (not just the roof) and cannot run unless serious money is spent on it, which is unlikely. I've sometimes wondered if the mechanical components (motors, trucks, controllers, etc) should be returned to Seashore and then body can be "stuffed and mounted" on dummy trucks in the atrium of the State Transportation Building, like SEPTA did with the PCC in the basement of 1234 Market. Equally doubtful though.

Interestingly, if the 5734 were structurally and mechanically "up to it", it is technically possible to operate that car with a pole on the Green Line today, despite the reconfiguration of overhead wire to accommodate pantographs and the elimination of wire frogs at junctions. It requires no more ingenuity than an open rear vestibule window and a second employee (one with a good eye and a steady hand on the retriever rope) to pull the pole approaching wire junctions, let the car coast underneath, and then raise the pole back up to the wire. If the guy on the rope is an expert, you don't even need to stop! I know this is possible since I saw it in action while riding on one of 5734's last private charters in 1991.
 #1633851  by wicked
 
Wasn’t that 1991 fan trip the last on the Green Line?

Put the PCC car to use on the Mattapan line and don’t let it waste away. The Type 5 sounds like it’s too far gone.
 #1633856  by CRail
 
The 5 is far from gone but is in need of restoration. AFAIK both cars were last run in 1997.
 #1633864  by jwhite07
 
The 1991 charter I rode was one of the last private charters on 5734, and one of only a few that were not operated for or under the auspices of the BSRA (this one was arranged by a railfan from Chicago named Jack Doyle). I think BSRA may have hosted one of their own a short time afterwards.

Both 3295 and 5734 were operated by MBTA in 1994 during an American Public Transit Association convention (3295 went out on another private charter that I was on a week later), and as CRail mentioned, MBTA operated both of them during the 1997 Tremont Street Subway centennial celebration. I do not recall if either car has seen any use since then, and after being put away in their semi-secure but apparently not secure enough retirement home, the switch connecting the "Tremont rail" to the main line was removed, making it not impossible but impractical and expensive to any hopefuls who would wish to charter them thereafter.
 #1633875  by typesix
 
3295 is not allowed to be used in general service for various reasons. It is not compatible with the remaining PCCs and has a non-standard motor controller, forerunner to the motor controls used by the Orange 01100s. Plus it is a historic vehicle, the only body style of that type ever built. It was cosmetically restored by T workers(volunteers I think) and there may be some agreement with the unions and the T that it won't be used in general service. It may have been used when the Pope visited Boston in 1979, 5734 was used for several trips.

The alleged perps photos have been released:
https://www.universalhub.com/2023/three ... y-boylston
 #1633907  by CRail
 
None of the PCCs are compatible with the remaining PCCs. The in house restoration by the Boston Carmen's Union was not cosmetic, the car was restored to service. The caveat to their free labor was in fact that it could no longer be used for revenue service. That's not to say it can't run special trips and nostalgia service. Should the T restore the car to operation once again with paid labor I bet that deal could be reneged and the car could chase nickels once again.