Farewell to PCC's on the Mattapan High-Speed Line?

It would probably be a good idea to put lifts at either Central Avenue or Milton as well. Otherwise, the intermediate stops are quite lightly used.

Speaking of it, does anyone know if the line has been shut down or are the cars still runnning in service

I think they are still running for now. There is no notice on the T's website to make me think otherwise.

as of last thursday the line was still running and i didnt see any sign of it closing soon, that said you may want to ride it and photo it soon

I just found this on the the T's site

The Mattapan High Speed Trolley Line, which shares a terminus at Ashmont Station, is scheduled to have its stations and platforms rehabilitated as part of a parallel station maintenance program. As a result of this work, and the trolley terminus construction at Ashmont, the high-speed trolley line will be closed beginning March 23rd 2006 for approximately one year. Alternate busing service from Mattapan Station to Ashmont Station will be provided for this period.

you can go here: http://www.mbta.com/projects_underway/a ... tation.asp for more info.

when i picked up the globe today to get the article about the commuter rail, I also noticed an article that the price of scrap metal has shot up to the point where people are stealing metal siding off of homes, the article also mentioned that a trolley operation somewhere had their wire stolen.

So I am wondering when the Mattapan Ashmont line is down what will be done to prevent the wires from being stolen?

Also I understand that when new overhead is put up they make sure they can get electricity running thru the wires ASAP so as to prevent theft.

pdxstreetcar wrote:
So I am wondering when the Mattapan Ashmont line is down what will be done to prevent the wires from being stolen?

Keep them energized?

parovozis wrote:

pdxstreetcar wrote:
So I am wondering when the Mattapan Ashmont line is down what will be done to prevent the wires from being stolen?

Keep them energized?

That's always been my understanding of the "theft deterrent system" for valuable overhead wire.

One of the Connecticut trolley museums experienced several cases of wire theft many years ago and decided to leave the overhead energized constantly, no more thefts and one burnt aluminum ladder as a souvenir

I was figuring they would have to de-energize the lines with the extensive work going on.

Yeah, but knowing the least about electricity, even if energized, couldnt one use a hot stick w/ a pair of cutters on the end to cut it w/o getting zapped

But most people are fairly stupid, and just try to touch it! (Not to mention, who steals wire? you think you can get more by stealing the cable off the telephone poles!)

Maybe they should just extend the Rapid Transit (heavy rail) portion of the Red Line all the way to Mattapan, ther's the provision for it, but it would have to run on EL, there's no room for a tunnel, and it would have to have some of the current stops eliminated, most likely retain Central Ave and Mattapan, since the subway heavy rail trains travel faster.

Robert Paniagua wrote:Maybe they should just extend the Rapid Transit (heavy rail) portion of the Red Line all the way to Mattapan, ther's the provision for it, but it would have to run on EL, there's no room for a tunnel, and it would have to have some of the current stops eliminated, most likely retain Central Ave and Mattapan, since the subway heavy rail trains travel faster.

Of course, silly me says they should just extend the Red Line heavy rail to Mattapan on the surface -- grade crossings and all. After all, seems to work ok in Chicago, they even put new third rail in over grade crossings in 2004:

http://www.chicago-l.org/tour/images/20 ... isco02.jpg

Somehow, though, I see the that idea being met with just a little skepticism here.

octr202 wrote: Of course, silly me says they should just extend the Red Line heavy rail to Mattapan on the surface -- grade crossings and all. After all, seems to work ok in Chicago, they even put new third rail in over grade crossings in 2004:

http://www.chicago-l.org/tour/images/20 ... isco02.jpg

Somehow, though, I see the that idea being met with just a little skepticism here.

FOR REAL?!?! Damn that picture is scary! Please keep that far away from here. Is that a commuter rail line? Or the real El trains?

PCCs are efficient and sufficient for the Mattapan line. I believe they preserve an important part of the MTA/MBTA joint history. It would be shameful to take them out of service after a laudable restoration of the fleet in the past few years. I wish the T would equip the line with a better snow plow instead of running shuttle buses along the route in bad weather. Buses-- not the way of the future!