Quiz...

Where are we standing right now ? All or nothing wins.

1) What is the correct station name by era where we are at ?

2) What will be the correct station name by era where we will be down the stairs ?

3) I paid the turnstyle at Forest Hills. Do I have to pay again ?

4) I want to buy an issue of Mad Magazine and my girl wants Cosmo while we wait for the train downstairs. Will we be able to find these for sale down there ?

5) We want to go to Riverside. Tell me three ways to get there from where we are.

I'll take a guess and say harvard based on what's on the sign above the stairs.

1. Summer

2. Washington

Mostly guesses... (but hopefully educated ones)
1) Summer
2) Washington
3) Nope
4) Yes
5) Change at Park St. and take the Highland Branch; Change at South Station and take the Boston & Albany; or walk over to the Express Bus. (I have no idea if the express bus existed at the time)

Let's see... te sign says CAMBRIDGE Trains," indicating the obvious, BUT... the signage ALSO points out that we are SOUTH of Park Street on the Cambridge line, so I would guess either South Station or Broadway.
EXCEPT:
Question 1 indicates a NAME CHANGE..... therfore:
1) = "Summer/Winter" Prior to 1970.
2) I would guess: "Milk Street", but I may have 1 and 2 reversed.
3) I'm not 100% certain, but I would say... depends where you get off. Some stations I know had "Exit Tolls."
4)I'm going to take an even wilder guess here and say no. I believe we are too far in the past for either of those magazines to be published.
Ok,... 3 ways to riverside:
#1, take the Cambridge line to Park Street and the future D-Line.
#2, Take the Dorchester line Outbound to South Station and grab a B&A commuter train.
#3, Take the - *!* OOPS! The "\future "Orange Line" didn't got throgh Back Bay yet... (heehee )
..ok, time to buy a vowel...VANNA!!!

MTA places this in the 1947-1964 era. Ike and Adlai Stevenson in the political ad narrows it down to 1952 or 1956, while The Count of Monte Cristo was 1956. So this is September or October of 1956, thus:

This is Winter - Summer on the Main Line. I suspect this is the Summer platform for trains bound for Everett.

Downstairs will be Washington on the Cambridge/Dorchester Line.

No, you won't have to pay a second time.

The "arcade" should have your newstand to get your magazines. Your girl's a good reader - back in the 50s Cosmo was still a literary magazine.

Since this is 1956, the Highland Branch is still running commuter trains. Thus, you could take the Cambridge-Dorchester Line to South Station and catch a Highland Branch train for Riverside (1) or a Worcester-bound train (2) to get to Riverside. You could also change at Park and take any trolley to Copley and walk the two blocks to Back Bay (3), or a Watertown trolley and board at Newton Corner (4). Express buses to Riverside didn't start till the Highland Branch opened with streetcars over two years later on July 4, 1959.

Nicely done, The Egg ! You are very astute ! This was a tricky one and not as easy as it first appeared. I had to save it and then expand it to look at the ads on the stairwell before I could date it, as you probably did, Eggy (either that or you have exceptional vision also !). The Eisenhauer/Stevenson political ad was the key. Once it was dated, you had to avoid the easy trap to fall into which was to say "grab the Highland Branch at Park" as it was pre-streetcars on the Highland. I didn't know that many would remember the newsstands down there as well. Most of the in-town stations had them. Didn't know that about Cosmo (the magazine). Did you see the MTA ad advertising their parking lots for twenty-five cents ? I remember as a kid being able to stash a few Esquires in my comic book collection as Esquire was considered a "mens magazine" with the required focus on babes. Congrats, Eggy ! Honorable mention everyone else. All entries had good answers.

(1) Where are we ?
(2) What street is closest to us that we run parallel to ?
(3) How many levels of travel BY ANY MEANS are we at when we descend the stairs ?
(4) Within four years, when was I built ?
(5) Who built me ?

Real wild guess,
The cross under the Boylaston Street?
I though Arlington at first.

Sorry, Rob. No cigar for Boylston Street Station !

All wild guesses:

(1) Symphony Station
(2) Mass Av would be parallel to the walkway
(3) I believe it is 3 stairs to the walkway level
(4) Not sure when you were built, but I would say the walkway was 1941
(5) Ah, your parents! The walkway Work Progress Administration

JoeD

Oh, you're a smooth operator, Joe - nicely done ! It is indeed the Symphony Walkway/Crossover. I was going with four levels (Mass Ave/Huntington at Mass Ave Underpass/T Track/Cross-over) but you could argue that there is a sidewalk at two levels making it actually six...but what's one number among friends, right ? Your answer to #4 was the last year I was accepting as that's the year that the Huntington Ave. Subway opened. And #5...very funny ! I was going for the Boston Transit Department, the son of the Boston Transit Commission, but who's to say that the WPA didn't have a hand in that as well ? Certainly is the right era and it was a government job. These touches that were installed are virtual history lessons in the mindset of 1940 Boston. What was a convenient and economic crossover for most then is an inconvenient and dangerous area now for some. And of course we all know what Symphony Station is named for for the inquiring touristas, right ? Symphony Hall, not Symphony Road. You guys are getting too good ! I rarely get a quiz over one day. Most of you probably know more about modern transit stuff than I do anyway !

I think there's some confusion in how you worded question 3, Paul. Sounds like you meant modes of travel, not levels.

The Huntington Ave Subway was a WPA project, and one of the first federally-funded transit projects.

Grab a hot chocolate on this snowy night and try out this fairly easy one. Last question answered wins.

1) WHERE ARE WE ?
2) WITHIN A TWO YEAR SPAN, WHEN ARE WE HERE ?
3) WHAT'S THE COST OF A FARE ?
4) IF THE COLLECTOR RAN OUT OF TOKENS, HOW WOULD WE GET THROUGH ?
5) WHAT COMPANY IS THIS ?

Is this a boston subway station? I'm stumped on what line this could be on or where it even is today.
Also, I hope everyone that worked today got home safe and sound. It's almost a carbon copy of the blizzard last month except the wind wasnt constant for it to be a blizzard. Plus it was 400+ miles from us and we got 1-2ft of snow dumped everywhere.