Railroad Forums 

  • Signs along the Green Line in Newton

  • 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

 #1371009  by charlesriverbranch
 
Looking out the window on the Green Line the other day, I saw a sign that said "MBTA Chicken Farm Truck Pad". This sign is located in the middle of the woods between Newton Center and Chestnut Hill stations, where a footpath crosses the line. I've never seen any sign of chickens there, nor trucks for that matter.

Does anyone here know what the sign means?

Oh, and what do the numbered signs that look like mileposts measure (e.g "DW 218.32")? The numbers change too quickly to be measuring miles, surely?
 #1371026  by MBTA3247
 
charlesriverbranch wrote:Looking out the window on the Green Line the other day, I saw a sign that said "MBTA Chicken Farm Truck Pad". This sign is located in the middle of the woods between Newton Center and Chestnut Hill stations, where a footpath crosses the line. I've never seen any sign of chickens there, nor trucks for that matter.
That would be the Chicken Farm crossing (presumably there was a farm in the area at one point). IIRC there's an access road there for hi-rail trucks, hence the truck pad part of the sign.
Oh, and what do the numbered signs that look like mileposts measure (e.g "DW 218.32")? The numbers change too quickly to be measuring miles, surely?
Distance in hundreds of feet. "D line, westbound track, 21,832 feet from origin point."
 #1371067  by jwhite07
 
There was a white-painted building in the middle of a fenced clearing near the crossing which looked like it might have been a chicken coop way back when. Haven't been through there in years, but Google Earth indicates it still exists... although thanks to self-claimed "artists" the paint on the building isn't just white any more.

I don't recall ever seeing chickens there either, even passing by there on a frequent basis in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I do recall seeing a lot of deer, though! Not sure if they had been put there or just liked life in the Hammond Pond Reservation, but there were nearly always a group of deer grazing in that field next to the building.
 #1371425  by Rbts Stn
 
the area inside the fence was called Deer Park, and there was a herd of at least a couple dozen deer living in there. That white building was shelter for many of them. There were a few access points on the east side where they would feed the deer (not sure who "they" were, but saw them more than once). We used to look for deer from Hammond Pond Parkway, but they've been gone for a number of years.

You can easily drive up to that pad, it's off of here: https://goo.gl/maps/EQ7iR5kvBST2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's info about the park with a picture of that building: http://www.newtonconservators.org/18webster.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1375884  by Yellowspoon
 
Why does the sign below say, "PARK ST" when the road directly overhead is Park Drive? The sign does not say that trains at this location go to Park Street, it simply says, "PARK ST & NORTH", without any context.

Anyone who knows their way around the MBTA doesn't need this sign. Those that do not know their way around the MBTA have no idea what this sign is trying to tell them. So why was it put there in the first place? It's not some sticker that someone put over the old sign. It's a permanent sign that will probably be there next Monday when Riverside cars again start going to Scollay Square. And what does, "NORTH" mean? I know they are trying to say North Station, but that's not what the sign says. Even if the sign said North Station, it wouldn't help anyone waiting there on a weekday afternoon because the trains don't go to North Station during rush hours.

And the reason that I'm posting this in the "Signs along the Green Line in Newton" thread is that identical signs are at the Newton Center and Newton Highlands station. I wrote the MBTA on this subject late last year, but no action has been taken.
Attachments:
GFEN150613_1757378.JPG
GFEN150613_1757378.JPG (55 KiB) Viewed 6156 times
 #1375889  by Arborwayfan
 
I think it means "Trains to Park Street and Points North". I saw a picture of new signs at Gov't Center that says "Park St. and West" in the white line. Isn't that where the old signs say "Inbound" or "Outbound"? They must be replacing inbound and outbound, which out of town people always complained about. But I agree this is poorly done. "Trains to Park Street and Points North" or "Inbound to Park Street and Points North" or some such would be clearer."
 #1375895  by Echo33d
 
I agree with Arborwayfan, my interpretation of that sign is "Points North" rather than "North Station," but it is definitely unclear. It makes sense for them to use "Park Street" on a permanent sign, since the only real guarantee is that, however terminals might change in the future, service on the D branch will be going at least to Park Street.
 #1375897  by Yellowspoon
 
Arborwayfan wrote:I think it means "Trains to Park Street and Points North". ...
Now that's a different interpretation than I had. And that's the point. It doesn't say, "Trains to Park Street", it says, "PARK ST", without any context. Now if two railfans who know the MBTA interpret a sign differently, imagine what a tourist would say. And seeing the name, "Arborwayfan" reminds me ... Even though Arborway closed 29(?) years ago, there is a plethora of signs all over the place that still say Arborway.

As for inbound and outbound, my personal feeling (and this is subject to interpretation) is that any place on the Shawmut Peninsula that is east of Kenmore is downtown. In other words, you can't go inbound from Copley because you're already "IN". There used to be a on sign at the State station that said, "Inbound to Government". That's like having an arrow at the north pole that points, "South". Note that the sign does not say, "Government Center".

Here's another Newton sign, taken out the right window of a Riverside bound train. In other words, Riverside is to the left, not the right as suggested in the photograph.
Attachments:
BSTA_Inbound.jpg
BSTA_Inbound.jpg (29.48 KiB) Viewed 6113 times
GELI150613_18208.JPG
GELI150613_18208.JPG (59.73 KiB) Viewed 6121 times
 #1376613  by Rbts Stn
 
1) The Fenway sign isn't in Newton so I will not reply in this thread
2) The Eliot sign, could it be pointing to a crossing area of the tracks?
 #1380254  by Yellowspoon
 
(1)Below is a similar sign at Newton Center.
(2)The sign at Eliot is on the westbound/outbound side of the station. There is no need to cross the tracks. Riverside is to the left, which is counter to the sign which points to the right.
Attachments:
0_GNCE_160313_164797.jpg
0_GNCE_160313_164797.jpg (41.23 KiB) Viewed 5629 times
 #1397668  by Robert Paniagua
 
Oh, and what do the numbered signs that look like mileposts measure (e.g "DW 218.32")? The numbers change too quickly to be measuring miles, surely?

Those are actually chaining codes, they are in all lines Ive seen on the Braintree Red "BS 932.00", thats in the Braintree area, while "BS 721.00" is in the Quincy Area along the Braintree Red Line ROW
 #1397699  by BigUglyCat
 
Wikipedia says chaining codes measure, 'distances from a fixed point, called chaining zero, following the twists and turns of the railroad line, so that the distance described is understood to be the "railroad distance," not the distance by the most direct route ("as the crow flies")'
 #1398031  by jonnhrr
 
A chain is an old measurement equal to 66 feet or 22 yards. Used in transit because miles being too large a dimension for many measurements.
Another reason we should have gone to the Metric system but that's another discussion :)

Jon