Harvard Square Station and Tunnel Discussion

[MBTA3247]

And wasn't the old Ashmont unloading area for the trolley fare controlled, in the sense that if you got off there your only choice was to go through the turnstiles even if you were not continuing by Red Line? (I did this maybe one time, and I was continuing by Red Line, so I don't remember for sure.)

Not to my knowledge. There were stairs and a wheelchair ramp leading over to the bus platforms.

[Disney Guy]

Maybe someone might be able to comment on whether the old HARVARD unloading area for the trolley (and bus) was fare controlled. I never exited that way but I do remember boarding the trackless trolley inbound on the surface and the driver said, "pay in the station." This fit perfectly with the free transfer policy back then and also fits with the 72 line using the left side doors on the Aberdeen Ave. median. In the latter case it would be pay exit inbound and pay enter outbound. For taking the train, it also worked because I paid the one and only fare at the turnstiles for the train.

There must have been guards to keep bus passengers exiting at Harvard from going down the ramp almost to the train turnstiles and do an about face and go up the down staircase there to evade the fare! (I'm pretty sure that the stairs facing the Harvard Coop had separate wide in and out sections next to each other.

And does anyone remember whether the bus platform stairs to the outside came up into the same middle-of-the-square kiosk and up facing Harvard Yard (east)?

In the early 1960's transfers almost system wide were abolished and the buses in and out of the Harvard tunnel became pay enter inbound and pay exit outbound.

[jr145]

So I stumbled upon this site http://sery2831.smugmug.com/Trains/Harv ... 1265_Migij


Does anyone know where these yard leads are, in reference to Harvard station itself?

[Adams_Umass_Boston]

That is John, the moderator of this forum's account.

[jr145]

That is John, the moderator of this forum's account.

Hah, I didn't even notice that.

[MBTA3247]

IIRC, they're behind the wall of the lobby that the Dunkin' Donuts is on.

[atsf sp]

I was just wondering the other day if these were still there. Interesting how some parts still had track.

[sery2831]

The shots with rails and the abandoned station is not the lead to yard. That is the abandoned station you pass through pulling into and out of Harvard Station everyone can see. Two separate areas. The leads are not accessed behind the Dunkin Donuts but from the bus tunnel.

[jr145]

John do you know which door it is in the bus tunnel? Nobody that works there has any idea.

[sery2831]

The door in the bus tunnel to the yard leads is off the trackless platform, it is in a public area.

The door to the abandoned station you ride through is next to the rest rooms under the main exit stairs in the main part of the station.

[Arborway]

Has anyone, to your knowledge, ever found themselves trapped on the wrong side of the self-locking door with the ominous warning scribbled on it?

[sery2831]

No idea, but one may have learned it the hard way and left the note. There is another way out, so it is not like you are getting trapped.

[BostonUrbEx]

The door in the bus tunnel to the yard leads is off the trackless platform, it is in a public area.

The door to the abandoned station you ride through is next to the rest rooms under the main exit stairs in the main part of the station.

At the top of the upper platform's ramp from the lobby? Labeled "Electrical Closet"?

The one which (at least now) has a hand written "Out of Service" sign?




What's up with the garage doors along the upper busway platform?

[sery2831]

The garage doors I always thought were vending spaces, but never knew what was in them. The door is on the upper bus way near the stairs to the street not the big ramp. Currently(or recently was) boarded up for the elevator project.

[BostonUrbEx]

The garage doors I always thought were vending spaces, but never knew what was in them. The door is on the upper bus way near the stairs to the street not the big ramp. Currently(or recently was) boarded up for the elevator project.

Ah. In that case, it's still boarded up. I was tempted to peak in though, not knowing was in there, there was no lock on the temporary door. I bet the actual door is locked up tight, though.