Tunnel Turned Into Safety Training Facility

[BigUglyCat]

The portal should be preserved as a historic structure. There is no compeling need to tear it down. I'm surprised the State Historic Preservation office (SHPPO) permitted this. There are almost no old abandoned portals in Boston still standing. This is a unique, historic structure, and in my opinion it is an outrage that is is being torn down.

I'm with you on this one, Charlie, but it looks like they're going ahead anyway.

[sery2831]

The portal sadly needs to be demolished to fit the Blue Line cars in there. At some point a sewer line was installed in the area and they cannot dig down to make the cars fit. I am also told that the roofs of the Blue Line cars have been stripped to make them shorter, but it was not enough.

[The EGE]

And this is cheaper than buying a plot of land and building a concrete roof?

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

So are they just shaving back the portal X number of feet at the mouth so it spits out closer to the Dot Ave./Traveler St. corner accessible from the parking lot on that parcel? There would still have to be some sort of leftover portal to be able to get equipment in and out of there.

[sery2831]

Yes. The portal is essentially being modernized.

[3rdrail]

The portal should be preserved as a historic structure. There is no compeling need to tear it down. I'm surprised the State Historic Preservation office (SHPPO) permitted this. There are almost no old abandoned portals in Boston still standing. This is a unique, historic structure, and in my opinion it is an outrage that is is being torn down.

Aside from the fact that the place was a homeless motel with all the inherant fire dangers associated with, it's a direct access point to the Red Line subway system. In these days of thinking ahead of the maniacal terrorists who have themselves announced subways as "landmarks of interests", any such useless structure needs to go.

[The EGE]

The portal should be preserved as a historic structure. There is no compeling need to tear it down. I'm surprised the State Historic Preservation office (SHPPO) permitted this. There are almost no old abandoned portals in Boston still standing. This is a unique, historic structure, and in my opinion it is an outrage that is is being torn down.

Aside from the fact that the place was a homeless motel with all the inherant fire dangers associated with, it's a direct access point to the Red Line subway system. In these days of thinking ahead of the maniacal terrorists who have themselves announced subways as "landmarks of interests", any such useless structure needs to go.

Was it, though? There's been one hell of a grate there for a few years. I do not think I could have gotten in there - and I'm a skinny, reasonably strong person.

[Arborwayfan]

I'd think the active portals, esp on the GL, would be much more attractive to potential terrorists, and I haven't heard talk of gating them -- except against floods from the Muddy River, arguably a much more pressing threat.

[bbfen]

The portal should be preserved as a historic structure. There is no compeling need to tear it down. I'm surprised the State Historic Preservation office (SHPPO) permitted this. There are almost no old abandoned portals in Boston still standing. This is a unique, historic structure, and in my opinion it is an outrage that is is being torn down.

Aside from the fact that the place was a homeless motel with all the inherant fire dangers associated with, it's a direct access point to the Red Line subway system. In these days of thinking ahead of the maniacal terrorists who have themselves announced subways as "landmarks of interests", any such useless structure needs to go.

Terrorists going through a landmarking process in order to sabotauge in the future? That's a bit of a stretch, even for this crew.

[3rdrail]

Terrorists going through a landmarking process in order to sabotauge in the future? That's a bit of a stretch, even for this crew.

Oh, really ? Might I suggest that you research the name Najibullah Zazi as well as the Al Qaeda subway attack plan uncovered in which cyanide would be dispersed in a subway system. If you think that New York will always take the hit, remember that a prime motivation is to instill the fear of uncertainty in the mind of the public. One way to do this is to hit random areas, particularly those areas where there is considerable population.

http://travel.usatoday.com/news/2010-12 ... 7_CV_N.htm

[diburning]

If they're going to gate anything, they should gate the crossover at Packard's Corner. I often see many morons crossing the track there. They should just put in a sliding gate or something that they can open when they use the crossover once in a blue moon.

[The EGE]

I got a brief glance from a commuter train today. Looks like the main structural portal is still there, and they just widened the entrance. Unsurprising, really - I believe it was originally built to Red Line size.

[3rdrail]

It was built for streetcars.

[The EGE]

I'm well aware of that. However, I remember seeing somewhere that the streetcar tunnel was built to the same dimensions as the subway tunnel underneath. May have been an offhand comment here; may have been an old BTC report.

[3rdrail]

I'd be surprised considering the radius of the turns inside, nor was it ever designed with a direct connection to the Rapid Transit Lines, being on a different level. Also, remember that there was no Cabot Yard at the time- Cabot was the Dover Street Yard of the New Haven Railroad so there would not have been any thought regarding making a connection to what became Cabot Yard, so where would such an extension lead rapid transit cars ? (The New Haven's Old Colony Branch already had a direct connection with Dorchester Tunnel cars.)