The New Old Colony Railroad
Version 7.01 |
Commuter Rail Returns to the South Shore
 | | Map showing the routes of the new Old Colony Line. |
On Monday September 29, 1997, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority began the first scheduled rail passenger service to Boston's South Shore in roughly forty years. Two different lines are now open: the line to Kingston/Plymouth and the line to Middleborough. (If you are looking for train schedule information, please click HERE.) The map at right shows the routes for each of these lines along with their station stops. The Greenbush line to Scituate should be operational by late 2007.
To celebrate this event, I went down to Kingston to record the arrival of the first passenger trains in almost a half a century. The photographs which follow provide a good picture of the new Old Colony Railroad on its first day of business. If you have any stories or information regarding the Old Colony Railroad, please visit my Welcome Page to send me an e-mail or to put an entry in my guestbook.
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Summer Street Station in Kingston Center
 |  | | Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking west, circa 1972. | Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking east, circa 1972. |
 |  | | Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking west, September 29, 1997. | Close-up of Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking east, September 29, 1997. |
 |  | | Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking east, September 29, 1997. | Looking east across Route 3-A towards Summer Street Station in Kingston, September 29, 1997. |
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Train 033 in Kingston Center
 |  | | Downtown Kingston at the level crossing, looking north on Route 3-A, September 29, 1997. | The parking lot fills with cars as people arrive to see the first arriving passenger train in Kingston in almost half a century. |
 |  | | Police are stationed at all of the level crossings to minimize the risk of accident. | Train number 033 from South Station approaches the crossing in Kingston Center, approximately five minutes late. |
 |  | | Train number 033 crossing Route 3-A in Kingston Center. | Train number 033 passing Summer Street Station en route to the new Kingston station. |
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| Watch a 30 second video (with sound) of train 033 crossing Route 3-A for the first time on September 29, 1997 in AVI or RealMedia format.
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(Size of file: 1236 kilobytes.)
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(Size of file: 77 kilobytes.)
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Technical note: To view the RealMedia video clip, you should have the RealPlayer G2 (or later) installed and a minimum connection rate of 28kbs.
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Train 035 Arrives at the new Kingston Station
 |  | | The new Kingston Station, looking east. | Further down the platform at the new Kingston Station, looking east. |
 |  | | A very full parking lot at the new Kingston Station on the first day of passenger service. | Train number 035 approaching the new Kingston station. |
 |  | | Close-up of train number 035 approaching the new Kingston station. | Commuters jam the road leaving the new Kingston station after the arrival of train number 035. |
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Train 037 Crossing the Bridge over Landing Road
 |  | | Train number 037 approaching the bridge over Landing Road. | Close-up of train number 037 approaching the bridge over Landing Road. |
 |  | | Train number 037 heading east after crossing the bridge over Landing Road. | Train number 037 turning off the mainline to the new Kingston station. |
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