We rode on the Mattapan line a couple of years ago. I have got pictures of the PCC car that got badly damaged. I noticed that unlike the San Francisco and Mexico City ones, they don't have the second set of standee windows. My daughter just got back from Boston this morning. JNS , Rugby ,Warwickshire, England.

For trolley fans, there's a terrific trolley museum (with a working track/trolleys) in Kennebunk Maine. A great way to spend a summer day.

The “pan” in Mattapan is emphasized. Otherwise people know “you’re not from around here…”

The Mattapan Line was originally a Boston & Albany line. The hiking trail that partially parallels it was a New Haven line which was probably an Old Colony line originally. Anyway, another fine video.

Thanks for taking us somewhere different and showing us something new. Those charming old trolleys are truly a piece of the past. I can see why the locals cherish them.

Went to BU in early 2000s and then lived in boston for a few yrs after. Thanks for bringing back awesome memories of riding the T!

Beautiful!! You made my day and brought back many memories of my youth. I'm from Philadelphia and rode these "bullet" trolleys. Our longest route was the 23 line from south Philly to Chestnut Hill, just northwest of the city. I lived 2 blocks from the 60 line from Port Richmond to 35th & Allegheny Ave. I got a kick of stepping down when the trolley stopped and the doors automatically opened. Thanks again..

Those Orange Trams certainly look and work well given they're at least 70 years old.

Oh yes! Welcome back to Massachusetts, you should come back when the CapeFlyer runs down to cape cod. You’ll also be able to see 2 EX Metro north FL9’s in NH paint numbered 2011 and 2026

As a Baltimore citizen, I've been to the local trolley club location. A certain time of the year, members can operate a PCC on the private rail line for about 1/2 mile. BTW the gauge was widened to 5 ft. so locomotives couldn't use the rails in the city. So anytime the club gets another trolley, the wheel axles have to be resized to fit.

Great video! I used to ride the trolleys back in the late 60s when I was attending Boston College. Cost a quarter if I recall correctly.

Re-living a fun vacation vicariously through your videos. JFK/UMass was our 'home' station as our hotel was slightly over a block away, and we rode the Red Line into the downtown area daily. I also had a chance to do an afternoon of railfanning that included riding the Mattapan-Ashmont line. Thanks for bringing back great memories!

Seeing an F40 on the south side is something to celebrate at this point!

I rode those trolleys when I lived in Boston and Cambridge back in the late 60s 🙂

I take those to get home from school they are truly a piece of history

Great video. Love the trolley, so much history. Your vast knowledge of railroading is amazing. Thank you.

Great to see PCCs in service. Rode them as a kid on the Shaker Heights line in Cleveland. We have a few awaiting some TLC at the Northern Ohio Railway Museum.

Thank you for the memories! I'm from the Boston area, and rode the "T" Red Line in the early 70's from what was then the southern terminus, Quincy Center, to Park Street on my way to college. Back then, Harvard was the northern terminus before the extension to Alewife was constructed. Red Line cars back then had forward-facing seating in a two-by-two configuration.

In Milan We called this TRAM...the city of Milan some years ago sell to the city of San Francisco some tram built in 1930 ca. Very nice video as always. Thank You Tim !!

The “Garfields” are like the M7s of MBTA. Way too many of them...

Don't forget El Paso with refurbished ex-San Diego St. Louis Car Co. Air/Electrics. Refurbish spec based on SEPTA PCC-II cars refurbished by Brookville in 2016. El Paso cars are now PCC-III spec with pantographs.

Just for that, if we ever meet, I am SO going to MEOW at you - though MARC has no Garfields. (My favorite cousin used to live in T Country (Shirley MA) and went to school (and later taught) at Tufts University - which means she is also aware of the "Iced T" jokes in the winter.)

Our Toronto PCCs never had doors on the left side as they were all street running; I have fond memories of them. These PCCs accelerate like mad ! Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario

I have always found it strange that JFK/UMASS did not allow an easy transfer from the Commuter Rail platform to the Red Line platform, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Red Line platform was built in 1972 and the Commuter Rail platform in 1997, but I am not sure

The rather interesting architecture was the baker chocolate factory that got supplies by train that ran along the bike trail you see

Hope you enjoyed those articulated trolleybuses because they are due for retirement starting this year in March. They're being replaced by the XDE60s.

I used to ride this line...very cool. It's pronounced MAT_TA_PAN....

would love to see you go back down to Philly or DC some time soon. great video and commentary so far as always!

Great story. I wondered.

that same plant all so made trolley busses for the mta in the 1950s

The best part about the Mattash line, is that it is not over engineered and out of scale with the locales it serves; it fits nicely and discreetly in a suburban residential land use pattern. I had promoted the idea of wider use of this style of limited stop tramway in this metro area, but no one was interested , and rails to trails promoters have now purloined all the potential corridors.

The neighborhood is pronounced: Matt-ah-pann, not "Mattapin" and here in good ol' Bean-Town we locals call our old Pullmans, "Streetcars".

The tracks at South station are better lit than the platforms 🤦‍♂️ I just don't understand why they don't subwayify the Mattapan line. The tracks need to be replaced anyway, they would just need to grade separate in two places, build new platforms (closing Milton and Capen street) and maybe an extra substation. Then they could extend some of the subway trains so they get a 10min rush hour service and maybe 15min other times. The residents would get a one seat ride downtown and the MBTA would have one separate system less.

loving it. great intro's always.u have a good eye for the camera, keep it up sir.

Great video. I live in Milton about a mile way from this line.

the pcc cars on that line were bult in worcester mass at pullman standerd

aye, that's up near where i live! edit: 1:25 hey! That's my home town lmao, they still run them.

Wow trolley s are making a comeback and. We are getting more light rail in America I am happy I just love train s I hate auto mobile traffic and flying scares me I just love train s.

You're throwing me with the pronunciation of 'Bombardier'. It's Bomb-ba-Deer.

The Commuter Rail trains that operate to Kingston, middleboro/ lakeville, greenbush operate on the Old Colony Mainline, it’s not the new Colony!

like bus

51:50 Philly shout-out!!!

A big part of the reason why these are still in service is because they had to be extensively rebuilt back in the 80s because these were all supposed to disappear once the Boeing LRV came in but that which will go down as being the single most god-awful piece of crap the MBTA ever put on their tracks necessitated that they be kept around and now here they are having outlived what was meant to replace them as most of the LRVs thankfully have been scrapped they served on the green line until 87 when the type 7 came out and then 10 years later and additional order of type7 cars came out and then the type 8 Which was the first one designed with ADA compliance in mind came in and that was the end of those L RV garbage

Awesome video!

I enjoyed this video as always. I definitely want to visit Boston one day. I live on Long Island, so obviously, I would have to take the LIRR to Penn Station first. I wouldn't take Amtrak straight there, though. I would take the NYC Subway to Grand Central Terminal, Metro-North to New Haven, Shore Line East to Old Saybrook or New London, Amtrak to Providence, and the MBTA Commuter Rail. However, when I go back home, I would take Amtrak straight to Penn Station. I saw someone do this in a video. Also, I'm just curious. How come you dislike the HSP46s so much?

I'm not privy about the diesel locomotives. You have inside information about why you don't like those 'Garfields', and why are they called that ? You had plenty of time to explain this during the video. I'm a track layout nut, and not a roster nut, so to me, it's just a locomotive. Fill me in on what should apparently be so obvious that you didn't have to mention it. Thanks much, Aarre Peltomaa

I;ll make it up there when the new trains are running on the orange line

Interesting shots from Boston. Your Trollys have the charm of a mueumsbahn. Is there only this type of car? our trollies in Berlin have been modernized in recent years. the old Tatra railways are all gone. Our oldest cars at trolly are from 1991. I myself have only made 2 videos of the Berlin Straßenbahn in Berlin so far. Maybe this is something for you. Greetings from Berlin/ Germany. Sven

El Paso and Toronto have PCC cars

Most of the F40's and the 2 MP36s they run are still awaiting their rebuilds sadly. All of them should hopefully be back by the end of the year, so then there won't be Garfields on almost every train.

Hey RRF Outstanding video. Well deserving of many more views & likes. A question: at the end you said the commuter train from Boston to NY would be suspended due to covid. What gives? What's the rationale? Too few passengers? Lack of interest? Some suspected hazard?? I don't get it.

Ugh that pepto bismol pink, just makes me sickened to see it.

I saw Garfields in the title and (forgetting I had already seen another Boston video where you used the term) thought you meant the PCCs, because they're orange (I think...or are they yellow? I'm a little colorblind) and bulbous and the split windscreen kind of looks like Garfield's eyes. That's no knock on the PCCs, just a weird connection my mind made.

LOL Garfields! They are really ugly but they sound good.

More junk and running 5 minutes late with Junk Loco 2009

i hate the HSPs

MATTA - PAN not Matapin

It's matt-a-pan not matt-a-pin