Forest hills may not be the prettiest but I must say, as an everyday MBTA rider who lives right near forest hills, it's very nice to have the orange line, commuter rail, and 17 different bus lines all in one station! I'll take the enclosed platform for the orange line any day if it means we get to have so many busses on that upper bus platform! This is just my bias as an everyday rider out of forest hills though. That being said, I respect your opinions here and enjoyed the video! Also, just to edit real quick: if you go back to forest hills you can see the commuter rail go by from the upper bus platform!

Hey Dude! I am brand new to your channel as of 24 hours ago. I have watched almost all the videos you have up, too. I must say I have learned A LOT (rather a lot more) about these trains. Things I did not even know before. I did not know there was a such thing as "abandoned mbta subway tracks". I did not know the orange line up until 1989 traveled through a section of raised (elevated) tracks. So thank you there. I have always loved the orange line since I were a small child. And I am ABOUT as old as that ever so aging fleet of cars that are on their way out. So I can go back a ways, for sure.... When I was a teenager, I was always forewarned by family members who are Boston natives, do not go past Back Bay as far as stops on the orange line go. I was told I would increase my chances of being jumped and or mugged with anything beyond Back Bay station. So seeing it in your videos was pleasing to me. There are some nice stops along that route. I wanna finish with a suggestion for you: in your video here, you expressed discontent with "Chinatown" and your gripe was having to pay another fare to go from Oak Grove to Forest Hills or Forest Hills to Oak Grove. If I may make a suggestion, to save yourself that $1.60, stay on the side of track you're on, ride down 1 stop, then do the track change for free at the next stop. Thank you for these videos and now, I'm gonna get some more watching done! 😊

As an undergrad at Northeastern I was fascinated by the bus platforms paralleling the Commuter Rail and Orange Line platforms. Back in the day (2013-2017) the station concourse was also one of the main walkways for students to cross the tracks running through the middle of campus

I lived in Boston for 18 years. Left in 2014. Lived in Forest Hills for a few, also several years near Green Street. LOVE that the sign there says, "GREEN" in white paint surrounded by Orange. Always a head scratch. Forest Hills commuter rail platform is WAY MEGA-SPOOKY late night. Used to love going there. When the Acela goes by it's mind blowing. Also lived in E. Somerville for four years, so Sullivan Square it was. Assembly was being built when I left. Thanks for the video; I also really liked your one along the Southeast Corridor, near Stoneybrook. [Wondering if you ever saw me on my skateboard when you were young . . . ]

There are underpasses linking both platforms at Chinatown Station and also at Symphony and Boylston stations and underneath Mass. Ave. at the Hynes Convention Center station on the Green Line. They were sealed up due to security concerns. (The Mass. Ave. underpass is due to be reopened as part of the Hynes station makeover.) Remember that Chinatown was smack in the middle of what used to be known as the "Combat Zone" - an "adult entertainment" district. There was a lot of crime in that area, so the passageway was sealed. I vaguely recall the underpass at Chinatown and think it was closed in the late 1950's or early 1960's. By the way, the platforms at Chinatown (formerly Boylston/Essex), Downtown Crossing (formerly Summer/Winter), and State (formerly Milk/State) are staggered because Washington Street is very narrow and merchants along the street wanted lots of entrances and exits to the subway. At Chinatown, I remember additional entrances at Lagrange Street, Essex Street, and Hayward Place. My parents would use the Chinatown stop after shopping at R.H. White's or its later incarnation, CityMart (later closed, demolished and the current site of Lafayette Place.) Here's a link to the schematic of Chinatown Station (formerly called Boylston/Essex): archive.org/details/annualreportofbo11bost/page/n69/mode/2up?view=theater By the way, there's a great website that ranks all of the Montreal Metro's stations: www.metrodemontreal.com/rating.html Perhaps you might consider doing something similar! Very good job! Looking forward to your Red, Green, and Blue Line rankings as well!

Forest Hills and Green are absolutely HORRIBLE once the high school up the street lets out mid-afternoon. Not trying to be mean, nor provocative. Just not the place to be ~3:00 PM. Still, it's where I lived and I love them both. [I also spent a year living on Estrella Street, near Jackson Square . . . ]

Great job! I’m still partial to Stony Brook because that is the one I use the most when I’m in JP! I think I have experienced what you described in Chinatown only in Copley, with the Green Line. You had to come to the surface and cross the street to go in the opposite direction. Might have been at Prudential. Anyway, might be worth investigating! Great job and editing. Looking forward to Episode 2!

You should do the Red Line next, that's my favorite line I have a lot of memories on it

Symphony also doesn't have a passthrough for you to get to the other platform. I once got on the wrong side but thankfully there was a staff who gave me a free pass

I'll be honest, I don't mind Back Bay. Sure it doesn't have a lot of railfanability, but it is a perfectly serviceable station. Also it has a bathroom, which is more than can be said for many other stations. I was really thankful for that on Marathon Monday.

I remember being at Mass Ave. late night; it was snowing, cold, and simply sucked, probably around 1999. No LED screens politely telling us when the next train would be arriving. The wind was HOWLING. And then it happened . . . we heard it . . . from a distance, the SOUND. Maybe 2-3 stations away, but we knew the train was coming. You talked about THAT sound in your video. Again, before LED screens, maybe even your birth. Glad you notice.

That Chinatown platform transfer issue? It's predominant in a lot of stations here in NYC. Apparently the ability to transfer to any playform without being charged another fare wasn't valued early back then when they first built them.

I JUST SUBCRIBED!

Chinatown is my Orange Line station, and I do very much agree with the sentiment that it lacks overhead passes to each side. I don't know if that rumored pass exists or not. However, I will reason why it is likely the case: Chinatown is the only downtown core station on the Orange Line with no transfer to another rapid transit line and is not part of the Southwest Corridor. Downtown Crossing transfers you to the Red Line. State transfers you to the Blue Line. Haymarket transfers you to the Green Line. North Station transfers you to the Green Line. Chinatown transfer you to... (checks notes) Silver Line 4 and 5, at street level.

Nice and interesting video!

Nick I love you bro keep the work up fr I've always wanted to discover more about the mbta but sadly parents dont let me

I do respectfully disagree with your Forest hills ranking. Unlike most OL stops, it has a very nicely placed Commuter Rail platform that showcases orange line trains going over the kinda elevated track section out of the station.

I really like ur new intro!

The transfer process at Chinatown is the same as it is at Copley on the Green Line. Pain in the ass.

I agree with you for all the stations expect ruggles

Nice video! In my opinion I wouldn’t have factored “railfaning abilities” into their scores, because it doesn’t add anything to the station for your average person

I like the new intro. 😉😉😎😎😎👌👌👌👌

Back Bay may be boring, but it has a connection to Copley Place and through there to the Prudential Center.

At back bay station, there was a train crash there at 1990 when an Amtrak crashed into an mbta train

I respect the opinion on Chinatown, but I feel that it should be a C tier at the very least. Since it’s got the railfanning perks and the cool design choices, I feel like that should even it out. Plus, if you were on the wrong platform, you could just go to Downtown Crossing or Tufts Medical Center and change for the other direction

THE HYPE

Back Bay is my favorite station 🤣

I like TMC (Tufts Medical Center) too because it runs trough the busiest part of the city, and I like it. Especially when it rains

No cuz I've had to pay fairs twice on a couple of the red line stations cuz I was on the wrong side and it infuriates me to no end. I was at one where the passthrough was right on the other side of the turnstiles, like they wanted to rub it in

I would rate Forest Hills a B because it has a lot of history of it, but also I never go there often.

He he if nick does a video where he ranks the green line stations forget a part 2 its gonna be a while series

What can you rank the old Washington Street Elevated Orange Line stations? Forest Hills (1909-1987): Green Street (1912-1987): Egleston Station: Dudley Station: Northampton Station: Dover Station:

I keep mixing up the MBTA Orange Line Forest Hills station with the CTA Blue Line Forest Park station. And also why do metro people elevate their system if there just gonna be closed down. (P.S. you should do wmata)

I would’ve liked the el better because the one now is kinda boring because it is the one I mostly ride cause it is the closest one to me, so when I get used to stuff, it gets boring.

The stations on the southwest corridor altogether I would rate them a D because they look boring and they look the same.

calling it now ruggles is e teir

Okay man I respect your feelings and decisions. But China town was just brutal. Why did you make it an F tear? Sure you can fuck up and go like “ oh shit I’m on the wrong platform” then get extremely fucking pissed off that you had to pay fucking $2.00 but the art design is really good. I understand that you might not want to change your choice and I understand that. What I’m trying to say here is in my opinion China town at least deserves a C tear.

Stupid question- I just opened a Discord account- how do I connect with you?

extending the orange line to hyde park would take some weight off forest hills.

8:04 who have done that voice? Was it u?

Do you have a web site or just the KZfaq channel?

Ok mbta is just trying to make tuffs medical center fans mad AND ITS MY FAVORITE STOP WHY

CHANGE HERE FOR THE ORANGE LINE!

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮. Eww gross