IEEE Boston Section,
Dedication: 10 November 2004
Boston was the first city to build electric traction for a large-scale rapid transit system. The engineering challenge to design and construct safe, economically viable, and reliable electric power for Boston's rapid transit was met by the West End Street Railway Company, beginning in 1889. The company's pioneering efforts provided an important impetus to the adoption of mass transit systems nationwide.... The West End Street Railway Company was organized 12 November 1887, with Henry M. Whitney as president ... [to be a] short electric railway line to real estate located in Brookline... before any construction had started, a number of horse drawn streetcar companies were consolidated in to one large enterprise, called the West End Street Railway. By the time consolidation was completed in 1888, the West End had over 7800 horses and 1480 cars. Business was great and continued to grow and prosper. One year later there were as many as 9000 horses dragging over 2000 cars all over Boston and adjoining towns.....In February 1889, he signed a contract for 20 electric cars that would operate between downtown Boston and Harvard Square in Cambridge. Initial testing between Sprague and Thomson-Houston systems lasted six months...1 June 1889... Thomson Houston received contracts for 600 motors and other equipment. ....
The West End had to design their own cars and trucks, much longer and stronger than anything commercially available. Cars were designed with two swivel trucks for sharp turns in Boston's narrow streets. For a while during the 1890's, the 20 foot car was adopted as standard to carry more passengers.... System development proceeded on all fronts at a grueling pace. The first cars were actually made in their own shops. Horse cars were cut in two then spliced together to make a longer motorized car. A temporary power plant was quickly erected using standard power plant equipment to start up the business.....
Two major electric journals had this to say:
"The West End Street Railway company of Boston is making rapid progress in the equipment of its line with the Thomson-Houston system and work this winter .The permanent power plant will be a model of its kind, and when completed the largest and best equipped in the world.
Horse cars will some be taken off the Cambridge Division, and residents in Cambridge will be given the full benefit of rapid transit, and before long the electric car will be a familiar sight in the heart of the city." ....
Electrical engineers all across the country were aware of what was going on in Boston, including AlEE members. The AlEE Handbook of 1900 reported that the 1890 General Meeting held in Boston included a tour of the West End 's facilities. The Secretary at that time wrote:
"This was the most extensive system of electric railway work then proposed and every facility being granted for its thorough inspection, the occasion proved one of great interests."
Surprisingly, the project progressed very rapidly, without hesitation or false starts. Each company line was rebuilt, electrified, then placed into service. The last horse was finally retired sometime in 1897....
Built from 1889 to 1891, the Central Power Station (CPS)... to provide direct current electricity for the growing streetcar system in Boston. Located in downtown Boston, on Harrison Avenue and Albany Street, CPS was the largest electrical power station in the world at that time. With CPS as its flagship, the West End was able to launch the largest commercial electrical traction system in the world. CPS went on line in 1891.
Located at the center of the city, CPS was designed to be permanent and good looking. An extra high chimney was necessary to carry away smoke and fumes that would be visible at all times during the day. At the time it was built, the 250 foot high stack was the tallest structure in Boston , taller than the Bunker Hill monument. It was fifty feet taller than the new chimney being erected by the Edison electric light company just a block away....
The completed system covered an area of about 100 square miles, and served a population of over 1,000,000 residents. The cost to ride the “T” was 5 cents, and allowed free transfers to different lines. There were more than 170 passenger cars, powered by 8 power stations, utilizing direct current, which covered nearly 500 miles of railway track
