Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Javier said:
Where will the community path be in this area?
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the community path splits from the GLX at lowell st. between Gilman station and McGoun station. It joins the existing community path in to Davis sq. and beyond.
So the new path will run from Leechmere to Lowell st, not the full length of the GLX
 
1st and 3rd photos in that post are looking at Magoun Square station from Cedar Street; 4th is looking at Ball Square station from Cedar Street; those are all north of where the path splits off. Second photo is looking southeast from just southeast of Lowell Street; the 2015 extension of the path is at far right, with the new section continuing along the GLX visible.
 
Does anyone know why a couple of those sets of tracks have multiple gauges inlaid on the same set of ties?
 
greenlinetobrooklyn said:
They're guards to protect bridges, walls, etc from damage in case of derailment. I think they're called guard rails.
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Looks like they are running them almost the entire length of the track that runs closest to the middle fence and the commuter rail tracks. Maybe that's a requirement of this type of heavy rail/light rail ROW sharing?

But then why not have the same guard rails on the heavy rail tracks? Commuter rail and freight trains would cause much more damage in a derailment and having the guard rails on the LRV tracks offers no protection for LRV passengers in such a situation. I can't really see many LRVs derailing on such excellent mostly straight track. Seems like overkill.
 
I walked the full extent of the GLX (save for the maintenance facility) on December 26th. I'll be posting photos here as I upload them to Wikimedia Commons over the coming days. To those with slow connections, I apologize. I started my walk with Lechmere:
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The south headhouse is coming along; the elevator shaft has artwork up.
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The bike cage looks ready to go:
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From Morgan Avenue. Are there plans yet for this parcel?
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Looking towards the north headhouse across 1st Street:
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Closer up:
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Bluebikes station on the south side of 1st Street, across from that entrance:
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The busway under construction from Water Street:
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And zooming in from that spot to the north headhouse:
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The EGE said:
I walked the full extent of the GLX (save for the maintenance facility) on December 26th. I'll be posting photos here as I upload them to Wikimedia Commons over the coming days. To those with slow connections, I apologize. I started my walk with Lechmere:
View attachment 20160

The south headhouse is coming along; the elevator shaft has artwork up.
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The bike cage looks ready to go:
View attachment 20163

From Morgan Avenue. Are there plans yet for this parcel?
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Looking towards the north headhouse across 1st Street:
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Closer up:
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Bluebikes station on the south side of 1st Street, across from that entrance:
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The busway under construction from Water Street:
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And zooming in from that spot to the north headhouse:
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Great documenting. Looking forward to the rest. Thanks.
 
Walking north from Lechmere, we start to see the Red Bridge viaduct rising over the buildings:
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There's almost two centuries of transportation history in that picture. The stone wall is the Boston and Lowell Railroad embankment, built around 1857-1868. It was the route into North Station for passenger trains until 1927, and remained in use to access a freight yard until the early 21st century. This brick arch was a pedestrian tunnel at the former Bay State Glass Works factory.

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This one was actually taken from my Fitchburg Line train that morning. You're looking north into the Red Bridge viaduct. This ramp was to lead from the inbound Union Square Branch to the VMF, but it was value engineered out, so just the stub remains.
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Red Bridge viaduct viewed from Squires Bridge (the Route 28 bridge):
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And finally, the cobblestones of Fitchburg Street, unsurprisingly named for the Fitchburg Railroad, with the north part of Red Bridge behind. Are there any other remaining cobblestone streets in the Boston area (outside of historic/tourist spots like Beacon Hill)?

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The EGE said:
Walking north from Lechmere, we start to see the Red Bridge viaduct rising over the buildings:
View attachment 20170

There's almost two centuries of transportation history in that picture. The stone wall is the Boston and Lowell Railroad embankment, built around 1857-1868. It was the route into North Station for passenger trains until 1927, and remained in use to access a freight yard until the early 21st century. This brick arch was a pedestrian tunnel at the former Bay State Glass Works factory.

View attachment 20171

This one was actually taken from my Fitchburg Line train that morning. You're looking north into the Red Bridge viaduct. This ramp was to lead from the inbound Union Square Branch to the VMF, but it was value engineered out, so just the stub remains.
View attachment 20172

Red Bridge viaduct viewed from Squires Bridge (the Route 28 bridge):
View attachment 20173
View attachment 20174

And finally, the cobblestones of Fitchburg Street, unsurprisingly named for the Fitchburg Railroad, with the north part of Red Bridge behind. Are there any other remaining cobblestone streets in the Boston area (outside of historic/tourist spots like Beacon Hill)?

View attachment 20175
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This is my favorite post in a while.
 
Crossing under the bridge and up to the other side, we find a horrifying section of missing railing. While the McCarthy Overpass is scheduled to be removed, Squires Bridge crosses the GLX, Fitchburg Line, and Grand Junction, and will need to be replaced in situ.

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USQ D2.3 dominates the scene of the Union Square Branch:
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Headed westbound (on the Fitchburg Line train again), we see the widened Medford Street bridge:
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This trailing point crossover allows inbound trains leaving Union Square to switch from the northern (outbound) track to the inbound track. Its twin facing point crossover to the west (which I didn't manage a shot of) allows outbound trains to switch tracks before arriving at the station.
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The emergency exit and signal shack at the east end of Union Square station. It's nice to see the signal shack directly adjacent to the emergency exit - I worked in some of those shacks at another agency that required quite a bit of walking down the gravel to get to, which is rather unpleasant when you can hear the coyotes. (Note that the emergency exit walkway continues about 100 feet to the left before it hits the station platform - there's plenty of room to extend the platform if ever needed.)
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The EGE said:
Are there any other remaining cobblestone streets in the Boston area (outside of historic/tourist spots like Beacon Hill)?
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Appleton St. in the South End:
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Aside from that, I can't think of any exposed cobblestone, but it can be found all over the city just beneath the asphalt. The street I live on is an example, with the cobblestone exposed every time they scrape and repave. It looks cool, but I hate riding my bike on such surfaces.
 
Union Square from the Prospect Street bridge:
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Zooming in on the walkway, we see the dark gray frame for the artwork over the entrance, and the shelter for the fare machines:
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Zooming in on the platform. Next train sign and countdown signs are installed, detectable edge strips are in place, and signals are lit.
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The platform really is quite far from Prospect Street. Hopefully in the future we'll get a pedestrian bridge to Allen Street and Windsor Place once Boynton Yards is more built out.
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The elevator is coming along nicely, and looks like it will be ready when the station opens. (Previously, it had been expected to open later.)
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Now that's what I call transit-oriented development!
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Looks like they laid it all out so it will be easy to extend the tracks to Porter someday.
 
Charlie_mta said:
Looks like they laid it all out so it will be easy to extend the tracks to Porter someday.
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Yes, the station and tail tracks were explicitly designed to not preclude a Porter extension. The Prospect Street bridge will still need to be widened similar to other GLX overpasses (I think Webster/Newton is wide enough but the CR tracks will have to be shifted), and some of the substation equipment skootched over, but nothing that's being built now gets in the way.
 
East Somerville is the hardest station to photograph. The elevated ROW and auto body shop make the view from Joy Street less than joyful, though I note the countdown signs are up:
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The ramp from Washington Street has been paved:
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Upside of catenary: a clear sign of progress, will provide quiet, clean power for Green Line LRVs. Downside of LRV: Can't get a good shot from Cross Street.
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Here's the view from the same bridge, zoomed out a lot:
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Some interesting red insulators for the catenary wire under the bridge:
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The Community Path ramp that leads to the intersection of Chester and Cross:
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And the view north from Cross Street, with the ramp at far left:
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This brings us to Gilman Square. Pearl Street Substation is finished on the exterior, right down to the lettering; hopefully the inside is almost done as well.
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For the east entrance, elevator shaft glass is in, and the stairs are framed:
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At School Street, the stairs don't have steps yet, and the Community Path is not yet paved:
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The temporary opening for bikes on the School Street bridge:
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Looking east from Sycamore Street to School Street and Gilman Square. There's still something blocking the inbound track, so not ready for testing yet.
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Community Path construction east of Sycamore Street:
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