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Green Line "A" Branch

GREEN LINE "A" BRANCH
Watertown Line
MBTA 3109 on Cambridge Street, September 1968.jpg
An "A" Branch trolley on Cambridge Street in 1968
Overview
Type Light rail
System Green Line
Status closed and abandoned
Locale Boston and Watertown
Termini Park Street Station, Boston
Watertown Yard
Operation
Opened 1856 (first sections, as part of Cambridge Horse Railroad)
1889 (electrification on route from Oak Square to Boston)
Closed June 20, 1969
Operator(s) Various private companies, then M.T.A., then MBTA
Character Underground from Park Street to Kenmore, central median from Kenmore to Packards Corner, street-running from Packards Corner to Watertown Yard
Rolling stock PCC streetcars (1941-1969)
Technical
Number of tracks 2
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm)
Route map
to Lechmere
Park Street
Boylston
Pleasant Street Portal
Copley
"E" Branch
Hynes Convention Center
Kenmore
"D" Branch
"C" Branch
Blandford Street Portal
Blandford Street
Boston University East
Boston University Central
Boston University West
St. Paul Street
Pleasant Street
Braves Field Loop
closed 1962
Babcock Street
"B" Branch
Packards Corner
Street-running stops
Union Square
Street-running stops
Oak Square
Oak Square Loop
Street-running stops
Newton Corner
Street-running stops
Watertown Yard

The "A" Branch or Watertown Branch was a streetcar line in the Boston, Massachusetts area, operating as a branch of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line. In 1969 it was replaced by the 57 bus, though the tracks remained continuous until March 1994.

The line started as a horse car street railway, as a branch of the Cambridge Horse Railroad. The branch split at Central Square, Cambridge, and crossed the Charles River on the River Street Bridge into Allston. It continued on through Union Square, and in 1858 was opened to Oak Square in the center of Brighton. The part east of Union Square later became part of the 64 bus route.

The first electric trolleys in Boston ran between the Allston Carhouse (northeast of Union Square) and Park Square downtown, on tracks running south on Harvard Street, east on Beacon Street, south on Massachusetts Avenue, and east on Boylston Street. These first ran on January 1, 1889, on tracks that had been built for horse cars.

On June 13, 1896, tracks opened from Union Square east along North Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue to Kenmore Square, merging with the existing tracks on Beacon Street. That year, the western terminal was also extended to just shy of Newton Corner, with Newton Corner service beginning May 21, 1898. On December 9, 1912, the route was extended north to Watertown on tracks that had been used by routes from Cambridge to Newton Corner since 1900. During the early part of the 20th century, the line was also used for light rail freight service.


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Wikipedia

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