Watertown Yard (MBTA station)

WATERTOWN
An outbound train arrives at Watertown in 1967
Coordinates	42°21′51.45″N 71°11′7.96″W / 42.3642917°N 71.1855444°W / 42.3642917; -71.1855444Coordinates: 42°21′51.45″N 71°11′7.96″W / 42.3642917°N 71.1855444°W / 42.3642917; -71.1855444
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Green Line "A" branch
Platforms	1 side platform (for buses)
Tracks	2 (former)
Connections	MBTA Bus: 52, 57, 59, 193, 502, 504
History
Closed	June 21, 1969 (Green Line)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Terminus Green Line "A" Branch Service ended 1969 Newton Corner toward Park Street

Watertown Carhouse is a bus maintenance facility and former streetcar carhouse located in the southern section of Watertown, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Watertown Square. As Watertown Yard, the site also serves as a bus depot serving local and express routes, with additional connections available at Watertown Square on the opposite end of the Watertown Bridge.

In 1900, streetcar service was extended south from Watertown Square to Newton Corner, which served as a transfer point between the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) and suburban operators. In 1912, the Watertown Line was created by extending the Newton Corner line along these tracks to a new transfer facility, yard, and maintenance facility, Watertown Yard.

Watertown Yard formerly served as the terminus of the Green Line "A" Branch, with its heavy maintenance shops eventually handling most work for the remaining trolley routes by the 1950s. When the "D" Branch opened in 1959, the Riverside shops were opened to supplement the Watertown and Reservoir carhouses. Due to a rolling stock shortage created largely by the opening of the "D" Branch, as well as traffic problems at the poorly designed Newton Corner rotary, the "A" Branch was closed in 1969 and replaced by the #57 bus. However, Watertown Carhouse continued to see frequent use.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the line was kept open for maintenance moves to the carhouse at night. After the newly arrived Boeing LRVs began failing in the late 1970s, the MBTA was desperate for functional rolling stock. At Watertown, 15 out-of-service and wrecked PCC streetcars were rebuilt to as-new condition. (Ten of these cars still run on the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line). Crews at the carhouse rebuilt trolleybuses serving the Harvard lines, converted other PCC cars into work cars, and salvaged trucks from pre-1924 Blue Line stock to build new work cars. LRVs and even the still-in-use Type 7 cars were brought in for maintenance work, using LRVs equipped with trolley poles to tow the modern pantograph-equipped cars under the older trolley wire.