Now You See It

. . . and soon you won't!  The 47-year-old Quincy Center T garage is set for demolition soon.  It is the oldest parking structure in the system and was closed in 2012, due to structural issues.  I have taken many photos from this garage before it was closed.  The trains will continue to run during demo - that should be quite the engineering challenge.  What about saving the spiral section and repurposing it  into an art venue and naming it Guggenheim North?

Riding The Rails

The train is a good way to get around on a snowy day.

Red Train Coming!

This train is arriving at Wollaston station, heading intown.  Some day I would like to capture trains on all 3 sets of tracks.

All Lined Up

Behind South Station these red line trains wait to be put into service. I had to capture the train yard through the closely woven chain link fence from an overpass.

Redline

How is your Monday morning commute? Many people from Quincy commute into Boston to work and they take the Red-line train to get there.

Teens & Jeans

I like the different postures and the kneeless jeans that were across from me on my train ride home the other day.

This is my monochrome Monday contribution. See Alieni's site here for more black and white images.

Outbound

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Storm clouds were gathering a couple days ago as the red line train headed towards Braintree.

That train's a comin . . .

[click image to enlarge] I really like the way the wildflowers grow along the train tracks in the summer. This Red line train is approaching the Wollaston station heading towards Boston.

Foot Loose

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The summer footwear craze was captured here on a train ride into Boston. These flimsy sandals called flip flops or thongs, come in an array of materials, colors and adornments. They are fun to wear for a short time but they can be the cause of foot pain and foot injury. I hope this couple is headed straight to the beach where they can enjoy the feel of the sand between their toes. Do you have a pair? What color?

A Bag of Posies

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The orange flowers in the orange shopping bag begged for a picture on my train ride back to Quincy a couple days ago.

Footwear on the T

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This is a view of train riders sitting across from me on a recent trek into Boston. The red bag is a nice touch. I think footwear is an interesting subject if you follow fashion trends and fads. Blue jeans are definitely the casual clothing of choice around here. What's the casual fashion where you live?

Stock Up

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Saturday is shopping day for many like this woman on the Red line train in Quincy.

Standing Room Only

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To ease overcrowding on the Red Line train from Quincy to Boston, a couple cars have been reconfigured without seats.

Before Rush Hour

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This was taken outside Wollaston Train Station on Newport Avenue. How do you get to work: train, plane, bicycle, car, motorcycle, horse, boat, albatross or some other means?

Waiting for the train 2

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The glassed-in waiting area on the North Quincy Train platform makes for some interesting images.

Inbound

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I like the yellow trash bin at the North Quincy Train Station.

Granite Railway

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This is the site of the first commercial railway in the United States. Transporting massive stones from the quarry to the Quincy waterfront and from there to Charlestown was a major challenge. In 1826 railway pioneer Gridley Bryant not only designed and built a three-mile track to move the granite but also secured the funding of $100,000 from Boston investors. The railway was closed in 1940.

Charlie Card

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The T changed from a token system this past year and instituted a card vending system that it calls the "Charlie Card." They named it after a character in a song by the Kingston Trio that gets stuck on the train system and can never get off. I always thought it appropriate that the MBTA would choose a character who is forever doomed to ride the system as their standard bearer.

Do you know what MBTA stands for? I've heard that it stands for "Most Broken-down Trains in America." To be fair, when it works well it can't be beat for getting in and out of town, but when it's bad, boy is it bad. You can listen to the Charlie Song on Youtube here.

Waiting for the Train

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I really like the architectural glass blocks at the North Quincy Train station.

Red Line Train

Quincy lies just south of Boston and many commuters use public transportation to get to work. The MBTA's Red Line train begins in Braintree and has four stops in Quincy before crossing the Neponset River to Boston and ending at Alewife in Cambridge. The four Quincy train stops are Quincy Adams, Quincy Center, Wollaston, and North Quincy.