Special Topics: Engineering Boston

Describes the transition from horsecars to electric-powered streetcars.

A colorized film clip, with added audio, of street traffic at the beginning of the 20th century (9:15 min)

The history of the elevated railway, now known as the Orange Line.

A documentary film and articles on the history of Boston's streetcar lines, now largely replaced by buses.

A brief film showing Boston streetcars, riders, and subways, in color and with audio (9:40 min).

Historic photos of cars, rail lines, tunnels, and stations.

Photos of buildings, streetscapes, and transit facilities,

Provides information on the tunnel and its changeover from surface trolley cars to third-rail rapid transit trains.

Promotional literature touting the advantages of overhead wires for electric transmission versus underground conduits that often failed in heavy storms.

This publication recounts the history of public transportation from the horse car, to the subway, and to motorized bus lines.

This IEEE Milestones article commemorates the electrification of Boston's streetcar system.

An article on the switching and signaling equipment used on the Boston Elevated Railway.

A black-and-white film with added ambient sound effects.

Sam Bass Warner's classic history of the growth of Boston's suburbs, made possible by the expansion of streetcar transportation.

A documentary film and articles on the history of Boston's vanished streetcar lines, now largely replaced by buses.

A silent film produced by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company showing electric streetcars, pedestrians, and horse transportation.

This article from the Mass. Historical Society features a route map and a brochure issued by the Boston Elevated Railway Company.

A history of this MBTA Orange Line subway station which opened in 1987.

A presentation from the Governor’s Special Panel to Review the MBTA.

This 1911 Scientific American article describes the construction method used in building the half-mile long subway tunnel.

Provides a brief history of each line, a description of its cars, with a station-by-station tour of the route.

Jim Vrabel looks at the history of downtown Boston's busiest intersection. He also discusses the deadly 1897 gas explosion that occurred here during the building of the Tremont Street subway line (4 min).

A documentary film and articles on the history of Boston's streetcar lines, now largely replaced by buses.

This collection of photographs documents the elevated Orange Line and the communities it served before its planned demolition in 1987.

This 2017 paper from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government "presents rough order-of- magnitude estimates for the capital cost of the North South Rail Link (the “Link”), a proposed infrastructure project to connect the commuter rail and Amtrak lines that currently terminate at Boston’s North and South Stations via underground tunnels."

Photos of buildings, streetscapes, and transit facilities,

Historic photos of subway station and line construction taken during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Provides information on the tunnel and its changeover from surface trolley cars to third-rail rapid transit trains.

This publication recounts the history of public transportation from the horse car, to the subway, and to motorized bus lines.

A tour of defunct tunnels that once served Boston's original subway lines (5:30 mins).

This Library of Congress website provides a link to a collection of newspaper articles from the early years of the city's subway system.

Routes, schedules, and maps for Boston's rail and subway system.

Nearly 200 planning and construction reports on subway line extensions in the metro Boston area.

A listing of all of the streetcars, subway cars, trackless trolleys, and locomotives purchased by the MBTA from the 1890s-present.

This video compares the subway system of Boston to that of Paris and finds that the lack of ring lines that connect subway lines to one another makes the MBTA far less efficient (26:30 min).

This history of the Tremont Street Subway is contained within papers nominating the subway for addition to the National Register of Historic Places.

This study examines the reasons behind the construction cost overruns associated with the Green Line Extension.

A documentary on the competition between Boston and New York to build the world's first subway (54 mins).

This 2023 report from NYU examines transit construction costs in several major world cities, including Boston.

This citizen action group advocates for improvements in the Boston and regional mass transit systems.

This 2012 Urban Land Institute report warns that future transit-oriented development in metro-Boston could be impeded by a lack of capacity.