Complete listing of all destinations of Green Line roll sign

Does anyone know of all then destinations on the green line roll signs?

It depends whether you're referring to present MBTA rollsigns...

Tertullian wrote:It depends whether you're referring to present MBTA rollsigns...

The roll signs for the Boeings and the earlier type 7s

better yet, what are all of the programmed destinations in the LCD signs? eventually, the seashore trolley will most likely get an LRV, we can then find out for sure!

Back in the late 1970's, someone compiled a list for ROLLSIGN magazine of all the destination readings on the original LRV rollsigns. In a nutshell, the destinations were listed for the following routes (short-turns had the red slash through the route letter):

A Watertown-Park St.
A Oak Square-Park St.
B Boston College-Lechmere
B Boston College-North Station
B Blandford St-North Station (?)
C Cleveland Circle-Lechmere
D Riverside-Lechmere
D Riverside-North Station
D Reservoir-Government Center
E Arborway-Park St.
E Heath St.-Park St.
E Brigham Circle-Park St.
E Northeastern Univ.-Park St.
M Mattapan Sq-Ashmont Sta

There were also generic destinations for Lechmere, North Station, Government Center, Park St., Copley Square and Kenmore Square.

Starting in the early 1980's, new side signs were cut in for B to Government Center, C to North Station and Government Center and D to Government Center. There were also some new rollsigns apparently made for the LRV's in the late 1980's because I saw some unusual readings from time to time (Washington St. for the B route, Coolidge Corner for the C, etc.). I'll have to go back through my slides to see what some of them were.

Jim

Who cares about LCD screens? You can program them to say anything you want. Not the same as a real printed rollsign!

-otto-

I think some of the Boeings had some obscure, rare rollsigns that very trains ever really had

Otto Vondrak wrote:You can program them to say anything you want. Not the same as a real printed rollsign!

-otto-

Right! so maybe they have some random stuff, which you may have thought of if you had thought before just being critical of what i said.

Why did the LRV's have mattapan/ashmont? most of them came with pantographs, so they could not have gone on that line.

Corey- I wasn't being critical, I was just saying, "Yay! Rollsigns! Boo! LCDs!"

What's so exciting about an LCD? With the right software, I can make one of your LRV's display Metro-North indications. A rollsign is planned... printed... it has permanence. Out here, we had an experimental Budd gas turbine that toured the New York MTA lines in the 1970s. It had a printed roll sign for the usual LIRR and MTA (it wasn't MN yet) stops... but it also had destinations that either hadn't seen service in years or didn't even have tracks going there (regional Stewart Airport comes to mind).

My point is... rollsigns have mystique. LCD's have... microchips that do whatever you tell them to do.

Geez- don't always get bent out of shape at everything I say.

CRail wrote: Right! so maybe they have some random stuff, which you may have thought of if you had thought before just being critical of what i said.

Why did the LRV's have mattapan/ashmont? most of them came with pantographs, so they could not have gone on that line.

All of the LRV's are electrically capable of running with poles. The first two units delivered had both pantos and poles on the roof, and were tested on non-panto wiring such as Arborway past Heath and Watertown, and used for years for various non-revenue push-pull jobs on the A-line when they needed something with a little more muscle than a PCC. There's even pictures floating on the Internet of a fantrip 25 years ago on the A where you can clearly see the pole up and the pantograph down. The remaining units were delivered with just pantographs, but a simple pole hookup is all that's physically needed to get them operational for the M overhead. All of them could've been shipped with poles if needed...the T just didn't need to do that past the first test cars because by that point it had gotten enough of its overhead upgraded to panto compatibility to not need 'em.

The Type 7's also have Mattapan destination signs (the 3600's at least did...not sure about the 3700's). That IS a nod to potential pantograph upgrades on the M, since those vehicles can't physically run on that overhead as presently constituted.

Otto: I agree and prefer rollsigns, and i dont mean to get bent out of shape, i think i came off more intense than i intended, and for that i apologize.

F-Line: It is my understanding that with the added HVAC units, the LRV's cannot go back to poles. Which would not affect the sign but it would, however, prevent them from operating to mattapan. Correct me if im wrong.

CRail wrote:F-Line: It is my understanding that with the added HVAC units, the LRV's cannot go back to poles. Which would not affect the sign but it would, however, prevent them from operating to mattapan. Correct me if im wrong.

Possibly...although that might have more to do with physical obstructions to a pole installation because of all the extra stuff now mounted on the roofs than it does with electrical compatibility (both inputs were designed to suck the same amount of juice, so if the pantos can power the A/C units just fine the poles ought to be able to do the same). The poles used to trail off the back of the cars when up whereas the pantographs are closer to the front and obviously don't require any horizontal clearances to work. That meant the poles spanned across a lot of the area where the A/C units are now...so they may not be able to rest flat on the car when poles are down (more an issue when the cars are in motion under pantograph use than in Mattapan where poles would either be up all the time or only down when the car is motionless in the yard). I've never heard the rebuild work or A/C's used as a reason why those couldn't go to Mattapan, just the same "maintenance is hard because parts are scarce, and the cars were crap to begin with" line that they're giving now (sensible enough)...so it must not be completely impossible or prohibitive to do.

At any rate, the T didn't really need to think about it. When the rebuilds were done in '96 there was no more operational trolley wire left on the Green Line anyway. No need for them to spend more money on A/C units with better pole clearances...not on those lemons, anyway. But until those units went up on the roof the only thing you needed to get one of those Boeings running on trolley wire was to grab a pole from the shop and hook the dang thing up.

CRail wrote:

Otto Vondrak wrote:You can program them to say anything you want. Not the same as a real printed rollsign!

-otto-

Right! so maybe they have some random stuff, which you may have thought of if you had thought before just being critical of what i said.

Why did the LRV's have mattapan/ashmont? most of them came with pantographs, so they could not have gone on that line.

Planning for the future mabie? The MBTA does thnk smart at "some" times

Isn't there already a Mattapan thread? This thread is suppose to be about rollsigns on the Green Line, not poles on the LRV's so they can go to the M... keep it on topic please.

When the "E" line only went to Symphony station back in the early 80s was there a roll sign for "Symphony?"