BERy Trivia / Seashore Trivia

[Gerry6309]

Here is a question related to the NIMBY question. In one of its last such projects, the Elevated built a new reservation in 1919, and abandoned a former horsecar route a block away. Nane the streets.(The NIMBYs did not object

[Gerry6309]

This is not well documented online, but if you compare older BERy system maps with those published later, you can find it. The new street was used both north and south of the new section.

[MBTA3247]

The only thing I can find is a switch from Saratoga Street (between Chelsea St and Boardman St) to a continuous routing on Bennington Street for the Orient Heights line.

[Gerry6309]

The only thing I can find is a switch from Saratoga Street (between Chelsea St and Boardman St) to a continuous routing on Bennington Street for the Orient Heights line.

And that is the correct answer.

Back in the 1880s, a developer gave the Metropolitan RR land on Saratoga St. for a car house as an incentive to extend their line to Winthrop Junction (Orient Heights). The company naturally built their line on the street that passed the car house, avoiding an unnecessary branch. When the line was electrified in the waning months of 1894, the car house was closed. Highway traffic in the area used Bennington St., and the El's extension to Walley St. returned to Bennington St. north of where Saratoga crosses. By 1919, traffic in the Day Sq. area, growing population along Bennington, and the need to replace the street track on Saratoga led the Elevated to build a reservation along Bennington to speed up service. They also used it for a summertime route to Revere Beach using the Eastern Mass. tracks on Washburn and Ocean Aves. It was the last major new section of reservation track to be built.