Old Colony Lines vs Kingston/Plymouth, Greenbush, etc

Another point I'd like to make is that when the lines were being constructed, they were known chiefly as the Old Colony Lines. That's how they were referred to mostly in the Patriot Ledger, etc. Often you'd hear, "The Old colony lines, one branch going to Kingston/Plymouth, the other to Middleborough,..."

There's no need to run down the list of stations, since just about every train the T runs is a local.

I took a look at the Old Colony schedule online, and there's a handful of trains that stop and Kingston, and continue on to Plymouth. Or vice-versa. I'd assume going outbound, they'd pull into Kingston, back out, and continue on to Plymouth. It's over 20 minutes to go between the two stations...a distance of 2.1 miles over the road. Is there any real demand for trains to hit both stops on the same trip? Would shuttle bus service to Plymouth suffice? What would possess the T to do this crazy-type move?

There must, I remember first seeing these moves for the DNC. That and I assume because there are so few Plymouth trains.

"Park and Ride" and politics.Kingston had room for 2000 cars too park just off Rt 3 and room for the train sets too spend the night.Plymouth didn't want the supposed congestion with 2000 daily cars added to the tourist traffic which supports the local economy .However, the MBTA needed the support of people in Plymouth , therefore ,you have the truncated schedule.

I wonder if the Old Colony thing is partly a kind of anti-NIMBY reflex or holdover. One of the big arguments to convince the neighbors to go along with the restoration was that it was a restoration of a service that had been important to the history of the towns. One of the big arguments against was that the train would change the historic town centers, so pointing out that the RR was pretty old and fit into the whole historic theme was a good idea. Maybe calling it Old Colony is partly because of that. Also, try this title for the combined timetable:


Middleboro/Lakeville-Plymouth/Kingston-Greenbush Lines. Sure, it would look fine like this:

Middleboro/Lakeville
Plymouth/Kingston
Greenbush

but it would take up more space on the timetable cover.

Has anyone sent a note (polite) to the right department at the T?

I did send an email to MBCR Customer service before I posted on Railroad.net, and this was the reply that I received:

Dear Mr. O’Brien,
I have read your email regarding the MBTA’s choices for naming the Plymouth/Kingston and Middleborough/Lakeville lines under one heading, Old Colony, and will attempt to respond on their behalf.
The Greenbush line, while part of the original 3 Old Colony lines, was reopened just two years ago so it was determined that it should have its own timetable and would be called the Greenbush line. The reason for this separation is quite simply that the other 2 lines (of the former Old Colony) reopened some 12 years ago with great anticipation by the locals, schedules were designed to accommodate 2 lines and named the Old Colony because of its rich history and familiarity to those that would be using it. Further to that, it would be far too cumbersome to read the schedules by adding the Greenbush as the 3rd line. As for the MBTA’s website referring to these 2 lines as Middleborough/Lakeville and Plymouth/Kingston in opposition to the way the hand held schedules are designed is for clarity for someone visiting the website, like yourself, who is unfamiliar with the area. If you are in the station looking for a schedule, there are personnel at the information desk who can assist you.


I really don't think they got my point at all. Or they just don't care. It's like telling someone from out of town: "Take a left where Goldberg's used to be". "Old Colony Line" means nothing to more and more people every year.

Basically, in plain english "we don't know, but it sounded good at the time. Talk to the guy at the station if you need help"

Barryob wrote: "Old Colony Line" means nothing to more and more people every year.

Or it means more and more to more people each year. Repeat a thing often enough and we all get used to it.

CSX stills refers to it as the B&A.

I thought it was the Boston Subdivision

5:00pm Boston Subvidision Train now boarding on track 2!! Just doesn't sound right

I need a quick advice about the MBTA Kingston/Plymouth schedule that can be found here:

http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/ ... e=OLCOLONY

Why Kingston is listed twice (as 1st and 3rd stop)?

From the MBTA map, I see that Kingston and Plymouth are two different ending points for the trains from Boston (so some trains go to Kingston, others go to Plymouth). The schedule however shows some trains that visit both stops (train #60 is one of them).

Is there a shuttle service operating there that is not shown in the schedule (perhaps between Kingston and Halifax)?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

There are three trains in each direction that stop at both Plymouth and Kingston, making a reverse move between those stops.

MBTA3247 wrote:There are three trains in each direction that stop at both Plymouth and Kingston, making a reverse move between those stops.

I see. Interesting. Thanks!

One goof on this schedule is train 60, arriving in South Weymouth at 11:14 pm, while train no. 64 is supposed to arrive at 11;17, for that to happen train 60 would have to pass train 64 on a non-existant passing track north of the station. So what ends up happening at least when I've taken it, train 60 gets to the switch SOUTH of the station and doesn't get in to South Weymouth until 11:20 (the old departure time) or so untill 64 passes. Unless train 64 is supposed to be routinely late and the times I've taken it, it hasn't been.

Why do most trains skip the plymouth stop and go to kingston instead? I would think it would terminate at plymouth in addition the rush hour trains all originate out of kingston.