The Type 8 Discussion to End All Discussions(Type 8 tracker)

ST214 wrote:I'll be in Boston with a few hours to kill with family on Sunday. I am going to do from North Station to Lechmere, then on to Park St. to hit up a Type 8. Are they running on Sundays yet????

I had no problem finding them last sunday on the B line and I took plenty of pics. :D

Well, i took notes of it all, and will post. Please forgive me, they are not all type 8's.

Today's trip

NS to GC-3604 1 car

GC to BC-3841 1 car

At BC, 3841 coupled up behind 3814, and became my return. I rode in 3814

PARK to GC-3685 1 car

GC to LECH-3636 with 3676 trailing

LECH to NS 3676, with 3636 leading

On Thu, Mar 25, after work (5:30 PM), I got T8 3810 from GC to Park Street, in the first of a two car set. ASA was fine, and the ride was smooth, happy to report.

Alan - the drawbridge on the Lechmere Viaduct is no longer operable and is not needed... nothing that big goes through there anymore, although when the viaduct was first built there were some surprisingly tall-masted vessels that had to get through there from time to time.

The drawbridge on the street below, on the other hand, is still operable and is used whenever something like a sailboat or a cruiser with a flying bridge needs to pass through.

Last night, Tue, Mar 30, after work (4:00 PM), I got M8 3854 from GC to Park Street, in the third of a three car set. ASA was fine, and the ride was smooth once again, happy to report.

So, has anyone out there gotten any Type 8's lately??

Lately? I get 'em all the time. It's just not worth writing about every time though.

Yesterday, for example, I got a Type 8 twice. The first time was when I was going from GC to Arlington. I got 3805, which I had never gotten before. The ASA was fine, but the ride was rather noisy. However, later in the day, when I was going from Park to Chestnut Hill, I got 3822, which was a smooth quiet and very pleasant ride... That made me think.

Does anyone else get the impression that the modifications done on the wheel profiles are not similar in all the cars? The earlier cars (the ones before 3819) seem to be much louder on turns, they screech more than other cars. Also, the ride on 3805 was not as smooth as the 3822, which was also very quiet on turns...

Anyway, the ride in the trusty old 3822 was great (why trusty? Well, for some reason I get it very often. I rode in it on both the C and B lines more than in any other type 8). The ASA was working fine; the ride was smooth, quiet and fast. Every other B-line train we've encountered along the way was either a type 8, or a modified type 7 trainlined with a type 8. I've seen no type 7's or LRV at all on the line. However, it was already during off-peak hours (about 7:40pm).

By the way.. Did anyone else notice the fact that the ASA (on all the cars!) doesn't announce the Chestnut Hill Avenue station?.. At all. Not "next stop", not "entering", not even when the doors open... Nothing. It just skips it! And then continues announcing as usual. Someone once told me it was because when they ordered the Type 8's they were thinking of canceling this stop. However, I find that hard to believe. It is the stop which links to the C and D lines, how can they cancel it?..

I got on 3805 at Boston College today around 6pm. As it was about to pull out of the station, the operator killed power and restarted the train. After a few minutes, a supervisor came out of the office, and wanted to know what the hold up was. The operator said that something "was on" and that she had to restart. The supervisor acknowledged and said that because of the delay she was going to have to express to Washington St. The operator responded that "it's back on again" and asked what she should do. The supervisor said to "just take it out and do the best you can." The operator didn't announce that the train had been expressed until after leaving the station, and stopped at Greycliffe to let people off the train. After this, she had to kill power and restart the train again. At Washington St., where I got off the train, I could see from the outside that the lights went out again, and that the operator had to restart.

Can anyone guess what the problem might have been? It seemed to happen after closing the doors at a stop, when the train tried to start moving again. The operator would kill the power, sit for a few seconds, and restart the train. I could also hear her clicking a button repeatedly during the course of the restart. The operator seemed concerned, but the supervisor didn't seem to care, but just wanted to move the train out of the yard.

I think I know what it is. It's some kind of a test routine. The same exact thing happened to me yesterday when I got on 3803 at GC. As I got on, the operator was on the radio, reporting that the car's propulsion cuts out after every stop, forcing him to reset the train. After a minute or so, a T mechanic (in an orange work vest) came on the train (from the driver's side) and said to the operator: "I guess they forgot the test mode on", ran over to a panel on the wall (across the seat where I was sitting) and opened the panel. Behind the panel was a multitude of switches. The guy flicked a few of the switches, and then all the doors on the car closed simultaneously. After that, the operator started moving, but the car refused to go again after he stopped at the first red light. The guy, still standing at the open panel, said: "Sorry, I didn't do it right", and clicked a few more switches. After that the car started moving. The mechanic closed the panel and got off at Park Street. After that, the ride was uneventful, I got off at BU.

It's a little annoying that a routine that can be switched off that easily is disrupting service. And why was it switched on in the first place? What were they testing, I wonder?

P.S: That switch you say she was clicking continuously is the system reset switch. It's a blue switch located on the far right of the panel.

Well, about TIME I've gotten an M8!!! First time in AGES.

Picked up 3855 from Park Street till GC, sat up front, and ASA was working, ride was smooth, plus I got to see out front too. Not a bad ride after all. Hoepfully, I'll keep getting those more often.

And guess what?? Another one on the way home!!!!!

I got 3861 on the way down to Park Street Form GC on Thu Night (4/29), the second of a two-car train, ASA was fine, and ride was smooth again. About time I get two at once......

Ok, looks like the M8 situation keeps on getting better for me now, I picked up 3805 this AM from Park Street till GVCT, ASA was fine, and ride was smooth/pleasant. And I sat up front too......

FYI I was coming off of the 5:15 AM (first train) out of Braintree via coach 01818 riding right next to the guard's cab and guard themself.

A third Type 7 modified to operate with Type 8s is reportedly in service (IIRC 3609). Anyone see it yet?

Strangely enough, yesterday was the first day in a long time I have not seen any hybrid trains on the line. There were many Type 8's (I was in one), a couple of Type 7's and a couple of LRV's, but no t7+t8 consists. So not only have I not seen the third modified t7 - I haven't seen any in the past few days. Maybe it's in testing.

BTW, the modifications, unfortunately, do not rejuvenate the old cars. Last week I was in a hybrid consist (3622+3812, I think), the ASA was working but - get that - the Type 7's PA system wasn't! That was annoying. The sign said everything it needed to say, but in order to hear the announcements you had to be directly under a speaker, standing on your tip-toes, without anyone talking around you. Saying it was hardly audible would be a major understatement. It was actually easier to hear the announcements from the trailing type 8 when the doors were open at stations

Also, last week I've spotted a hybrid consist on the C line. It was the first type 8 I've seen on the C line since they were shifted back to the B.

In the last 2-3 days I have noticed a few sporadic Type 8's in service on the C line. It seems like they're only in service if they are needed or if they happen to be in the yard at Reservior. It's great to see them back on C a little bit.