1928 Boston & Maine Watertown Branch Timetable

1928 Boston & Maine Watertown Branch Timetable

McGinnis Scheme B&M Boxcars at West Cambridge MA

There have been two Boston & Maine McGinnis-scheme boxcars parked along the Fitchburg mainline in West Cambridge MA for years.  I don't know the history behind them, but would like to!

Don't quote me on this, but if my memory serves me correctly, the parking lot they are next to was once a US Postal building.  It is now home to a bread baking company.

The entire area once had a yard and many spurs. There was an iron works on the north side of the tracks, and a brick manufacturer just east of the main yard.  But they are all gone now... victim to Cambridge's desire to cram as many condo, apartment, and retail buildings into a small space as possible.  You can see some of that growth in the background of the top photo, behind the boxcars.  They are on the north side of the Fitchburg main.  The south side still has a gritty, commercial feel to it, but it is nothing like the old days.

The boxcar on the left is numbered 76500.  The other had its number painted over.

Fund Set Up For Injured MBTA Police Officer

(via the Trains.com News Wire)

BOSTON – Donations are being collected online and via mail to help Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police officer Richard Donohue Jr., who was shot and critically injured during an exchange of gunfire with the two men suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon.

The MBTA Police Association Benevolent Fund has launched a website, www.officerricharddonohue.com, to collect money to aid the 33-year-old officer and his family as he recovers. Donohue is married with a 7-month-old son. He remains in critical but stable condition at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge.

The donation website for Donohue launched on Monday afternoon. MBTA is helping to spread awareness about the fund, including prominently displaying a link to the donation website and a photo of Donohue on the homepage of the MBTA.com website.

Money will go to help pay for Donohue’s medical expenses and his family’s daily bills. The donation website says Donohue joined the transit police department three years ago. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, he served as U.S. Navy officer before joining the MBTA police.