Newton and Boston Street Railway
Encyclopedia
Middlesex and Boston Street Railway
The Middlesex and Boston Street Railway was a streetcar and later bus company in the area west of Boston, Massachusetts. Streetcars last ran in 1930, and in 1972 the company's operations were merged into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority .-History:The company was first chartered as...
. Its line is now the 59 Needham Junction
Needham Junction (MBTA station)
Needham Junction is a MBTA Commuter Rail station serving the Needham Line. It is officially located on 51 Junction Street in Needham, Massachusetts, although additional parking can be found south of the intersection of Junction and Chestnut Streets....
- Watertown Square
Watertown (MBTA station)
Watertown Square in Watertown, Massachusetts is the termination point of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's route 71 trackless trolley and the bus. Buses and pass through Watertown Square...
via Newtonville bus.
History
The Newton and Boston Street Railway was organized in 1891. It soon opened an electric trolleyTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
line between Newton Upper Falls
Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts
Newton Upper Falls is a village situated on the east bank of the Charles River in the city of Newton, Massachusetts, in the United States.The area borders Needham, Massachusetts to the south/southwest, Wellesley, Massachusetts to the west, the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston to the extreme...
and Newtonville
Newtonville, Massachusetts
Newtonville is a village of Newton, Massachusetts.Located in Newtonville is Newton North High School, one of the city's two high schools. Also located in Newtonville is the MBTA Commuter Rail train station, which is serviced by the buses 59, 553, 554, and 556....
, with regular service beginning August 31, 1892.
An 1897 map and an 1899 map show a branch to Newton Centre
Newton Centre, Massachusetts
Newton Centre is a borough of Newton, Massachusetts. The main commercial center of Newton Centre is a triangular area surrounding the intersections of Beacon Street, Centre Street and Langley Road. It is the largest downtown area among all the villages of Newton, and serves as a large upscale...
. The 1899 map also shows a branch of the Commonwealth Avenue Street Railway very closely paralleling it.
The Newtonville and Watertown Street Railway was leased October 1, 1897, allowing it to continue northeast to Watertown. An extension southwest to Needham center was built in 1906. On October 9, 1909, the Newton and Boston was merged into the Middlesex and Boston Street Railway
Middlesex and Boston Street Railway
The Middlesex and Boston Street Railway was a streetcar and later bus company in the area west of Boston, Massachusetts. Streetcars last ran in 1930, and in 1972 the company's operations were merged into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority .-History:The company was first chartered as...
.
The line was bustituted
Bustitution
The word bustitution is a neologism sometimes used to describe the practice of replacing a passenger train service with a bus service either on a temporary or permanent basis. The word is a portmanteau of the words "bus" and "substitution"...
in 1926. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
began to subsidize the route in September 1964, and assigned it the number 32 Needham-Watertown. When the MBTA took over the M&B on June 30, 1972, it was renumbered to 532. It was again renumbered in September 1982, and is now the 59 Needham Junction - Watertown Square via Newtonville.
Route
The only changes from the original route to the present day have been at Newton Upper Falls. The original alignment was rather circuitous, looping north of Eliot Street on High, Summer and Chestnut Streets, presumably to avoid steep grades. An alignment in the mid-1970s used a one-way pairOne-way pair
A one-way pair, one-way couple, or just couplet is a pair of parallel, usually one-way streets that carry opposite directions of a signed route or major traffic flow, or sometimes opposite directions of a bus or streetcar route....
, with the northbound direction looping south of Eliot Street. It now uses the old northbound side (Oak and Chestnut Streets) in both directions, the opposite of the original route.
Until April 1981, the route only went north from Needham Center
Needham Center (MBTA station)
Needham Center is the penultimate MBTA Commuter Rail station serving the Needham Line. It was originally built in 1870 , and was much larger than it is today...
; it was extended at that time to Needham Junction. 59A Needham Street-Watertown Square was added in December 1984, running Watertown to Newton Highlands
Newton Highlands (MBTA station)
Newton Highlands is a surface-level rapid transit station located in Newton, Massachusetts on the Green Line "D" Branch of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Like the other surface level stations on the "D" Branch, it opened on July 4, 1959....
and splitting there onto its own alignment to the Needham Industrial Park. 59A service was merged into 59 in December 1989, with alternate weekday trips using the 59A alignment (and continuing to Newton Junction).
The branch to Newton Centre split from the main route (on Walnut Street), heading east on Homer Street. It turned south on Centre Street, southeast on Willow Street, south on Sumner Street, and west on Beacon Street, ending at Centre Street.