The El

Boston's mass transit system used to contain an extensive elevated train network. The last train on that network pulled into North Station on this day in 2004. The El was gone from Charlestown long before that. I remember The El clearly from my childhood and it was nothing like the historical societies describe it in it's heyday.

"For over a century, Bostonians had avoided the congested crowded streets below by riding trains carried on huge steel tracks. When the El was built in 1901, people were thrilled to pay the five-cent fare to travel in mahogany-paneled cars from one shiny station to another. But over time city officials and most residents came to see the once-elegant El as a noisy eyesore. Gradually elevated lines were replaced with subways, and the tracks were demolished. The final run of the Green Line trolley on the last half-mile of elevated track marked a milestone in the modernization of the nation's oldest subway system, and, at the same time, the end of an era."

I remember the "noisy, eyesore" part. Hanging on for dear life (but secretly thrilled) as the train careened through City Square on the big curve and headed for North Station. My mother and grandmother would take us "In Town" on "The El". It was always a big adventure. It was pretty much all gone by '75, my sophmore year in high school. We called the "Downtown Crossing" station "Washington", Mama Kelley called it "Winter/Summer". This is a view of Thompson Square.