One of my favorite views of Boston, Cambridge, and the Charles River is partly of my own making. These are photos from the end of the platform at Charles Street on the Red Line, a rapid transit line in metropolitan Boston.
Back in the early 1980s, I was the project engineer for the project that extended the station platforms. The original station could only handle 4-car trains, and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) wanted to run 6-car trains. The solution was to extend the platforms to and onto the Longfellow Bridges, which carries traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists, and the Red Line over the Charles River to Cambridge.
At the time, the original concept was an open platform, with only a tall picket fence. At one point, some in the MBTA were favoring a canopy over the platform and a wall, but we did not accept that recommendation. The advantage: many wonderful views are available for those waiting for a train. Also, standing out on the end of the platform, it's almost like being in the Esplanade, the parklands along the Charles River.
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A young woman waits for her train to Cambridge, late on a summer afternoon in Aug. 2008. It's a Saturday and I'm headed to Kendall Square to see Woody Allan's Vicky Christina Barcelona.
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| Above: The Hancock and Prudential, Boston's two tallest buildings, tower above the trees of the Esplanade. |
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| Sailboats dot the Charles at dusk in August 2012 |
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| A blimp floats over the Charles towards Fenway Park, where the Red Sox will be playing on this August evening, 4 years after the picture of the young woman. |
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