Along the Charles, in the Late Fall

It was a beautiful, sunny day, despite the cold (about 4-45 deg. F or around 5 deg. C).  I ventured out to Watertown Square and rode back to "our fair city" (Cambridge) along the bike path.

Leaves float in a small
lagoon off the side
of the bike path.

To me, it seems we had a strange autumn.  The foliage came early in places, as we had dry weather from August into September.  But, it seems many trees have been more reluctant than normal when it comes to changing the color of their leaves.   Of course, the oaks are the curmudgeons of the forest, usually the last to drop the canopy.  But many other trees seem a bit late, too.  So, there are green trees surrounding bare trees.

Usually, around Halloween, the peak foliage is with us.  But, a week later, there's still a good bit of foliage remaining.  Never-theless, in the bright sunlight of midday, the trees of the riverbank put on a good show splendid in the deep hues their late fall foliage.

Bare trees,green trees, and fall foliage mix along the river bank.

Looking across the river to the Perkins School tower surrounded by an array of late fall color.

At the riverbend out in brighton.

Grand trees line the riverbank park.

Approaching Harvard Square, a line of golden foliage at JFK Park.

The Weeks  Footbbridge, framed in fall colors, connects the two halves of the Harvard University campus.

Newton Lower Falls Branch: Route of the "Ping Pong"

A new section of the Charles River path system opened recently, a rail-to-trail walkway following the route of what was once the Boston & Worcester Railroad's Newton Lower Falls Branch. This very short branch, a mere 1.2 miles long, branched off from the mainline at Riverside Station.  The river in Riverside is the Charles River, which meanders in all directions while forming the boundary between Newton and Wellesley, Massachusetts.

The Newton Lower Falls Branch followed the east bank of the Charles River,
only a bit over a mile east of the Boston & Worcester Main Line

The rail lines in Massachusetts tending to branch out to serve the mills.  And the mills would locate themselves along the rivers, particularly at waterfalls, where the power of the falling water could be harnessed.

So, it proved economically worthwhile to construct this diminutive branchline along the east bank of the Charles, and curving to a river crossing and entering into a village simply called Lower Falls.

The Charles River, as seen from the
rail bridge near Lower Falls

While the freight service was unremarkable in itself, what made this branch special was its passenger service.  In 1867, the Boston & Worcester merged with two other lines to become the Boston & Albany, spanning the state and connecting to the mighty New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, which stretched west to Chicago.  While trains running overnight between Boston and Chicago ran on the mainline, the Lower Falls branch had a mere shuttle service, connecting Riverside Station on the mainline with the branch's namesake village.

Electric car #01, the "Ping Pong"
(Collection of Norman D. Clark)

With the advent of electric power came the widespread use of electric trolley cars and interurbans in the late 1880s and 1890s.  This inspired the Boston & Albany to eliminate the clumsy use of a locomotive and passenger cars to travel so short a distance.  In 1900 they converted a passenger car into their own version of an interurban, and gave it the number "01."

Since all it did, day in and day out, was shuttle back and forth this little 1.2-mile trip, it was nicknamed the "Ping Pong."

(Collection of Roy Lannigan)

In 1930, the "Ping Pong" was retired, and a single locomotive and passenger car.  Eventually, passenger service ended in 1957.  Freight service continued for a couple of decades.  

Now with rail service a distant memory, the one section of the line, between Washington Street in Wellesley and Concord Street in Newton, had become a walking path.  A wood deck bridge sets on the steel of the rail bridge over the Charles.

In Wellesley, the path transitions from concrete to stone dust as one approaches the Charles.

The path crosses the Charles River reusing the rail bridge.

The wood deck and railings of the footbridge.

Approaching the bridge from the Newton side.

Looking north across Concord Street:  the rails still remain, overgrown.

References:
Humphrey, Thomas J. and Clark, Norman D, "Boston's Commuter Rail: Section Section," Boston Street Railway Association, Inc., 1986.
Karr, Ronald Dale, "The Rail Lines of Southern New England: A Handbook of Railroad History," Branch Line Press, 1994.

Except as noted, all photographs by Rachel Burckardt, Sept. 27, 2014.

Around Town

Swan boats in the lagoon at Boston's
Public Garden

The spring is a time when, even in the city and the urban environs, we can see the subtle changes of the season.  This makes me more observant of the little details all around, as I walk around, to and from work, or going about the chores, or out on a bike ride.  Once in a while, I'm lucky to capture just some snippets of the visual feast all around.  This post is just a sample of them.

A view through the graceful drapings of the willows on the banks of the
lagoon at the Public Garden, just steps from my office. 

I just love this collection of flowers in a garden near my home in Cambridge.

My favorite footbridge is constructed with steel arches and cables
 supporting the wood deck.  This is the Blue Heron Bridge over the
Charles River between Newton (foreground) and Watertown, on a June
Sunday as I was biking the river paths out to Waltham.

I loved the lighting of early evening as the somber crowd leaves Fenway Park.
The "green monster" seats hang over Landsdowne Street.  Sox lost 3-2 to Cleveland.

Sunset over the Charles, framed by the Boston University Bridge.

Winter Coming

Winter is coming. The leaves are down and the ground is bare. But a beautiful landscape is still beautiful even in its mimimalist unvegetated state. Even in the midst of a cold rain on a December day. Witness these footbridges over the Muddy River in the Back Bay Fens, part of Boston's Emerald Necklace.

Meanwhile the frosty nights of December have caused the lagoon at the Public Garden to start to freeze. I just about shiver thinking about it.



With the evening sky reflected in the frosted waters, this view down Newbury Street contrasts the siloette of the spire of the Church of the Covenant against a sky of purple charcoal clouds and a pale rose sky.