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What could have been one of the most serious accidents in Boston transit
history occurred on January 9th 1907. The original Orange Line
had elevated sections to its north and south, with a loop on
Atlantic Avenue. From 1901 to 1908, the "L" cars used to travel
through the Green Line tunnel under Tremont Street. The above photo shows
the switch tower at Washington and Motte (Herald) Streets, with a train
heading south from Atlantic Avenue. The elevated
structure that went to the Tremont Street subway is visible at the top.
At 9:10 p.m., the operator of a four-car passenger train heading to
Dudley Street
(similar to the photo above) took the curve at Washington Street at a high
rate of speed, which caused the last car to swing off the tracks and strike
Tower D. Hitting the tower prevented the car from being hurled off
the elevated structure and into the street below. Amazingly, due to
the late hour and low passenger count, no one sustained serious injuries.
The power was knocked out in the last car, and six
passengers were trapped in it for about an hour. The curve is located near
the old Boston & Albany tracks, which were about 60 feet below the
train. According to the January 10th 1907 Boston Globe, "For an hour the
passengers were imprisoned inside the car, which, after striking the tower
house, careened toward the other track, throwing the passengers into the
lower corner of the car, where they were huddled like so many sheep." Presumably, the car hit the tower and then
quickly bounced off it.
One of the injured passengers describes the event, "When we were
about to turn the curve near Columbia theater, I thought we were moving
rapidly, and I still think I never traveled so fast in an elevated train. We
got around the curve all right, it seemed, but suddenly there was a bumping
accompanied by a grinding noise and I was thrown to the floor. Of
course I did not know what happened, but I instantly recognized there was an
accident of some kind. When the rear trucks of the car left the tracks, all
the lights were extinguished, and looking out I could see a dark object,
which afterward I found was the signal tower. We had struck that, and this
brought the flight of the car to an end." Three injured passengers were
treated by a doctor that was riding in a forward car of the train, and then
each person was sent
home in a carriage from their local transit stop.
An "L" wrecking crane was dispatched south from Sullivan Square
via the Atlantic Avenue loop, and the
damaged car was placed on new trucks (wheels) and towed away. Normal service
resumed the next day.
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