- Pleasant Street Incline
The Pleasant Street Incline or Pleasant Street Portal was the southern access point for the
Tremont Street Subway inBoston, Massachusetts , which later became part of the Green Line (but not until after the incline was closed).History
One month after the original opening of the
Tremont Street Subway , the Pleasant Street Incline opened onOctober 1 ,1897 , allowing morestreetcar lines to operate via the subway. The new tunnel put in service stretched from the outer tracks at Boylston south underTremont Street , with a four-track portal in the triangle bounded by Tremont Street, Pleasant Street (later part of Broadway) and Shawmut Avenue . Until near its south end, the tunnel carried only two tracks. Aflying junction near the portal split it into four tracks, with the northbound west track going over the southbound east track. Thus the track configuration at the portal allowed two separate lines to split without any crossings. The two west tracks continued down Tremont Street, while the east tracks turned east on Pleasant Street and went to City Point inSouth Boston via Broadway.On
June 10 ,1901 , all streetcar service through the portal stopped, as theWashington Street Elevated (later part of the Orange Line) was connected to the two outermost tracks. El trains came out of the portal, with a center island platform in an open cut, passed under Pleasant Street, and then rose onto an elevated structure. Many surface streetcar lines were truncated to Dudley, the south end of the new El.The Washington Street Tunnel opened on
November 30 ,1908 , and streetcars were returned to the Pleasant Street Incline by their old routes.On
March 2 ,1953 , the City Point line was replaced by the 9 bus route. The tracks to Tremont Street, formerly connected to the west tracks of the portal, were realigned to the east tracks, allowing a bus transfer station to be built where the west tracks had been. The Tremont Street line was bustituted as the 43 route onNovember 20 ,1961 , and a shuttle started operation between the portal and Boylston, with transfer there to through subway cars. This shuttle was short-lived, ending operation onApril 6 ,1962 , the end of all operation through the Pleasant Street Portal. The portal has since been covered over by Elliot Norton Park (at the intersection of Tremont Street, Shawmut Avenue, and Oak Street West), and no above-ground traces remain.Plans for the Silver Line include using part of the tunnel to this portal, but disconnecting it at either end.
References
*Various
Sanborn map s
*rtspcc, [http://groups-beta.google.com/group/ne.transportation/browse_frm/thread/288c4bbfd0265c9f/c492e9162faefeed Questions about history of the Boston subways/els] , ne.transportation May 2-3, 2005
* [http://members.aol.com/netransit/private/tss/tss.html NETransit: 100 Years of the Tremont Street Subway]
* [http://members.aol.com/eddanamta/busfiles/contents.pdf Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA District 1964-present] (PDF )
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