Metropolitan Transit Authority 8361

The Boston Elevated Railway began supplementing streetcars with trolley buses in the 1930s. (Bostonians usually called these vehicles “trackless trolleys,” although “trolley bus” or “trolley coach” were more common terms elsewhere.) In 1947, the Metropolitan Transit Authority took over transit operation from the Boston Elevated Ry. The MTA ordered 25 trolley buses from Pullman-Standard that year and another 128 identical trolley buses (Nos. 8355 – 8482) in 1948. This was a standard Pullman post-war model used in many U.S. cities. In the period before and after World War II, Pullman-Standard was the largest American manufacturer of trolley buses. With its plant in nearby Worcester, MA, Pullman produced almost all of Boston’s trolley buses. At the peak of Boston’s trolley bus operation in 1952, the MTA had 463 of the vehicles, making it the third largest trolley bus system in the U.S., after Chicago and Atlanta. The MTA’s trolley bus acquisitions in 1947 and 1948 were primarily to replace streetcars in the Dorchester and Roxbury districts. No. 8361 entered service at the beginning of 1949 at the Park Street car house at Field’s Corner. The MTA paint scheme included a gray roof, cream window area and orange side and end panels. The MTA later moved No. 8361 to the Clarendon Hill and Eagle Street car houses. No. 8361 had a relatively short life. It went into storage in 1962 as the MTA converted routes to motor buses. By 1964, four trolley bus routes remained because a tunnel at Cambridge restricted operation of motor buses there. The Cambridge trolley bus operation has survived, with new vehicles in 1976 and then in 2004. Boston also added the Silver Line trolley bus routes in the downtown in 2004. In 1963, Seashore acquired No. 8361, becoming the first trolley bus at the museum. Seashore has done mechanical and cosmetic restoration on No. 8361. Repainting in 1973 included applying a map decal such as ones the MTA used in the 1950s. The coach has operated at various times at the museum. In 1976, Seashore also acquired Boston trolley bus No. 8490. This was built by Pullman in 1951 and has unusual doors on its left side. These are the only surviving pre-1976 Boston trolley buses. The museum also owns three of the 1976 Boston trolley buses built by Flyer Industries.