Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 0622 and 0623

This car is part of a group of 70 rapid transit cars that went into service in 1979 on Boston’s Blue Line running between Bowdoin station in downtown Boston and Wonderland station in Revere, MA. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority assigned color codes to each of its four rapid transit routes and selected blue for the line to Wonderland because of its closeness to water, running under Boston Harbor and near Massachusetts Bay. Passengers called these cars “Bluebells” because of their blue color and the chime of electric warning bells as doors closed. Blue Line cars needed to be shorter and narrower than typical rapid transit cars in order to fit through the East Boston tunnel that was originally designed for streetcars. These cars are also unusual due to their dual sources of power. The “Bluebells” drew electric power from a third rail while running underground and used pantographs to receive electric power from an overhead wire on surface portions of the line. The 1998 movie, Next Stop Wonderland, featured a romantic meeting aboard a train of “Bluebells.” During their years of service, the “Bluebells” suffered heavy corrosion damage from the salt air blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. So, the MBTA gave cars #0622 and #0623 structural repairs, new sheathing and fresh paint to test the feasibility of rebuilding the entire fleet. After rebuilding these two cars, the MBTA determined the program was not cost effective and decided to replace the “Bluebells” with new equipment. All Boston rapid transit cars have a “0” in front of their numbers to distinguish them from streetcars. The four color-coded Boston rapid transit lines have varying design configurations. So, the Blue, Red, Orange and Green lines each have their own fleet of transit cars which are not interchangeable. The section of the Blue Line between downtown Boston and East Boston opened in 1904 as the East Boston tunnel. The Boston Elevated Railway operated this line with streetcars. Between East Boston and Revere, the Blue Line operates on the right-of-way of the former Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad which opened in 1875 as a narrow gauge steam railway. The BRB&L was electrified in 1928 and abandoned in 1940. The Boston Elevated purchased the right-of-way in 1941. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts acquired the Boston Elevated in 1947, adopting the name Metropolitan Transit Authority and later Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The MTA began running over part of the BRB&L route as far as Orient Heights in 1952 and began operation of the full route from Boston to Wonderland station in Revere in 1954. The 1952 extension included a station serving Logan Airport. Blue Line trains switch between third rail and overhead wire power at the Airport station. The Blue Line terminal in Revere is named Wonderland after the nearby Wonderland Amusement Park (open between 1906 and 1911) and later the Wonderland Greyhound Park, which closed in 2009.