Orange Line Memories

The recent rebuilding of Dudley Street Station in the heart of Roxbury is a glorious blend of the past with present needs. Unlike any other (but one) of the old Orange Line stations, which disappeared when the line was moved west to be with the railroad tracks, Dudley Street Station, due to its location as a terminus and distribution point for buses, had to be remade. 

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People Before Highways

This article is a slightly edited transcript of a presentation and discussion that took place September 28, 2014 at Doyle’s Café in Jamaica Plain.  The panel was moderated by Jim Vrabel, author of 'A People's History of the New Boston' and the panelists included:  John Bassett, Ron Hafer, and Tom Corrigan who were activists trying to stop the Southwest Expressway highway project going through Jamaica Plain.

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Bussey Bridge Train Disaster

March 14, 1887 dawned gray and cold in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was a snappy Monday morning with the temperature at about 34 degrees. Shortly after 6:00 a.m., Boston & Providence Railroad engineer Walter White and his fireman Alfred Billings steamed their engine. The Bussey Bridge, toward which 200 souls in nine fragile coaches were heading, was by any standards, a peculiar structure.

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