LETTER: MBTA Bus Barn Could Become a Street Car Museum

The original letter was sent to City Council President Mark Sider, City Manager George Proakis and Assistant City Manager Steve Magoon:

By Clyde Younger

The newly identified UPS site represents an exceptional opportunity to exceed the number of Multi-Family Units planned for the Square. The property is an easy site to comply with the MBTA Law allowing ample land area. The Developer will have “By Right” an easier pathway of building the number of units outlined as the City’s goal.  

Lessening the density of the Square allows an intriguing use of the MBTA Lot, a/k/a “The Cow Barn.” Given its past history of service to the community the site could easily be converted into an Urban Transportation Museum. 

The history of urban transportation growth, as the country moved from an Agriculturally based economy to Industrial, would be of interest to our children as well as their parents and neighboring cities and towns. Visitors to Watertown would see the Square as a viable and lively destination point comprising an exemplary Library, Armenian Museum and diverse Merchants and Restaurants. 

Bringing people into the Square can only assist our small businesses become more profitable.

Educators of School Districts may find the Museum of interest and conduct planned Field Trips to see the various modes of early, recent and future transit. Perhaps the Board Members may consider importing a San Francisco Cable Car, in addition to old Rail Cars we used. Mono-Rails and Chicago’s El may be of consideration, etc.

Since Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers have simulated training. Using a similar tool the Museum would not be limited to a walk through for our children. 

There are two Street Car Museums in Massachusetts: 1. The National Streetcar Museum in Lowell and 2. The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum in Shelburne Falls.

Both are not dedicated Street Car Museums and are only open on Saturday and Sunday.

Information from the museums:

The Streetcars of Lowell National Historical Park

Lowell established their Museum in 1978. The Lowell National Historical Park focus is on preserving American history of the Industrial Revolution in Lowell. The park offers visitors an in-depth look into the textile industry that was the heart of the city with a working cotton mill exhibit, canal boat tours, and trolley rides.

Visitors can enjoy riding the trolleys on the nearly two miles of track operated by the National Park Service. The trolleys typically run from March through November. Visitors of all ages can ride the trolleys free of charge.

New Orleans Public Service, Inc. 966 – “A Streetcar Named Desire”

New Orleans No. 966, currently in Lowell as part of the “On Track” exhibit, is one of the famed cars that rolled through the French Quarter and inspired Tennessee Williams’ play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The car, built by Perley-Thomas of High Point, North Carolina in 1924, ran throughout the Crescent City until 1964. Its sister cars still run in New Orleans. A preservation group in Alabama saved number 966. Their plans failed and the car fell further into disrepair. The Seashore Trolley Museum acquired the car in the early 1980’s and its members sponsored its complete rebuilding and restoration at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine, bringing the car back into operation.

It has come to Lowell on long-term loan from Seashore Trolley Museum as an appropriate national symbol to complement the “On Track” exhibit. Special thanks go to the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority for lending a set of trucks and motors compatible with the track in Lowell, thus enabling its operation in the city.

A Streetcar of Lowell 

Historic Open Trolley 1601.  As part of the development of Lowell National Historical Park, trolley service was re-established in 1984 in Lowell’s downtown to transport park visitors in the city. The Park acquired one closed and two open trolleys which are replicas of trolleys built by the J. G. Brill Company and operated by the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Company, successor to the Bay State Street Railway Company. These were the first accurate replica trolleys built in the United States.

The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, is a fun day of trolley car rides, pump car rides and more for the entire Family

Visit our operating museum, located near the Historic Bridge of Flowers and the “glacial” potholes in the village of Shelburne Falls. You can take a ride on Trolley No. 10 and our old fashioned pump car (not suitable for small children). In our Visitors Center you can play with wooden and electric trains (suitable for children of all ages), browse historical photos from the time of trolleys and purchase trolley and railroad related items in our Trolley Shop gift shop. Outside you can climb into our big red Caboose, and afterwards stroll among the artisan shops, galleries and restaurants in Shelburne Falls.

The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum

Is dedicated to preserving and operating Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway trolley car No. 10. This car was built by Wason Manufacturing Co. in Springfield MA in 1896. It was delivered new to Shelburne Falls and has never left the valley. For thirty years it served its namesake towns. For twenty years it crossed the Deerfield River on what is now the famous Bridge of Flowers. Saved by a local farmer, it spent sixty-five years as a chicken coop, tool shed and play house.

Now, through the efforts of the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, you can ride it in the same freight yard where it used to load and unload passengers, apples, mail, milk and other freight, one hundred years ago.