HD MBTA Blue Line Bowdoin Station

[TheSkywalker2011]

My dad calls the station BOW-DOIN.

[caranddriverMing]

these trains are mad noisy

[Moose2482]

What's the point of having OVERHEAD WIRES AND a third rail? Why don't they ONLY use the third rail for underground AND outside?

[videonut33]

@Moose2482 Third rail freezes in the winter. The Blue Line is not-- I'm saying this very loosely-- IS NOT like the Orange or the Red that has third rail throughout the entire line.

The Overheads start at Logan Airport and ends at Wonderland.

[2001rtm]

@Moose2482 Well, 3rd rails aren't as safe as overhead wires, but overhead wires don't fit in underground tunnels, so the MBTA has 3rd rail underground, and overhead wires outside. I think the Red and Orange Line should do that too (They both have just 3rd rail).

[SALEMFIREDEPT]

I miss the old hawker sidley cars , the new ones are nice but they all have automated station announcements, I like the older trains better, when my dad was little the blue line cars he rode had wooden seats.

[TheDylanJoyce]

does the train actually make a sharp u turn at the station and come back into the station on the other side? making a U turn?

[jdgator95]

@TheDylanJoyce Yes, it goes around a loop.

[buzzy99group]

Why does the blue line have a pantygraph and a...the thing that is on the ground to make power ?

[jdgator95]

@buzzy99group The thing on the ground is an electrified third rail. It switches off from pantograph to third rail when it goes underground.

[rixstuh]

@buzzy99group - live in Nashville TN, lived in Lynn, way back when...(moved away 40 yrs ago).; used to ride Service Bus Lines (probably now defunct) from dwntwn Lynn along Lynnway to East Boston, catch blue line inbound. As I recall, pantographs were deployed for the primarily surface shoreline trackage, as opposed to the tunnel portion of the route. Back when I lived there ('60s,'70s), power pick-up was changed near the Maverick statiion (while now it might be at airport station)

[BPChikita]

they should close iy its like 10 sec away from govenment center

[2012alexg]

I meant to write, ilove to stay on and go around the loop

[2012alexg]

i just staying on and going around the loop. Its cool but loud

[BostonUrbEx]

I never understood why they just can't open all the doors on the rear 4 cars. They're able to isolate the front 4 and rear 2 on the Red/Orange Lines, why can they not isolate the 4 rear for the Blue?

In fact, why not just open ALL of them? It's not like anyone is inside the front 2 cars to walk out into the wall!

Bah, the MBTA! I'll never understand it! :(

Also, I've never been at GC when Bowdoin is closed; Do they still loop at Bowdoin or is GC an Alewife or Oak Grove style terminus?

[Moose2482]

We don't even do that in Toronto to ANY of the stations! We just have shorter wait times at the LEAST busy subway stations!

[Moose2482]

Why on EARTH would ANY subway station close on Evenings and weekends? I just don't GET it!

[jdgator95]

Well it is BARELY used by anyone and there is another one about a hundred feet away, so instead of shutting it down altogether they just close it on off peak hours. Even during the rush hour it is pretty empty

[asvb232]

@jdgator95 You mean Govt Ctr right?

[chesterite74]

@Moose2482 jdgator is right, business wise its really only useful during the work week to get people away from it.

[parejopinto]

so they r going to abandon this station when?

[jdgator95]

As of now they're not

[parejopinto]

so its not going to get closed?? what bout da jfk/umass extension?? sry i dont live in boston yet so...

[jdgator95]

JKF/umass extension??? I dont think so

[rd1027]

@jdgator95 they must mean the charles mgh extension

[parejopinto]

btw awesome vid... i finally learned how to say bowdoin lol

[AlgonquinRider810]

i was hearing a buzzing sound that nyc's r160 cars make. where was it coming from?

[jdgator95]

The motors

[2012alexg]

do the buttons work at other stations or are they turned off?

[jdgator95]

They only work at Bowdoin, they use them there because the platform only fits 4 cars, so if they all opened some would be in the tunnel, this is also why they can't run 6 car Hawker Siddely 0600s trains, because they don't have the buttons

[2012alexg]

wait so in order to open the doors to the last two cars they have to pull the train up? if thats th case cant they just open the doors manually without the buttons?

[jdgator95]

No, on the inbound platform (going toward wonderland) two cars are always in the tunnel, so if they all opened two car's doors would be opening against the tunnel wall, so if anyone for whatever reason happened to be in those cars it would be a hazard. Does that clear things up?

[2012alexg]

yea question is if they're in the tunnel how do they get out of the train? does the train have to turn around?

[jdgator95]

The outbound platform can fit 6 car trains, so there is no problem getting off

[2012alexg]

now everything is clear to me

[jdgator95]

That's why they use the buttons to open the doors at this station because the doors in the last 2 cars would open into the tunnel, that and there aren't many people

[dneidorff]

Wait, if they use the buttons at Bowdoin then those two cars could exit in the tunnel if they wanted which is against ever rule in the books...Bowdoin was always, not modified, as a 6 car station. They can modify 4 car undergrounds to 6 as they did to state and maverick...

[dneidorff]

Govt Ctr was already at a 6 car length. The button usage at Bowdoin is for low numbers. I forsee that Bowdoin will turn into something like city hall station in NYC...it will eventually close permanently for budget reasons, yet the blue line still must travel through it because it needs to loop, as we all know!

[sieman700]

ya it did but the not whole led was bright the wond was bright but the rest was not

[jdgator95]

When I was riding the blue line the other day the ASA said we were entering maverick when we were leaving Beachmont, so the operator had to cycle through all the stops on the LED boards, it even said TEST TRAIN and then OUT OF SERVICE while we were going down the line

[TNT314159]

Fail. The doors will not open on the right side of the train, they open on the left at Bowdoin. The ASA had that problem a lot when the new 0700 cars first went into service but I would have thought they would have even fixed Bowdoin by now...

[CrazyAboutA380s]

That's kind of like the roll signs on the Chicago L. When the operator changes the sign to the new destination, you can see some cool destinations on the roll sign, even if your train isn't going there!

[acelaboy123]

awsome video!! why was that blueline going so slow when it was leaving?

[jdgator95]

Because it immediatly goes into a sharp loop to turn around as soon as it gets into the tunnel so the have to go slow, if you listen you can hear the wheels screaching around the sharp curve

[sieman700]

awesome bowdoin i believe is supposed to be scrapped sometime this year i think and wow the front led destionation sign on the front isnt working right and you had to press a button to open the door

[CJaguar265]

I have to Bowdoin to just push that button :) while I still can

[jdgator95]

i know it's so much fun :)

It's the only station that uses the button

[CJaguar265]

Why are they going to close down Bowdoin Station?

[jdgator95]

Well that's just what I've heard but it's really close to government center (like a 10 second ride between the two) and not many people use it and for some reason it can't handle 6 car trains well

[dneidorff]

What do you mean it can't handle a 6car train well? It either does, or it doesn't? And it does.

[jdgator95]

I don't really know, but that's a direct quote from someone else who know a lot more than me about the mbta and why they're closing Bowdoin, ii have no idea what exactly that means.