The "T"

Well, Charlie certainly can't get off at Hingham!

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• MTA
• MBTA
• Boston
• Charlie
• Kingston
• Trio
• subway
• trolley
• transit

[Bozewani]

WHAT YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF PAYING 75 cents more?? ME GREEDY AND STINGY

[Ponderosa65]

You know, of course,that the song is from the early 1960s and is tongue in cheek.....

[gepetto887]

Mr Cooldit1 asked why his wife doesn't just give him a nickel.

I think it's pretty obvious that she doesn't want him off that train.

Alwaus.

roberty maos'n

[pete5668]

he's off the train now because by now he's an old man and qualifies for the senior citizen discount which reduces his fare to already paid.

[frowerhousestudios]

We always sung this at camp! I LOVE IT! :D

[matteighm]

@cooldit1

I wondered the same thing about 50 years ago when I was 10 years old!!

[lordofgangstas]

SCP-342,anyone?

[40Waxx]

@2:11 are those Orange Line cars at the Northeastern stop on the Arborway? Orange Line cars on the Green Line used to always flip me out.

[40Waxx]

@lucy082011 Yes Lucy, I was a student a NorthEastern when that happened. Jammed up the Green Line all afternoon.

[PhantomTF]

My boys are young but they adore this video! I think they get a kick out of Charlie getting stuck on the train and never able to leave. The song is dated but still has a timeless appeal.

I'm amused that the MBTA chose the name Charlie Card while also raising the rates! Gotta wonder if they really understood the reasoning behind the song.

[UncleMikeNJ]

@Fallingdown232 That's what my mother always asked -- she was 12 when the K3 version came out -- and I had to explain it to her: Mr. and Mrs. Charlie were protesting the exit fare. Giving him the extra nickel would be surrender.

They had to have the exit fare because fare boxes couldn't take 2 coins at once. New York got around this in 1953 when theirs went from 10 to 15 cents by inventing the subway token. I think Philly and Toronto are the only North American cites that still use tokens.

[lucy082011]

cool picture of Boeing LRV # 3507. does anyone remember the LRV that derail at the curve going into North Station in 1978 or 1979? it was LRV # 3507. i knew the driver of that car.

[frepler]

@TheFlanker35 This is true. However, in 2004 the MTA (by then the MBTA) started a program where you could by a card that wouold let you on to the subway system. And what did they call the card? What else? The "Charlie Card."

[rondellw]

@pamiejune77 I'm from the south and the cops here are the complete opposite. They would question about what you're up too in an accusatory manner and try to bust you for something rather than help you. I was just in Boston for the first time last week and I was pleasantly surprised how nice and caring the officers are.