Mattapan High Speed Trolley--Catch It Now!

Waiting for the Mattapan High Speed Trolley at Milton Station, April 2006 (Photo Copyright the City Record and Boston News-Letter)

Spring means field trips so grab your T pass or Charlie card or tokens (you can even drive, if you want) and hop on the Red Line to Ashmont Station for the first in a series of City Record recommended outings.

As part of the Ashmont Station reconstruction, the Mattapan High Speed Trolley will shut down on 24 June 2006 for about a year.  The trolley is a hidden Boston gem--a free ride from the Ashmont Red Line Station to Mattapan Square and back, going through Cedar Grove Cemetery and along the Neponset in vintage 1940s trolley cars.  If you get on or off at Milton Station one can see, as an added bonus, the historic Walter Baker Chocolate Factory complex and stop at the Ice Creamsmith for some of Boston's best ice cream.  If Ice Creamsmith has both french vanilla and orange sorbet, make sure to try them combined--those of you who remember orange Creamsicles will have an instant flashback. You may also want to try dinner or brunch at the Ashmont Grill, Dorchester's best new restaurant, which is close by Ashmont Station.

Boston Online has cool photos of the trolleys.

You can also monitor the status of the Ashmont Station project, which has its own blog here.

Comments

[Suldog]

Nice article. The Icecreamsmith is one of the hidden gems of this city, too. GREAT ice cream.

If you read my piece referenced at U-Hub, then you know that I rode this line for well over 30 years. I always dread the possibility of it closing permanently, since the trolleys are so old and equipment so hard to come by.