Canton Viaduct

February 24, 2008

Canton Viaduct, Canton Junction, MA

This railroad viaduct was opened in 1835 by the Boston and Providence Railroad, and it has been used for rail traffic over the Canton River ever since. I have been on top of the viaduct in the past, during trips on the MBTA Commuter Rail from Boston to Providence, but I have never seen the 70 foot-tall, 615 foot-long structure from river level.

The structure is actually two walls, 5 feet thick, with a five-foot thick space between them. Buttresses divide this space into 21 individual compartments of different sizes depending on their locations along the viaduct. The Canton River flows through 6 small arches on one side of the wall, and two larger arches have since been cut to allow road traffic through and area on the opposite side of the wall.

Two other viaducts of similar design exist elsewhere in the world - Russia, of all places. There are conflicting reports online about this, however. One site says that the designer of the Canton Viaduct was summoned to Russia in 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I to design two similar passes on a railroad being built between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Wikipedia says that Tsar Alexander II sent workers to Canton in the latter half of the 19th Century to draw up plans for two bridges for the Trans-Siberian Railway. Either way, both websites claim that there are only three railroad viaducts of such design in the world today.

Newbury Street

February 23, 2008

Newbury Street, Boston

Here's a view of the upper end of Newbury Street, Boston's premier retail district. I had just had my hair cut at a salon not too far from here, and decided to walk a few blocks down the street to the Boston Public Library on nearby Boylston Street to find a cozy leather chair to read for a couple hours.

Newbury Street is usually very crowded on the weekends...one will often find drivers in their posh convertibles driving along this stretch during warmer months. After a full day of snow, however, it appears that most people decided to stay indoors.

Snow on the E Line

February 22, 2008

Snow on the MBTA E Line, Brigham Circle Station, Boston

This view looks southward on the E Line towards Heath Street...we were waiting for the train to Symphony Station at the time. The snow was falling pretty hard then, which made for a messy commute for those at work looking to find a way home during rush hour. Thankfully, trains run in all weather conditions in Boston.

Landmark Center

February 20, 2007

Landmark Center, Boston

Here is a common sight on my way to work every day. Landmark Center was developed in the early 2000s as a giant, mixed-use complex as part of the effort to jump-start the regentrification of the Fenway and Kenmore Square areas. The building was opened in 1928 and served over 50 years as a Sears, Roebuck & Co warehouse and store. It closed sometime in the 1980s and stood boarded up, neglected and decaying, for a few decades.

This is perhaps one of the most magnificent restorations seen in recent years in the Fenway neighborhood. The building, exhibiting its original Art Deco splendor on the exterior, now houses a Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Staples, REI, Best Buy, Lonestar Steakhouse and Saloon, Quiznos, Boston Sports Club fitness center, a large Regal Theater complex, and a Blick Art Store, among other establishments. Its main lobby is absolutely beautiful, with amazing marble walls and grand staircased/escalators leading to its upper office levels. It has earned its place on the National Register of Historic Landmarks, thereby designating it as "Landmark Center".

Its retail stores aside, this building serves as an excellent welcome to Boston City for those arriving from the western suburbs on the MBTA D Line to see a Red Sox Game a few blocks away.

The color of science...

February 19, 2008

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Research East, Boston

Since I was holed up at work from 8AM until 7PM tonight, I didn't have much time to venture out and take a picture. However, at the end of the day, I pulled out my camera and snapped a few pictures of our science in an HIV vaccine laboratory. Above is an ice bucket with so-called "eppendorf" snap-cap tubes filled with very small quantities of RNA that we have purified from monkey T cells infected with the HIV cousin, SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus).

Rose Kennedy Greenway

February 17, 2008

Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston

I was doing a little shopping this afternoon in the Faneuil Hall area and noticed the progress that has been made on the new Rose Kennedy Greenway. This land, carved through downtown Boston, used to be home of Boston's second "green monster", the I-93 central artery, which was a giant, overhead highway separating downtown from the nearby North End. The "Big Dig" project, which transferred the highway below ground (directly below the greenway here) was completed about 4 years ago, and the overhead highway was demolished soon afterward, reuniting the North End with Downtown. It has taken all this time for the city to redevelop the scar left by the highway, but it's coming along nicely.

In the picture above is an artwork installation of panels that light up at night and change color. In the distance is Rowes Wharf (the large arch) and the Boston Harbor Hotel; the Harbor is just to the other side of the buildings on the left.

Park Street Station

February 16, 2008

Park Street Station, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Boston

Here is a shot taken at the exit of Park Street Station, the busiest point of the MBTA (or "T"). This happens to be, along with the next stop, Boylston, one of the two oldest subway stations in the United States. Built in 1897, the station served passengers of the former Tremont Street Subway, which ran between Boylston and Park for a number of years before the line was expanded points east and west. The Red Line platform was built 15 years later, then known as the Park Street Under (since the platform is perpendicular and directly beneath the Green Line platforms).

The steeple seen through the glass skylight is that of the Park Street Church, which has been here since 1808.