01100's, 01800's, etc.
These are car numbers assigned to idividual transit vehicles. This practice has been on going for a very long time and you can usually tell how modern a car is by the number. On the Red Line the newest stuff is the 01800's. On the Blue Line, it is the 0600's. The Orange it is the 01200's. Each car in a train has it's own number so a red line train of 01800's main have 01819, 01820, etc. Trolleys also have there own series but do not begin with a 0. The current Green Line fleet start with 3400's through 3700. For a detailed roster visit the New England Transportation Site found on our links off of the home page of this site.
Blue Birds, Red Birds, Silver Birds, Orange Blossoms, Blue Bells, etc.
These are nicknames given to certain types of cars on the MBTA. The most well known were the Bluebirds on the Red Line in the 1970's. See our 1970's gallery for photos.
The EL
The EL stands for Elevated. The last elevated in Boston is that of the Green Line near North Station. This El is very unique as it was designed for trolleys. Most other elevateds were for heavy rail. But like most elevated in Boston this one will also come down soon.
Inbound and Outbound
Direction of trains, inbound towards Boston, Outbound away from Boston.
PCC, LRV, Type &, Type 8.
These are types of trolley cars. The PCC was designed in the 1930's and 1940's. They ruled Boston's Green Line through the 1970's PCC stands for Presidents Conference Committee, a group to design rapid transit vehicles. Though not well know, there were also Heavy Rail PCC's The old Orange Line 01100 series and the Old Blue Line 0500's and the old 01400's on the Red were of the Heavy Rail PCC type. The only PCC's left are on the Mattapan line. Some PCC driven technology lives on in the workhorse Type 7.
LRV is a Light Rail Vehicle. These were built to replace the PCC but as most goverment contracts go this one was full of problems, cars derailed, and had to be pulled from service a number of times. All of the LRV;s were build by Boeing but all have been rebuilt by another company and now seem to be working OK.
Type 7 and Type 8's are also newer trolleys. The Type 7's were made in Japan and are the most reliable. The Type 8's are trouble prone and currently slowly being brought into service. The "Type" designation goes way back, as before the PCC cars there were Type 5's etc.
Headway
This is the time between trains. If a train shows up every 5 minutes than that is the headway.
Third Rail
This is the extra rail along most heavy rail lines used to pick up power.
Catenary
This is the overhead wires that some transit vehicles use.
Tokens
These are coins you buy to put in the fareboxes or turnstyles to pay your fare.
