Wednesday Wanderings: Kendal Green

This post came about in a somewhat unusual way. I was riding outbound Fitchburg Line train 467 when it had a locomotive failure and was unable to take power out of the Kendal Green station stop. Since someone was going to pick me up at nearby Lincoln Station, I took advantage of the train not having moved out of the station and got off to arrange pickup there instead.

Naturally, five minutes later the train successfully pulled out of the station and continued on its way, 25 minutes late. Not all was lost, however, since I was now at a train station which I had not yet photographed!

Kendal Green is one of three MBTA stations in Weston, and one of the six stations once located in the town. Silver Hill and Hastings both lie to the west on the Fitchburg Line, and are limited-stop stations skipped by most trains. Abandoned stations include Stony Brook on the Fitchburg (demolished to make way for Route 128) and Weston and Cherry Brook on the abandoned Central Massachusetts line, which crosses over the Fitchburg Line on a bridge just east of Kendal Green.

Public domain image (copyright expiration) via Weston Historical Comission

Although Weston is now a bedroom community of 11,000 with the highest per capita income of any town in the state, it once had a small industrial base. Pictured above is the Hook & Hastings organ factory, which was built in the late 1890s in the middle of a farm field near today's Hastings Station (named after company owner and Weston resident Francis Henry Hastings). With no zoning laws restricting its location, it loomed above the residential and farm area surrounding it and could be seen for miles away. Railroad sidings brought in lumber and other materials and shipped finished organs all over the country.

In addition to the production facilities for both the working components of the organ and its cosmetic cabinet, the factory included a room for full assembly and testing of each organ before it was disassembled for shipment. Many larger organs were shown off for the public in concerts attended by both Hook & Hastings employees and local residents.

Public domain image (copyright expiration) via Weston Historical Comission

Hastings hated the idea of making Weston a "factory town," (although it might have earned the rare distinction of being an "Organ Factory Town!") so it must be noted that this was not the case. On the contrary, although the area grew around the factory and the company built a community hall and many of the area houses, deliberate efforts were made to avoid that "factory town" feel and the resulting labor strikes that came from major inequality.

The worker housing built by the company were spread around the area, and Hastings encouraged his workers to buy their own land, often at highly subsidized rates from himself, striving for a harmonious environment in his company and community. Hastings' frequent social events were certainly evidence of his success, including a celebration of a local one-room schoolhouse, a 70th birthday party thrown for him by his employees in 1906, and frequent company baseball games against such competitors as the Waltham Watch Company.

Although the Hook & Hastings organ company continued its fine workmanship into the 1930s with the construction of many famous organs including the "Rockefeller Organ" for the Riverside Church in New York City, the Great Depression and newer technology caused the factory to shut down in 1935. It was demolished one year later.

The MBTA Fitchburg Line still stops at the Kendal Green station, although the building itself is now a private residence. As at Lincoln, inbound trains board across a paved crossing over the outbound track. With the added issue of the parking lot across the tracks, trains almost always stop short of this station when another train is using it as passengers will stream around the back of an outbound train, straight into the path of an inbound express. Such is the norm on the Fitchburg Line.

For more information on the Kendal Green historic area and the Hook & Hastings organ factory, please visit the Weston Historical Commission page on the area.

How to Survive as an Extreme Commuter

The other day while sitting aboard that Worcester Line local I despise, I realized just how much of my life I spend sitting on a train, to the tune of a full week every year...and I work part-time.

As I've posted about before, I belong to the set of commuters whose trips is longer than 90 minutes one way, and who are therefore called Extreme Commuters. With a one-way commute between 120 and 150 minutes, I'm at the far end of that spectrum, but I'm not alone. Worcester is over an hour from Boston even on an express, over an hour and a half on a local, and similar commuting lengths are present on the Fitchburg and Providence Lines, not to mention other commuter rail systems across the country.

In addition, anyone who doesn't live next door to Worcester Union Station and work beside South Station still has to travel to and from the train. My time spent at both ends of the train part of my commute adds up to between 60 and 80 minutes, part of which is pad time in case of delays and part is just the way the train schedule works.

Rushing to get home at Southborough

One of the most popular search terms used to find my blog is Extreme Commuting, and while looking for other resources myself, I've found that they're scarce.

Everything on extreme commuting I've found online seems to be either written by a journalist or some so-called "expert" who is clearly not an extreme commuter themselves. "Read a book," "listen to music," and "play games on your phone" are lame suggestions, thank you very much, and make me wonder why you bothered to write this website in the first place.

Everybody has their own ways to pass the time, deal with the fatigue, find time to sleep, and have some sort of life outside their job. Dealing only with the first one is not a proper solution.

My hypothesis is that us real extreme commuters have too much other STUFF that we would rather do with our precious spare time. As I write this, I'm on a train with absolutely nothing better to do than write to all of you considering an extreme commute. I hope I'm of some help.

Passing the Time

I spend my fair share of time reading and listening to music, but a lot of my time is spent on my phone writing posts for this blog including almost all of my commuting stories. I compose them on my email app, and as soon as I get home or to work where I get a Wi-Fi signal, my phone will send it off to my blogger email address which saves my post as a draft. I add photos and proof-read later on a real computer, either after my commute or on a weekend.

Music drowns out the real world for concentration and keeps me going. It's especially crucial in the morning when leaving for the train station, to get me in a positive awake mood. Songs with moving, upbeat tunes such as The Black Keys' Gold On The Ceiling and Foster The People's Don't Stop are some of my favorites for getting me in the groove. My rule of thumb is that any song that has you drumming on the steering wheel at 6:25 AM is perfect for this!

I gave up on attempting to use the Wi-Fi except for when the train is mostly empty (when I get on at both ends of line) but I used to attempt to maintain a social life via Facebook. I'm also trying to teach myself to sleep on my train home, but it's tough. Staying awake to have my ticket ready for the train crew's collection is an uphill battle, and of course afterwards I can't sleep. I always set an alarm for myself (through earbuds), just to make sure I don't miss my stop.

Fatigue and Sleep

I try to go to bed at 8:30 every night where I will work the next day. This gives me my eight hours of sleep before waking up at 5:15 the next day. After a long day at work, I'm miserable and can't function after that time anyway, so I'll go to bed early even if I have the next day off.

I have tried to get stuff done after work, and it's completely pointless. I simply cannot concentrate on anything longer than five minutes, even if it's something that's really intuitive to me like editing photos. It's a good thing I love my job, because the rest of my day is nearly worthless. It's just what I have to will myself through so that I can enjoy the rest of my life. See the conclusion for more on this.

Do I have a life outside my job?

Sort of. I work part-time, so I still have time for the rest of my life on the days I don't commute. Still, life needs to get done even during my short work week, especially personal emails and those related to my small business as a photographer. I often take advantage of my hour-long lunch break to do this. I bring lunch to work, so I can eat in 20 minutes and spend the rest of the time replying to emails from friends, family, and clients. Part of this post was written at work, in fact.

If I worked full-time, my life would be confined to the weekends and my lunch breaks, so the answer would be "barely." Most of my social interaction during the week is with my co-workers and train crews. If you're thinking of taking a job that would make you an extreme commuter, keep this in mind.

Make sure you like your coworkers or you'll be lonely, and be prepared to give up many of your other activities for lack of energy. You may think an 8:30 bedtime is ridiculous, but when your entire body is literally aching with the toll of 14 consecutive hours on the move and you can no longer form coherent sentences, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.

I make these sacrifices because although I can push myself to do more, it's just a matter of time before I crash. I've had to call in sick I was so exhausted and burnt out, and taking these steps to limit myself is the only way to avoid this.

Conclusion

Becoming an extreme commuter is not a decision to take lightly. It's an incredible strain on your life, and your life will change. Make sure you enjoy your job, perhaps asking yourself if, in a world without money, you would do it for free. A high-paying but tedious or stressful job is not a good enough reason unless your body literally runs on money. Your job itself needs to be what keeps you going, the excitement of another day getting you out of your warm bed every morning, maintaining your spirits, and giving you the energy to hold your life together. Extreme commuting is a tough fight both mentally and physically, and you need something to fight for.

I hope this helps anyone who is considering becoming an Extreme Commuter. Feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions or comments. Good luck!

Wednesday Wanderings: Broadway

Broadway was one of the first stations I visited exclusively for this system tour segment, but due to the station's history, I wanted to shoot some more photos before writing this piece. It's a pretty neat station and proves yet again how fascinating and complicated the history of the Boston transit system is.

After the success of the Cambridge Tunnel (today's Red Line) between Harvard Square and Park Street, work was done to extend the line to the south. The Dorchester Tunnel reached Washington Street (now Downtown Crossing) and South Station in 1915 and '16, respectively, and then tunneled deep under the Fort Point Channel to reach Broadway and Andrew. Note that this was a different project than the 1926-1929 Dorchester Extension to Ashmont, which simply took over an Old Colony Railroad branch line.

Built in 1917, Broadway Station had three levels: a surface station serving streetcars traveling from the Tremont Street Tunnel (Green Line) through the now-abandoned Pleasant Street Portal to City Point and South Boston, an upper level tunnel for other streetcars including ones through Andrew Square, and a lower level tunnel for subway trains.

Broadway is located at the very edge of South Boston, and most of its service came from streetcar and bus routes rather than foot traffic. After Andrew opened in 1919, the streetcars using the upper level tunnel were cut back to that station to save money, and the tunnel was removed from service. Surface cars continued to serve the station's street level (below) until 1953 when the City Point line was replaced with the #9 bus.

In the late 1980, the station was renovated and part of the original upper level tunnel was integrated into the lobby. The staircase you see in the first historic image was removed, leaving the station with just one set of stairs at the northern end of the station, facing south. If you go to the lobby today, you can see the original arched ceiling of the streetcar tunnel.

Down on the Red Line level, the center island platform has nicely tiled columns with 200 inset decorative tiles installed during the renovation as part of the Arts On The Line program. They were created by the students at St. Brigid's School in South Boston. With the second staircase gone, the station has a lengthy passageway between the columns down the length of the platform.

Located above the staircases is the station's other art installation, Jay Coogan's "Domestic Objects & Tools of the Trade." Also visible in this photo is the warning system for the tunnel under the Fort Point Channel, a motion sensor which will be tripped by trespassers and set off an alarm that's often confused with a fire alarm. It's supposed to recognize both trains and subway rats and not trip the alarm, but a train set it off about a minute after this photo was taken. These installations are also in place at South Station on the other end of this tunnel as well as at North Station for the Orange Line crossing of the Charles River.

Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 license

With the upper level tunnels on either side of the lobby almost entirely intact, many plans have been formed around them for improved or added service. The southern portal in the middle of Dorchester Ave has been filled but the tunnel is still there, and as you can see in the second photo, the northern portal on Foundry Street is still very much existent, and still serves as a fire escape for the station!

In no particular order, possible uses for this tunnel includes short-turning Red Line trains, another route to the Cabot Yard maintenance facility just on the other side of the street, usage on either the Indigo Line (using subway trains) or the North-South Rail Link, and emergency responder training, the only one of these plans to actually go somewhere.

While the TSA already has four Green Line Type 6 LRV cars and a pair of retired Blue Line cars used for testing in a mock station in Colorado, the MBTA is building its own training center in this unused tunnel with one Green Line car and a pair of Blue Line cars. Funded by the Department of Homeland Security, the tunnel will also include a pair of conference rooms and presumably some sort of building covering up the entrance. This means that if you want a peek into the tunnel, you should go sooner rather than later!

Another day, another all-stops local

The orange sun is just breaking the horizon as I pull out of my driveway onto a sleepy country road. It illuminates the tops of the trees in a brilliant orange glow, while the roadway below is still shrouded in darkness. Somebody That I Used To Know is playing on the radio and gets me into my morning groove, although I'm already awake from having half my usual time to eat and pack two meals in the morning.

I've made it out on time, with both meals neatly packed in Tupperware the night before, now safely in my bag in the passenger seat. With no time for my normal breakfast and no real bread, I smeared some peanut butter on a hamburger bun and wolfed it down as I packed.

Fog hangs low over the country landscape as I make my way towards the train station three towns over. Golf courses, houses, and forests give way to businesses and larger roads as I get closer. By the time I cross Route 9, the sun is higher in the sky and rather blinding as it reflects down the empty pavement stretching to the east.

The Worcester Line schedule has recently changed, and I forget what time my train is. 6:55? 6:49? The commuter population is about right for my preferred arrival time, so I think I guessed properly after discovering my unexpected change of plans. Walking up to pay for parking (without remembering to check my spot number, as usual), I spot a beautifully flowering plant with the moon
behind it, grab my trusty point-and-shoot, and make a few images. As a professional photographer, I should realize the depth of field issue before seeing the images on a monitor tonight, but it's early in the morning, okay?

After walking back to check my spot number as I do almost once a week, I cross to the inbound platform to wait for the train, shivering slightly in the cold. Should've grabbed my winter coat, I think. The train is nice and quiet and I grab a window seat to hunker down for the hour and fifteen minute ride to Boston's Back Bay Station. Somebody's personal Wi-Fi reads "I'm watching you!" and I puzzle at the strangely familiar car number for a second before realizing this
is where I rode on the outbound 4:05 express yesterday.

As the train makes its way towards Boston I remember how much I hate all-stops local trains. I'm squished into the too-small window seat beside another commuter for over an hour as the train stops at Southborough, Ashland, Framingham, West Natick, Natick, Wellesley Square, Wellesley Hills, Wellesley Farms, Auburndale, West Newton, Newtonville, and Yawkey. Yes, I've memorized this list.

I start composing this post on my phone as I watch Natick commuters run for the train and a dog with his head out the window of a car slowly rolling past.

Man, am I bored. Now we're between Newtonville and Yawkey, pacing traffic on the Pike, and I just keep writing. I hope the Orange Line isn't screwed up like the last time I tried to take it to work. Reading graffiti while passing it at 40 mph is hard. Ha! Storrow Drive traffic is no match for train travel, and neither is the Green Line or that 57 bus stuck in traffic.

My stop is approaching. The guy next to me is completely oblivious to my passive-egressive behavior and will ask me if this is my stop even as I'm standing up, head bent under the luggage rack, with my bag in my hand. I've only got 40 minutes left until I get to work, and I'm looking forward to my 2nd breakfast already. Almost as exciting is the express train tonight! No more locals until...tomorrow.

Foto Friday: White River Junction, VT

On June 26, 1848, the first train in Vermont left White River Junction for Bethel, 24 miles north. Eventually, railroad construction in Vermont would earn White River Junction the name "Crossroads of New England."

At the height of its legacy, White River Junction served as a key interchange point, served by the Central Vermont, Canadian Pacific Railway, Woodstock Railway , Claremont-Concord, and the Boston & Maine. Railroad lines extended from White River Junction northwest to Montreal, northeast to Newport, VT and Canada, southeast to Boston via Concord, NH, south to Springfield, MA, and west to Woodstock, VT.

Today, this picturesque town, located at the junction of the White and Connecticut Rivers, hosts trains from New England Central Railroad, Pan Am Railways, Vermont Railways, Amtrak, and Claremont-Concord.

The town honors the history of railroads in White River Junction every September with the Glory Days of the Railroad festival. This well known festival features food, musicians, excursion train rides, railroad equipment on display, and hobby vendors. Year round, there is a small museum in the station and a former Boston & Main 4-4-0 locomotive and caboose are undergoing restoration underneath a canopy of the station.

The Colonial Revival-style station in White River Junction served such trains as the Boston-Montreal Red Wing and Alouette and several other famous name trains. The station was built in 1937 by the Boston & Maine Railroad, and now houses an Amtrak Station, a Vermont welcome center, and the local Chamber of Commerce.

Freight traffic was also in abundance in White River Junction. In addition to being perfectly placed to classify freight for destinations all over New England, White River Junction hosted high-priority freight trains hauling meat for the Swift processing plant in White River Junction, auto parts for the GM plant in Framingham, MA, and paper for all over New England.

During the railroad industry's free-fall in the late 1960s, '70s, and early '80s, White River Junction suffered massive traffic losses. Passenger service was cut completely until Amtrak inaugurated the Montrealer in 1972. In 1983, Guilford Transportation (now Pan Am Railways) purchased the Boston & Maine and Maine Central railroads and then purchased the Delaware & Hudson (which it later sold to Canadian Pacific at a huge loss after running the railroad into the ground).

Diverting traffic away from White River Junction to more convenient interchange points, Guilford Transportation let the track on the Connecticut River line (the north-south rail line between Springfield, MA, and Newport, VT) degrade to the point where it had a ten mile-per-hour speed limit. The Montrealer wasn't able to keep its schedule and was discontinued.

The state filed several lawsuits in April 1987 against Guilford Transportation, and Amtrak acquired the line and sold it to the Central Vermont for freight operations and maintenance. Guilford retained trackage rights. Traffic was restored between East Northfield (where the Central Vermont's line joined the Connecticut River line) and White River Junction, where the CV's line again left the line to head northwest to Montreal.

Amtrak's Montrealer was restored in 1989 and lasted until 1995 when it was replaced with the Vermonter. This train ran on the same route, but terminated in St. Albans, VT, instead of continuing north to Montreal. Its only reason for existing was the State of Vermont subsidy.

In 1996, traffic between White River Junction and Wells River, VT, north on the line to Newport, VT, had declined enough that no trains were run on that section. The Central Vermont was spun off from its parent railroad, the Canadian National, and became the New England Central Railroad.

In 1999 the state purchased the track between Wells River and White River Junction. The Northern Vermont attempted to operate the line but went bankrupt. The state contracted Washington County Railroad, a subsidiary of Vermont Railways, to operate the line. Finally, the last short line was added to the mix in 2002. The Claremont-Concord Railroad constructed the Eagle Leaf Transload Center in West Lebanon, NH and runs trains across the river to interchange with the New England Central.

Today, White River Junction could still be considered the "Crossroads of Northern New England." Other towns have surpassed the town in rail traffic and claimed the title for all of New England, but White River Junction still handles an impressive amount of traffic when you consider that the largest railroad present is the Class II New England Central Railroad. NECR operates four trains per day through town - trains 324, 323, 600, and 601.

Pam Am Railways (formerly Guilford) runs twice a week, operating trains EDWJ (East Deerfield to White River Junction) and WJED (White River Junction to East Deerfield.) Washington County operates a train to and from the town every weekday, and Claremont Concord runs over to interchange cars as needed, typically three days a week. And for passenger service, White River Junction hosts Amtrak's Vermonter daily in each direction as well as Green Mountain Railroad's White River Flyer.

The future of White River Junction is looking bright. New England Central's tunnel under Bellows Falls, Vermont, was enlarged with funds from the state, allowing autoracks and double-stacked containers to pass through the tunnel.

In February 2012, NECR and the Providence & Worcester Railroad announced their Great Eastern Railroad partnership to funnel southern New England traffic to their Canadian partners. More and more traffic is heading to these once-busy rails, helping White River Junction to remain "The Crossroads of Northern New England."

Breaks in the Commuting Routine

There's an interesting thing that happens with commuting. When everything goes according to routine, the entire commute is so predictable that you start getting déjà vu, starting with your drive to the train station when you pass the same school bus at the same intersection for three days straight.

On the flip side, when things go wrong, everything seems thrown out of balance and your routine is gone for the rest of the day. Take one of my recent Tuesdays for example.

Part 1

When I got off my inbound train at Back Bay to transfer to the Orange Line, I found the platform packed, with announcements being made about an earlier disabled train. Two trains to Oak Grove went past with no room for me to board, and with plenty of time to get to work, I decided to bail out and walk to work.

I had just made it to the top of the stairs when an announcement was made about an approaching train to Forest Hills. For some reason, I momentarily forgot the visual mnemonic I use to remember the difference between Oak Grove and Forest Hills, and headed back down the stairs. No doubt I gave someone else déjà vu by walking past twice!

As the train pulled in, I realized I was an idiot and walked back up the stairs. Making a pit stop in the station's creepy men's room, I was forced to listen to someone being violently sick in one of the stalls. I left hurriedly and started towards the door to the street, then heard the rumble of an idling locomotive down on the Northeast Corridor platforms. I sprinted down the stairs and got to the bottom just as the Assistant Conductor announced the train's destination of South Station.

I hopped aboard to take the Red Line to work instead. Besides wolfing down breakfast (quiche) while walking to work, struggling to operate my fork with numb fingers, the rest of my commute was pretty normal. I got to work just three minutes late.

Part 2

That evening I boarded the 4:05 Worcester Express, and about five minutes before boarding time "the Crybaby" came aboard. This is a panhandler who boards the train and announces loudly to everyone in the car that something horrible, like AIDS or cancer, just happened to him and he desperately needs to ride the train, usually to the end of the line (read: maximum fare). He wants passengers to give him money to buy a ticket to ride, often singling out people who haven't yet helped him out. His attitude is almost always somewhere between seriously annoyed and furious, so his tactics border on extortion.

In this instance he claimed he had just been diagnosed as HIV positive and needed treatment in Worcester. A stout-looking business-casual type seated at one of the center tables stood up and yelled "GET OFF THE SNOW!"

The two started shouting each other, with several other passengers joining in, until Crybaby left the car. Those of us half-expecting a physical confrontation relaxed, assuming it was all over.

Not one to let his quarry get away so easily, the car's defender got on his phone and called the police. Apparently they were aware of this character and had been looking to nab him for a while.

A few minutes later, there was a commotion on the platform side of the train (opposite the aisle from me) and over half the car jumped up to watch Crybaby get hauled off the platform by the police.

If there's one thing I've learned about commuters, it's their love-hate relationship with routine. They love their routine and dislike any change in it, but whenever it's interrupted, they break through that commuters' shell and show their personality.

While I cling to my routine as much as the next guy, these rare glimpses into the inner personality of commuters, from the beautiful - the entire platform cheering when a long-delayed train finally shows up - to the decidedly not - late-night riders enjoying the misfortunes of a drunk lady in Framingham, complete with a face-first meeting with the platform - are my all-time favorite part of commuting.

Foto Friday: The Cape Cod Canal Lift Bridge

The second longest railroad vertical lift bridge in the country is not on a famous mainline like Amtrak's Northeast Corridor or BNSF Railway's Transcon. Instead, the title goes to a little-known bridge in Bourne, Massachusetts, that carries two types of traffic over the Cape Cod Canal: tourists and trash.

The idea of constructing a canal through Cape Cod - creating a route to Boston from the south that did not require sailing around the tip of Cape Cod - was first proposed in 1623, but the first serious attempt at building a canal was in 1909, when the Cape Cod & New York Canal Company began construction of a canal just over seventeen miles long between Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay. Their narrow canal was difficult to navigate and a string of wrecks, plus a hefty toll, made the canal unpopular.

In July 1918, a German U-boat submarine, U-156, surfaced three miles off the outside coast of Cape Cod and attacked a tugboat and barge set traveling around the cape. The United States Government took over the canal four days later and the US Army Corps of Engineers set to work enlarging the channel. In 1928, they purchased the canal for $11.4 million so it could become a free public canal. The Army Corp of Engineers again enlarged the channel between 1935 and 1940, with a depth of 32' and a width of 540', to become the widest level sea canal in the world.

The original Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge, a standard drawbridge, was built in 1910 and lasted until 1933, when the US Army Corp of Engineers constructed the current bridge. The railroad line using the bridge was the Old Colony Railroad, which was leased by the New York, New Haven, & Hartford (usually known as the New Haven) between 1893 and 1969. In its heyday, the railroad line ran all the way to Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod, with a branch to Hyannis. Much of the line is now a rail trail.

Unlike other movable bridges, the Cape Cod Canal Lift Bridge's 544 foot main span is usually in the raised position, 135 feet in the air, and lowered when a train approaches. The lift mechanism is located at the top of the 271' end towers and massive counterweights hang down the towers when the bridge is up. In 2002, a $30 million project rehabilitated the rusting and aged bridge, opening it back up again in 2003.

Currently, there are only two types of train traffic using the bridge. The Cape Cod Central Railroad runs dinner and excursion trains, while the only regular freight service on Cape Cod is Mass Coastal Railroad's "Energy Train" (but called the "trash train" by most people familiar with it). This train runs between garbage transfer stations in Yarmouth and Falmouth, MA, to SEMASS, a waste-to-energy plant in Rochester, MA. Twenty former Canadian Pacific Railway bathtub coal cars have been rebuilt into trash cars, with removable steel roofs that are lifted off at SEMASS before the each car is shoved into a rotary dumper.



Just off the bridge's mainland side in Bourne, the 1911 ex-New Haven/Old Colony tower U-416 controls the signals and split-point derails protecting the bridge in addition to the rail junction on the other side of the bridge. The tower is still manned and has only used solid-state controls since 2009 when the original pneumatic controls, built by Union Switch & Signal in the 1930s, were replaced.