This line extended from Boston downtown and headed west for several miles. This was part of the Boston Elevated Railway and essentially the "Orange Line" before it was demolished during 1987-1988.

Behind the photographer is where Washington Street crossed beneath the tracks and from that point (aka the Orange Line El) westward, lots of CD 267 and 267.5 insulators were used in conjunction with many large white porcelain "saddle groove" cleats (most of these were original installations; others were replacements through the years where damaged CD 267 and 267.5s were).

On the far edges of these arms are signal-type insulators for communication and/or lighting purposes. Although this track run stood until the late 1980s, most of the cross-timbers you see were removed by that time and those that were still there were badly weathered. Before the demo, I did not note a single CD 269 or anything else along this run. The feeder cables were slowly but surely taken down commencing in the 1930s in favor of other modes of street transportation (buses, cars, etc.). Obviously the copper cables and steel were sold for scrap. Everything else including the insulators were worthless at the time and used for landfill.

Click "Previous" for more information and for an overview of this image, looking easterly towards downtown Boston.