Weekend traffic jams on the highways linking Cape
Cod with mainland Massachusetts are legendary during the summer
season. Driving to the Cape on Friday afternoons is an endurance
test and the return trip on Sunday afternoons can be a nightmare.
With the New Haven Railroad having exited the Boston to Cape Cod market
in 1959 with a brief return two years later, there was little choice
for several years other than driving. The Cape Cod and Hyannis
Railroad attempted to bridge the gap by running a seasonal train that
originated in the Boston suburb of Braintree with a subway connection
to the city between 1984 and 1988. Amtrak also ran a seasonal
train, The Cape Codder, between Washington and New York and Hyannis
from 1986 to 1996 which did little to help Bostonians travel to the
Cape unless they took a roundabout routing via Providence. Summer
2013 brought a new, direct service connecting Boston with Hyannis and
the train quickly became a popular way to travel.
The Quincy Marriott was a convenient place to spend
the night as its courtesy shuttle van provides an easy way to get to
the MBTA Red Line Quincy Center subway station. I could have
taken the subway a couple stops south to Braintree and boarded the Cape
Flyer at its first stop, however, I wanted the full experience so I
grabbed an inbound Red Line train for the 25 minute ride to South
Station. Brief anxiety filled my senses as the “Smart Pass” I
purchased the night before to travel to Quincy did not work in the
automated entry gate. With nobody present to help (no agent, no
security officer, etc.) I was forced to purchase another $5.00 pass
which left me feeling less than satisfied with the MBTA. Though
the Cape Flyer uses MBTA equipment, that train is actually operated by
the Cape Cod Regional Transportation Authority so I wouldn’t have to
deal with the MBTA again.
A Red Line subway train arrives at Quincy Center
Autumn colors seen from the Quincy Center platform
The Red Line stop for South Station is located in
the lower level of the station and within a couple minutes I was
walking down the platform to the waiting Cape Flyer. MBTA MP36
engine number 011 led a rather lengthy consist which would be sparsely
patronized on this, the second Saturday of October 2013. The Cape
Flyer originally was scheduled to operate through Labor Day but service
was extended to Columbus Day due to high ridership throughout the
summer. Patronage dropped off after Labor Day and it has not been
determined whether next year’s service will again run into October.
A single level car directly behind the locomotive
contained a staffed snack bar counter, a few seats, and a large empty
space for passengers’ bicycles. This is a popular feature aboard
the Cape Flyer as bicycling is popular on the Cape where miles of bike
trails attract outdoor adventurers. Trailing the single level car
was a string of bilevel MBTA commuter coaches though only the first two
were in use on this trip.
The head end of the Cape Flyer at Boston South Station
The Cape Flyer’s single level café car which also transports bicycles
The distinctive Cape Flyer logo on the side of the café car
Boarding commenced at 7:45am as Amtrak’s overnight
train from Newport News, VA pulled in across the platform. About
one minute before our 8:00am departure a trio of bicyclists sped down
the platform just in time to stow their bikes in the cafe car.
Our route branched off from Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and assumed the
most eastern route along lower Massachusetts. At 8:10am we
crossed the Neponset River with the MBTA Red Line paralleling through
the southern Boston suburbs. Back in the mid-1980s this bridge
was out of service after a fire which necessitated Cape Cod service
originating at Braintree during that period. Three minutes later
the Cape Flyer zipped past the Quincy Center Red Line stop where my
ride to South Station had begun an hour earlier.
Crossing the Neponset River north of Quincy
Our first stop, Braintree, came at 8:20am and a
small group of passengers boarded. We bid farewell to the Red
Line which terminated at this point and soon passed the junction with
the MBTA line to Plymouth. The conductor soon announced there
would be a delay as we held outside the Randolph-Holbrook station due
to nearby police activity. The delay was minimal and we breezed
past the MBTA station at 8:35. The view outside the windows
alternated between suburban homes and churches and wooded terrain where
autumn leaves gently fell as the train sped past. At Bridgewater
we rolled past the Bridgewater State University campus and a couple
minutes later a CSX freight engine and a couple of MBTA train sets were
noted in a small yard on the west side of our line. A minute
later we made our next stop, Middleboro/Lakeville which serves as the
southern terminus of one of the MBTA commuter lines. The Cape
Flyer actually honors MBTA tickets as far south as this stop and a few
regulars detrained at this stop.
The view at the Braintree stop
CSX freight engines in a small yard near Middleboro
Shortly we passed the first of many cranberry
bogs that would appear beside the railroad right-of-way, one of the
novelties of this region as southeastern Massachusetts relies upon
cranberry harvesting, tourism, and the fishing industry as mainstays of
its economy. Old Cape Cod Central passenger cars, including some
rail diesel cars, appeared on the left side of our train at 9:16am and
a few minutes later the historic Nantucket light ship appeared on the
right docked in a harbor. This ship was once used to guide marine
vessels into port as it looks like a floating lighthouse.
A pond between Middleboro and Buzzards Bay
A historic lightship (center left) in the harbor near Buzzards Bay
Pleasure boats in the harbor at Buzzards Bay
The Cape Flyer’s next stop, Buzzards Bay,
produced a couple more passengers as well as a couple of detraining
passengers. The old depot on the left still serves as a stop for
the Cape Flyer. Immediately after leaving Buzzards Bay the Cape
Flyer traversed a classic bridge with gothic towers on either end as it
crossed the Cape Cod Canal. After crossing the bridge we curved
left, away from the old line to Woods Hole, and paralleled the canal
and a popular bicycle and jogging trail along the canal’s bank.
The Highway 28 bridge towered above us at 9:41am and we passed below
the soaring Highway 3 bridge seven minutes later. Compared to the
MBTA line from Boston to Middleboro, this part of the Cape Flyer route
travels at a leisurely pace of approximately 40 mph.
The gothic rail bridge over the Cape Cod Canal
A lobster restaurant at Buzzards Bay
Docked boats at Buzzards Bay
The Buzzards Bay station
The Cape Cod Canal seen from the railway bridge
A fishing boat plies the waters of the Cape Cod Canal
One of the two highway bridges crossing Buzzards Bay and a bicycle path along the canal
After bearing away from the Cape Cod Canal, the
railway passed several attractive homes, wooded street crossings, and
numerous cranberry bogs as it traveled through the villages of Sandwich
and West Barnstable. Commercial development soon appeared as we
made our way toward the end of the run and at 10:32am we pulled into
Hyannis. The Cape Cod Visitors Bureau building serves as the
terminus for the Cape Flyer and several tourism personnel waited at
trackside the assist passengers with their plans. A few busses
stood by to take passengers to the nearby ferry terminals linking the
Cape with Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. An Avis car rental
office at one of the ferry terminals offers convenient pickup for
rentals that facilitate sightseeing on Cape Cod. Having visited
the Cape previously, my destination was a bit different as I would
drive to Connecticut to enjoy beautiful autumn scenery and ride
commuter trains. Many of my fellow passengers would enjoy a night
or two on the Cape or on the nearby islands then catch the train back
to Boston at the end of their visit. Others were making a one-day
visit and would return home on the same evening about eight hours after
arriving in Hyannis.
An attractive Cape Cod home near Sandwich
One of the ponds seen along the Cape Flyer route
Cranberry bogs appear often along the Cape Flyer line
