My goal today was to explore an old railroad track that runs past the WCRB transmitter site. This line was built in the early 1850's as the Charles River Branch Railroad and eventually became the Woonsocket Division of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It was the route by which dirt was brought from the future Needham Industrial Park to fill Boston's Back Bay from 1857 until 1894. Today it is owned by the Commonwealth and rarely used; the mills and factories that were its customers have given way to retail stores and office buildings, and the track is in poor shape. If it doesn't become an MBTA light rail or commuter rail line it will probably be abandoned in a few years. Here I am looking toward the Charles River bridge from Newton Upper Falls.
From the Webster Street crossing in Needham, I began walking toward the transmitter site. The 1,254-foot tower is about a mile away.
Rotting ties like the one in the center of this picture are common along this stretch of track.
At the crossing at Gould Street in Needham, the impressions in the dirt next to the rails show that a train has come this way recently.
This is a view back toward Gould Street from the WCVB-TV studio building; the remains of a spur to the left suggest a former occupant of the site was once a railroad customer.
Looking ahead, the tower looms much larger. It was built by the Boston Herald Traveler for that company's WHDH-FM (later WCOZ, now Clear Channel's WJMN) and WHDH-TV (Channel 5; now Hearst-Argyle's WCVB-TV) stations. If you look closely you can see the guy wires that hold up the tower. A small dark blotch near the top of the mast, at the 1150-foot level, is a shared antenna used by WJMN, WBMX, and WCRB, and by backup transmitters for WBOS, WTKK, WROR, and WMJX. In the distance is the massive self-supporting tower of today's WHDH-TV (Channel 7) can be seen; it is about 200 feet shorter.
Across Route 128 is a 1,202-foot tower built in the 1960's by the Stainless Corporation; the candelabra at its peak supports antennas for television stations WFXT (Channel 25) , WSBK-TV (Channel 38), and WLVI-TV (Channel 56). The building in front of its base is the Sheraton Needham Hotel. The smaller self-supporting tower to its left is for cellular telephone service.
Cross Route 128 with dry feet, courtesy of the 9th Armored Division -- oops, make that the former New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company.
On the other side of the highway, the tower stands out clearly against bright blue sky. Side-mounted antennas for WBUR(FM), WODS(FM), and WBPX-DT (digital TV Channel 32) are still not visible.
The railroad crosses the Charles River into Newton Upper Falls via this bridge just short of the tower, the base of which is discernible through the trees to the left of the abutment. This was once a double-track line.
The Charles River is usually clean enough for swimming, but because the water is murky enough to hide potential hazards, swimming is not allowed.
Looking downstream from the base of the abutment on the Newton side, a tower built in 1957 by Westinghouse Broadcasting (now CBS) Corporation can be seen. This tower is used by that company's WBZ-TV (Channel 4) and by WGBH-TV (Channel 2), WGBX-TV (Channel 44), and WCVB-TV (Channel 5) It is 1,297 feet tall.