Caption: 3677 and 3662 arriving at North Station, en route to Lechmere. On the left side of the left photo is an old platform with a jagged edge. This is what remains of a platform built to serve shuttle trains running along the Atlantic Avenue El to/from North Station. It dates from when the Lechmere El opened in 1912, with trolleys providing "temporary" service. Originally the builders planned to have regular El trains running to Lechmere, but construction stopped before the connecting tracks between it and the Main Line El were completed. The shuttle service probably ended in October 1938 when all service on the Atlantic Avenue El was discontinued. Most of the Atlantic Avenue El was torn down in 1942 (except for a short section used to store extra trains on days when there were events at the Boston Garden), with the scrap metal being Boston's big contribution to the war effort. (April 7, 2004)
