Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Before Somerville was turned into Detourville we were pretty lucky. Occasionally, we would get stuck behind a trash truck, or have to go a different way because of utility work. You may have noticed lately, however, that you have been sitting in a slow moving line of traffic at various points in the city because of Green Line construction detours.

It’s not that bad, if you’re not in a hurry. We try to be patient as traffic moves inch by inch. It can be really annoying. There was a time in my life when I didn’t mind being in a stalled traffic situation.

A lot of us still remember sitting in our cars waiting for the B&M train to roll by. Living off of College Ave. all my life, I was delayed at the Davis Square railroad crossing many times. First you heard the ding ding ding, then you noticed the flashing of the lights, and then the crossing gates came down. Soon you heard the locomotive chugging into the square and then everything shook while the train went rumbling through.

I remember people on foot, bicyclists and even people pushing baby carriages peeking down the tracks to see if they could make it to the other side before the train came.

When we were kids we were lucky if we were among the first few automobiles in line so we could count the freight cars. Sometimes a train with 125 cars went by at 10 miles per hour until we would finally see the caboose. As I got older and started driving myself, waiting for the train to pass wasn’t as much fun.

As dangerous as it was, a lot of us original Somerville folks hung around down the tracks in the 60’s and 70’s. It was a recreation spot much like the bike path is now. We caught pollywogs, ate rhubarb, and many of us had our first disgusting taste of booze down the tracks. My favorite spot was the tracks between Cedar St. and Lowell St. We used empty box cars parked at the International Paper Company as our clubhouse.

(Do not try this at home!) For those of us who weren’t athletically inclined, our sport was running from the cops that chased us pretty regularly down the tracks. Oh yea, we hopped a couple of those trains back then too. All I can say is that it was a lot easier hopping on than hopping off. I often thought what a shock my parents would’ve got it if they saw me hanging onto a box car as it passed in front of their car at the Davis Square railroad crossing.

So, once again we are slowed down, detained and detoured because of … more trains.

Yes, it used to be fun when the train barreled through Davis Square, especially if you were at The Somerville Theatre watching a movie because the whole place rattled until the train passed. The following is dialog from my friend, local train buff John Alan Roderick:

“The trains were going slow, as you know. If, for some reason, the brakes on the train went into emergency or otherwise caused it to stop, it could have potentially blocked the Square and Mass Ave. for who-knows-how-long until the problem was resolved.”

“When the various bars and clubs in the Square were busy, as on a Friday or Saturday night, not to mention the theatre, people would park anywhere they wanted. If they were parked too close to the tracks at the crossing, the SPD would come out and have them towed.”

It sometimes took 15 minutes for a long train to pass. That’s a long time to sit in completely stopped traffic. Hopefully, you had air conditioning and an 8-track player.

Today, as you’re getting hot under the collar because of detours, just think – soon you will be able to leave the car home and hop on the Green Line.