I spent my high school days at the now closed but much beloved Don Bosco Technical High School in Boston. 

Located about a block from MP 228., I spent many a day hanging out watching ailing E-8's, GP-9's, Turbo Trains and other assorted rolling wrecks hobble in and out of Boston.

To the dismay of Brother Charles or Brother Julius, I'd spend every morning watching the parade from my draftsman's table in the Construction Technology shop which faced the main line.

November 1974. The Penn Central is still around as is a rag tag collection of ex NY Central, Pennsy and New Haven antiques. Old Tower One looks as old as ever but the semaphores still protect movements west.

The little shack in front of Tower One is the "Yardmaster's Office." Everything in this photo is now just a memory.

This photo is special to me for a number of reasons. The Orange Line "el,"  which clickety clacked by my classrooms at Don Bosco Tech, seen at the top of the photo is now long gone as are the ex-Pennsy e-8's.

Wires, welded rail and "Cove" interlocking replaced the stick rail and rotting ties.

What makes this photo extra special is that it was published in the old "Railroad Magazine" back in 1974.

Here's a former New Haven GP-9 still standing proud on a warm Sunday afternoon in the early spring of 1974.

These steam boiler equipped "geeps" with the E-8's were the mainstay of the South Side commuter service for years prior to the introduction of HEP equipped F-40PH's.

These SDP40'f were the talk of the town when they first showed up in Boston. After a short stint on the "Shore Line" they were re-assigned to service on the then "new" Lake Shore Limited service to Chicago.

The six axle monsters raised havoc on the Shore Line's tight curves.

The United Aircraft Turbo has just arrived in Boston as a car knocker stands waiting for an outbound conventional train being shoved over from the old South Bay passenger yard.

This photo was taken in September of 1974

I don't know why, but this photo has always appealed to me. I was using my Auntie Anne's "Voightlander" 35mm that she had just given me and I was in a real "artsy" type mood.

The "Turbo" had just arrived behind the conventional train which was led by a pair of E-8's and a baggage car converted to a "HEP" car.