We’ve got a ticket to ride!

Western Electrician volume 21Boston’s MBTA celebrates its 115th birthday this Saturday, September 1. Check out the article from the August 28, 1897 issue of Western Electrician describing the design and construction of the new subway and extolling details such as overhead arc lighting, pine wood ticket booths, and brass handrails on the stairs. “The traveler will find his ‘open sesame’ to be a five-cent piece, which he will hand into the ticket office and will receive in exchange a ticket which will entitle him to a ride…”

All issues of Western Electrician owned by the MIT Libraries have been digitized and are freely available online through the Internet Archive.