There’s something weird going on at 27 Weir Street in Taunton.
For locals, it’s become an ordinary part of the city landscape. To a non-local trying to find a coffee shop during Taunton Trial Court jury duty, it was a point of intrigue.
What is it, you wonder? It’s an old Blue Line T tram parked in a grassy lot, far from any MBTA tracks.
For reasons unknown even to the local DPW, it has been parked in the grassy lot for around 10 years or so.
Looking back at old Google Map images, you can see that it was in decent shape when it moved there sometime between 2012 and 2014, roped off from the general public, and adorned with a good old-fashioned if misspelled “Keep Dogs Off the Grass” sign that read “Keep Dogs of the Grass Dog.”
Google Maps
Google Maps
As the Google Car went back by a few years later, not much about the Blue Line in question had changed other than its famous “T” logo was turned into an “I.”
That’s appropriate if the “I” stands for “Impasse,” “Immovable” or perhaps “Incapable of Functioning.”
Google Maps
Newly-added is what appears to be a folded-up metal ramp on the deck (porch?) of the train.
A few more years went by and Carol Doherty used the old car for her School Committee campaign signs.
It almost looks like the car is used for storage and the years of Google Street View photos show various things stacked up in the windows.
Google Maps
The other peculiar thing about the tram on Weir Street is that it has a wood shed attached to the back, giving it the silhouette of an old train engine. Is this a tiny house for a retired conductor? What is in this shed attached to the I train?
A former coworker of mine said it’s been there so long no one knows the origin of it anymore. The fine folks at Taunton Department of Public Works couldn’t help me either; they called in help from fellow workers and the most anyone could surmise is that the property is owned by the Cash for Gold place next door.
It’s showing some signs of wear from the elements, and its old “Keep Dogs Off the Grass” sign has been reworked to simply read “Keep Dog Off the Dog.”
Jury duty break is short, though, and it was time for me to go back to the courthouse. People of Taunton, please fill in the blanks for the rest of us.
Paranormal Activity Reported in Massachusetts’ Bridgewater Triangle
In his 1983 book Mysterious America, cryptozoologist Loren Coleman introduced a term he originally coined in the late 1970s – the Bridgewater Triangle – to describe an area with an abnormal level of paranormal activity and high strangeness in Southeastern Massachusetts. Over the years, the concept of the Triangle has expanded to include ghostly reports, UFO sightings, cryptid encounters, alien abductions and more across a wider swath of Southern New England.
Gallery Credit: Tim Weisberg
LOOK UP: Recent UFO Sightings on the SouthCoast
Gallery Credit: Tim Weisberg