For some reason, people just love bizarre subway station names. London has nearly made a niche industry out of this, with games like Mornington Crescent, parties where people dress up like their favorite stations and even books. When I visited London earlier this year, part of me wanted to visit places like Barking, Elephant and Castle and Canada Water just to see what was there.
Washington, with its modern subway and planned grid, lacks any personality in its station names. "Federal Center SW" generates a fairly accurate and boring image in the map-reader's mind -- concrete and marble buildings in which bored-looking middle-aged people with ID badges pretend to work all day.
But Boston is different. Is Alewife home to drunken spouses? Are Ruggles a dime-store knockoff of the Muppets?
My personal favorite is at the end of the Blue Line. Soon after you land at Logan, you get on the subway (or 'T,' as they call it) to wait for your train into town. But barrelling towards you in the other direction is a train clearly marked for "Wonderland." Makes you wonder whether if you'd rather not be going the other way.
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rj3 | 3:39 PM |
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We need to start another game of Mornington Crescent!
Every self-respecting New Englander (I've got one of two, but I won't tell you which one) knows that an Alewife is a fish, something resembling a herring, I believe. It's also worth noting that Wonderland is a horribly depressing place - a dog track in the middle of nowhere, although you do get to pass through the cool-sounding Maverick in order to get there.
I guess we have "Foggy Bottom". That's kinda funny. Sorta.
Wonderland is a block from the ocean, so it's not all that bad. You just have to be sure to walk towards the ocean and not towards the racetrack.
On the Red Line in Boston, the trains have automated announcments. Such as "Entering Alewife, Last Stop, Thank you for riding the T".
On the other hand, we always giggle when the train says "Entering Andrew".
there's a movie called "next stop, wonderland." really nice use of the T and Boston buildings.
IMO Metro's "Silver Spring" and "Crystal City" are rather pretty names (although those are the only pretty things about the locations), the stations under squares named for Civil War generals and admirals are evocative, and "Eastern Market" as well as the previously mentioned "Foggy Bottom" have a certain charm. (And how about "Ballston" in what's been shaping up as a big singles area?) It isn't the Tube, but it isn't completely boring either.
Even the dirt in Silver Spring sparkles! (might be the only thing in Silver Spring that does...)
"Wonderland Station" is located at the site of a former amusement park - hence the name.
