Talk:Middleborough station/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: PCN02WPS (talk · contribs) 08:30, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Hi there, I'll be reviewing this nomination in the coming days. PCN02WPS ( talk  &#124;  contribs ) 08:30, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Overall
The article is quite good as is, I've left what comments I had below. A few prose/MOS issues was all I could find (copyvio is still unassessed because Earwig is being delightfully uncooperative, though I suspect you'll be perfectly fine there). Placing on hold so you can address my suggestions. PCN02WPS ( talk  &#124;  contribs ) 07:23, 7 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the detailed review! I believe I've addressed all your comments. A couple items are related to some confusing history; I've done my best to explain them. Cheers, Pi.1415926535 (talk) 20:58, 7 January 2022 (UTC)
 * All of the points you brought up are fair, so I'm perfectly happy with what you have/haven't changed. Plus I got to learn a bit about confusing Massachusetts history! Earwig was behaving tonight and (unsurprisingly) didn't bring anything up. As far as I can tell, the article meets all of the GA criteria so I'm happy to pass it. Well done!  PCN02WPS  ( talk  &#124;  contribs ) 07:44, 8 January 2022 (UTC)

Lead

 * "...which constructed a Tudor-style station building..." → link Tudor Revival architecture
 * "...and a construction contract was awarded in 2020" → add bolded word
 * "...and a construction contract was awarded in 2020" → add bolded word

Station layout

 * "800-foot (240 m)" → if "800-foot" needs a hyphen, then surely "240-m" would too?
 * That's the standard behavior for convert, it seems. You can customize just about anything with the template, but I don't think you can customize this, weirdly.

Old Colony Railroad

 * "The Fall River Railroad opened between South Braintree and Fall River in stages from June 1945 to December 1946." → based on the context of the paragraph and target article, I think this should probably be June 1845 to December 1846
 * ✅ Good catch!

20th century

 * "on the lightly used branch to Plymouth" → add hyphen to "lightly-used"
 * Unless you think it would be out of place, I think a touch of detail as to why the Plymouth–Middleborough line was so largely used by cranberry growers would certainly be interesting and give some context.
 * I've added a couple words; I'm not sure what else there is to say.
 * "Rock and South Middleboro stations" → why is "Middleboro" spelled differently here? Is this a different place?
 * Well, it's a long story. The boro/borough bifurcation is a centuries-old debate among the dozen municipalities with those endings, to the point that official names of adjacent towns are Attleboro and North Attleborough. This municipality is Middleborough, but its post office is Middleboro. The modern station is definitely Middleborough, source differ as to the former station here, and the 1938-closed station seems to always have been "South Middleboro". Confused? Don't worry, so am I.
 * Perhaps you could expand a touch on why the massive station closure took place? I think that would be a good detail to add at the end of this section's second paragraph.
 * I've added a couple words, but otherwise I think just having the link to 88 stations case is probably better than trying to summarize it. I wrote that 2,600-word article primarily to understand for myself what the hell went on.
 * "and then in summers only" → add bolded words
 * I reworded for clarity; I'm not a fan of "and then", which doesn't appear to be necessary.
 * I reworded for clarity; I'm not a fan of "and then", which doesn't appear to be necessary.

MBTA era

 * "From 1984 to 1988, the Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad seasonal commuter..." → add bolded word (I think this sounds more natural)
 * ❌ In this case, the railroad name is acting as an adjective, and doesn't take the article.
 * Delink Cape Codder as it is linked in the previous section
 * I think it's worth having the duplicate link, since the first instance is to a specific subsection, and it's not necessarily obvious that the two trains share an article.
 * "...ran through Middleborough, but like the 1960s trains it did not stop in Middleborough due..." → a touch repetitive; I'd recommend changing the second "Middleborough" to read "...it did not stop there due..."
 * I would give the full name and link Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority at your first mention of MBTA in this section as the initialism is not defined elsewhere in the article
 * "DEIS" and "FEIS" are not used anywhere else in the article, so I don't see a need to give those abbreviations
 * "DEIS" and "FEIS" are not used anywhere else in the article, so I don't see a need to give those abbreviations
 * "DEIS" and "FEIS" are not used anywhere else in the article, so I don't see a need to give those abbreviations

South Coast Rail

 * "1980s planning..." → MOS:NUMNOTES advises to avoid beginning a sentence with a figure.
 * "...which will restore passenger service to Fall River..." → using future tense here sounds awkward, given that this plan was ultimately not the one that was acted upon, I think past tense is appropriate here.
 * ✅ Reworded.
 * "The latter was preferred..." → when referencing items in a list, "latter" really only works with two options; given three, I'd opt for "The last of these options was preferred..." or something similar. This also helps avoid repetition when "latter" is used a couple sentences later.
 * "The latter was preferred..." → when referencing items in a list, "latter" really only works with two options; given three, I'd opt for "The last of these options was preferred..." or something similar. This also helps avoid repetition when "latter" is used a couple sentences later.