Railroad Forums 

  • Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum (BSRM) Thread

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1195140  by Otto Vondrak
 
LENOX, Mass. — The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum is chugging along with planning the details of scenic rides in North County. The organization has partnered with the state and local officials to bring train rides between the Adams Visitors Center and Western Gateway Heritage State Park in North Adams. The plan was announced in January and since then museum officials have been sorting out the details while they wait for final design work to be completed.
http://www.iberkshires.com/story/44218/ ... Plans.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1195712  by newpylong
 
I've heard some crazy rumors such as constructing a connecting track to bring the branch to the WEST of the mainline in North Adams and into the old East Yard so that the scenic trains can get closer to the Heritage State Park without having to open up onto the mainline. Though, from when I last worked the job I think there was a lot of water where that would need to happen.

Regardless, new track will need to be constructed in the old B&A yard to facilitate this and not get in the way of Pan Am. Same goes for the Specialty Minerals yard. Interesting to say the least.
 #1196029  by B&M 1227
 
I believe the rumors are exactly what they are. BSRM seems content using the old B&A trackage, and if there was a push for easier access to the Heritage Park, a pedestrian bridge is much cheaper than a half mile of new rail on land with questionable (maybe not railroad) ownership. IIRC they'd be installing a small track/maintenance area on the old B&A land to house the equipment. From what I gather scenic ops will only run on weekends, and therefore won't interfere with any of AD-1/AD-2s operations.
 #1196042  by newpylong
 
Yes I think they are just rumors and they can make just the B&A side work... But, even with being weekend only ops, they will get in the way of Pan Am unless more trackage is constructed in certain areas as I have mentioned. Right now there is the main track, the runaround, and the ash car in the B&A yard. They all can have cars on them and they will need to remain as-is for freight operations to continue. So, at least two additional tracks would need to be constructed - one for engine storage/maintenance, the other as a station track. Plenty of room down there to the east side where they want to do it though.

Down at Lime Street, Speciality Minerals (they have trackage rights) and Pan Am uses all 3 tracks, and all 3 are full and used daily. A 4'th track would need to be constructed. Similarly, Speciality stores cars at the end of track. So add another one somewhere down there for that purpose.

It will be interesting to say the least...
 #1197447  by JRG
 
BSRM has launched our educational program: The Locomotive Experience

All proceeds go towards restoring, preserving, maintaining and operating our fleet of vintage railroad equipment. Please recommend The Locomotive Experience to your family and friends who may be interested.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_2 ... ic-railway
 #1199915  by thebigham
 
This was just posted at RPN:

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.ph ... e04a89634e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From Loconotes:

The land upon which the first S-motor and the last T-motor (and U25b) has been sold to a developer set on building condominiums. All are in grave jeopardy. It would be a shame for a prototype to survive 107 years only to be torched due to a transportation problem.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

How true is this?
 #1199976  by Otto Vondrak
 
thebigham wrote:This was just posted at RPN:

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.ph ... e04a89634e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From Loconotes:

The land upon which the first S-motor and the last T-motor (and U25b) has been sold to a developer set on building condominiums. All are in grave jeopardy. It would be a shame for a prototype to survive 107 years only to be torched due to a transportation problem.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

How true is this?
"It's complicated." ;-)
 #1200429  by Otto Vondrak
 
http://www.iberkshires.com/story/44374/ ... cenic.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
ADAMS, Mass. — The town is looking for federal funds to help purchase the former car wash on Hoosac Street and turn it into a train station for the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum. The car wash, owned by Carol Ostrowski, is across the street from the Adams Visitor's Center, which is one end of the proposed new Hoosac Valley Service run between Adams and North Adams. While the state is finalizing designs for shared track and bike trail, the town has designed a project to build an end in Adams.
 #1200565  by JRG
 
The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum has recently transferred ownership of the 4 locomotives landlocked at Glemont, NY to another organization with the same intentions: to save the units.

When BSRM acquired ownership, it was at the request of a private individual who intended to help fund the removal for preservation. Simultaneously, it was at a time when our Board of Directors was able to take steps towards developing the "museum" aspect of our organization and begin acquiring historic pieces for static display. The funds from our successful train rides permitted BSRM to contribute to and undertake this daunting project even though the final home for the equipment had not been determined.

However, the Housatonic "Railroad" chose to arbitrarily not renew the operating agreement with MassDOT which permitted us to operate those train rides. Therefore, BSRM has been forced to shift its funds, energy and time to developing the Hoosac Valley Service in joint partnership with MassDOT, Town of Adams and City of North Adams to restore tourist rail service to the Berkshires which will permit BSRM to earn a steady income once more and begin budgeting once again for advanced preservation activities.

The Glenmont Rescue project was and remains complicated, political and terribly expensive. I can assure you that all angles, options and ideas have been attempted and a significant amount of money already spent; including funds to pacify harassing and irrelevant requests from the adjacent property owner. It will take time, money and energy to save those units. We hope by transferring ownership to another organization they will have the needed time and energy to accomplish the project's goal.

To answer questions posted above: the landowner is not the major roadblock; the adjacent power plant owner is the SIGNIFICANT roadblock who will not agree to any proposal. We had flat cars already ordered at one point and a rigging company on site; at the last possible minute they revoked access and have been delaying the project since then.
 #1232005  by JRG
 
BSRM has been progressing steadily with developing the Hoosac Valley Service.

From WAMC:

http://wamc.org/post/scenic-rail-planne ... rk-remains
Plans are in the works for a scenic rail line in northwestern Massachusetts.While passenger rail for Berkshire County remains a topic of great debate, two North County communities are looking at establishing scenic train rides. Adams and North Adams are working with the state’s transportation department and the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum to complete a five-mile track that has been in the works for about a year and a half.
From TRAINS (subscribers only):

http://trn.trains.com/en/Railroad%20New ... o.facebook
BOSTON – The Berkshire Scenic Railroad plans to have excursion trains running in 2014, thanks to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the support of two communities. MassDOT and the Berkshire Scenic Railroad Museum are working to rebuild four miles of the Adams Branch along the Hoosac River between Adams and North Adams.
 #1232006  by JRG
 
The Town of Adams & MassDOT held a public information session on Thursday, November 21 regarding the Hoosac Valley Service project. Here is some coverage of that event:

From North Adams Transcript:

http://www.thetranscript.com/ci_2457414 ... pring-2014
ADAMS - Adams could have its first railroad passengers since 1984 by this coming spring, state and local officials say.Work is progressing "every day" on a proposed Hoosc Valley line of the Berkshire Scenic Railway, representatives from the state Department of Transportation, the town of Adams, and the Scenic Railway said Thursday.The developers of the line - which would carry passengers from Hoosac Street in Adams to American Legion Drive in North Adams - held a public forum on the Hoosac Valley Rail Service Project and fielded questions about its progress.
From iberkshires:

http://www.iberkshires.com/story/45216/ ... op_stories
ADAMS, Mass. — Town and state officials detailed plans on Thursday evening for the train tours they say will boost the local tourism economy. But in the court of public opinion, the jury is still out on the positive impacts of the impending Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum project.
 #1232007  by JRG
 
BSRM is proud to announce that a State Park Grant has been awarded to the Town of Adams for the development and construction of "Adams Station" on the Hoosac Valley Service.

BSRM cannot stress sufficiently enough, how important the collaboration is among the partners in this project. BSRM is aware of the fight that Adirondack Scenic and Catskill Mountain are in the midst of. We hope that BSRM's success with our project can be used to help those organizations communicate the value which their train operations bring to their respective communities.

http://www.iberkshires.com/story/45257/ ... ation.html
ADAMS, Mass. — The town has received nearly $400,000 in state grant funding for the renovation of a local car wash into a train station, as part of the Berkshire Scenic Railway Project.
http://www.thetranscript.com/headlines/ ... ay-station
ADAMS -- A former Hoosac Street car wash will be renovated into a classic train station.The town was awarded nearly $400,000 in Parks Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) funds by the state Tuesday for the acquisition of the former car wash at 4 Hoosac St.
 #1232091  by Ridgefielder
 
JRG wrote:The Town of Adams & MassDOT held a public information session on Thursday, November 21 regarding the Hoosac Valley Service project. Here is some coverage of that event:

From North Adams Transcript:

http://www.thetranscript.com/ci_2457414 ... pring-2014
ADAMS - Adams could have its first railroad passengers since 1984 by this coming spring, state and local officials say.Work is progressing "every day" on a proposed Hoosc Valley line of the Berkshire Scenic Railway, representatives from the state Department of Transportation, the town of Adams, and the Scenic Railway said Thursday.The developers of the line - which would carry passengers from Hoosac Street in Adams to American Legion Drive in North Adams - held a public forum on the Hoosac Valley Rail Service Project and fielded questions about its progress.
What passenger service did Adams have in 1984? I thought that, with the exception of the Lake Shore Limited (f/k/a New England States), the only thing that survived to A-day in '71 was the ex-NH GCT-Pittsfield service, down to Summer-weekend-only at the end.
  • 1
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17