Railroad Forums
Cosmo wrote:That's great news! Is there any word on what's going on at their original base of operations? Is the Housy still embargoing them?State's completed the Berkshire Line transaction so next order of business after this Adams Branch transaction with PAS is complete is playing peacemaker with Housy. That's one of the immediate advantages of public line ownership; they can intervene, and Housy can't hide behind its total lack of transparency any longer by flinging out baseless "FRA violation" charges at BSRM without independent corroboration. Though I'm not sure I'd pin a date on the calendar when BSRM can start running again from HQ. Have the feeling that Housy's own abominable track conditions and own "FRA violations" make the track too unsafe for passengers at present and that at least $2-$8M in basic state-funded repair work is going to be needed to get it back in decent enough condition to resume operations. Since it matters for the county's tourism economy and BSRM's long-term survival, that sum of money is justifiable and capable of paying itself back. It's not like this is upgrading the track to Class 3...it's only patching it for safe and reliable Class 1, which isn't a big-ticket item for BSRM territory.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The trains are moving and the tracks are nearly complete.
The Berkshire Scenic Railway is preparing for an October start to the Hoosac Valley Service, which will run passenger excursions on the weekends between Adams and North Adams.
Berkshire Scenic Railway Director Jay Green says volunteers are nearly finished with the restoration of a vintage Budd car to run on the tracks, which are now being rehabilitated.
"We're almost ready to operate a physical train. Most of the major components are operating," Green said on Saturday when volunteers drove the train car back and forth on a small sector of tracks behind the Department of Public Works to test out the newly newly restored and timed engines.
