East Brookfield Station Fire

[Otto Vondrak]

Maybe we should go back to......501....eh, Otto?

Don't look at me, I ain't in charge!

http://www.railroad.net/about

-otto-

[daylight4449]

It is with great sadness that I report that Robert (Bob) A Buck has passed away after suffering health issues over the last two months. It was thanks to Bob that I met Brian Solomon, and pursued our letter of support from Preservation Massachusetts. http://obits.masslive.com/obituaries/ma ... =154065376

[mxdata]

The East Brookfield Station rebuilding probably belongs in the same file folder with Southcoast Rail.
Something to do when you finally find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

MX

[Cadet57]

It is with great sadness that I report that Robert (Bob) A Buck has passed away after suffering health issues over the last two months. It was thanks to Bob that I met Brian Solomon, and pursued our letter of support from Preservation Massachusetts. http://obits.masslive.com/obituaries/ma ... =154065376

Thats a damn shame. Tuckers was a great little train store.

[daylight4449]

It is with great sadness that I report that Robert (Bob) A Buck has passed away after suffering health issues over the last two months. It was thanks to Bob that I met Brian Solomon, and pursued our letter of support from Preservation Massachusetts. http://obits.masslive.com/obituaries/ma ... =154065376

Thats a damn shame. Tuckers was a great little train store.

To my knowledge, Bob's sons, Ken and Russ will be taking over. But that's just my understanding. Russ is very much like Bob, funny and intelligent. As for Ken, I've never met him, but I'll assume that he's his father's son. Either way, Tucker's is in good hands.

[daylight4449]

Well, I'd rather start the ranking-on-Dylan on my own terms, but the Depot was scheduled for demolition today. I'll have more info later.

[dcm74]

This is as of 1:30PM today.

[elecuyer]

Let me be the first to NOT "rank on Dylan".

You gave it a good fight, and refused to give up. That is admirable. I hope you take your enthusiasm and work ethic and apply it to another railroad preservation cause.

-Ed Lecuyer

[NYCRS3]

Preservation and enthusiasm are truly commendable in the fight to preserve nostalgic remnants of a truly wonderful era that we all loved. But one must think about the logistics and negative return on investment if this station were to be preserved. Unless Bill Gates and Donald Trump were railfans as we are, without magical money things will not happen in a way to please the preservationist. Sad? Yes. Practical? Yes too. We must also recognize that the railroads are strictly in a profit making business as an ever changing and growing entity and not for our amusement. The station may have also been in the way of the plans of the new North Brookfield Railroad and the track space needed. The soon to be rebuilt 4-mile NBRR is coming our way and we can all find a rebirth of New England railroad excitement at its very best for the era today, and move on. Like the Phoenix rising out of the ashes...............

[daylight4449]

Well, I heard some good news. The demo crew has agreed to save some of the components for Dennis to use in the East Brookfield Historical Museum. As for what goes to the East Brookfield Historical Museum, that's at the discretion of the demo crews. so, with the depot a goner, we're shifting our focus to designing a replica of the original wooden structure.
To help that goal, we've launched a fundraiser to help defray costs that will be associated with the 501c(3) paperwork. Here's the excerpt from the facebook page:
"For anyone interested, we will be selling signed and numbered original 10x16 professionally framed photos of the depot. The same photo we have used for our profile picture but in amazing clarity developed directly from the original glass plate negative from the William Bullard Collection. These are not digital copies. We were going to use them as a fundraiser for rebuilding efforts. Only 10 available. Send an email to [email protected] for more information. They would make a great Christmas gift!"
The collection in question is owned by Dennis, and there are many more slides in the collection, so there may be similar fundraisers in the future. One chapter done, now on to the next one. While I hate to admit it, most of the board was right as proven by today's events. I'm not a fan of being proven wrong, but that's how I'm going to learn what NOT to do (i.e blathering on in a incoherent manner)
Maybe there won't be a new Richardson depot anytime soon, or even ever, but with the other regional developments, such as the Grafton and Upton rebuilding and now the North Brookfield Railroad, It might just be me, but there will be a happy ending, but it might take a while.

Dylan

[dcm74]

End of the story. Pictures taken this afternoon (12/8/11). Last of the stone being hauled away by a contractor.

[mxdata]

If the group is really serious about building a replica of the earlier wooden station, I hope they take into account with their estimating the considerable effect that price inflation is having on long term funding solicitation efforts and building projects. The current government issued consumer price index that is running around 4% a year is hardly applicable to preservation and reconstruction projects as it is based on a market basket of goods that is biased downward by the inclusion of glitzy consumer electronics that decline in price as they become more common and reach market saturation. Although prices for existing buildings are declining, the cost of new construction is going right through the roof. Many economists now predict that the "real" rate of inflation is closer to 10% and likely to go much higher. So a replica building that might cost $500,000 when you estimate the project today could easily end up costing over a million dollars by the time you complete the fundraising and actually get around to building it.

MX

[Cosmo]

If you're serious about the group reconstructing the original wooden depot, I know of someone in CT who may be able to help, both with the construction, (he specializes in post-and-beam construction,) and obtaining the necessary lumber at BELOW retail.

[daylight4449]

http://www.telegram.com/article/20111216/NEWS/112169864

WORCESTER — An Oxford man was arraigned yesterday on charges of setting a fire last year that heavily damaged a former railroad depot in East Brookfield.

[snowskier]

There's an HO Scale custom model of the E Brookfield Station listed for sale on EBay. Looks like a very nice model!...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/East-Brookfield ... 35b7eaba05