Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum
WELCOME to the first of my monthly travel investigations, where I’ll explore a great railroad journey, a special destination, or a historic experience. I plan to visit some of the most interesting railroads operating today, while also leading Trains readers down less-traveled paths to seek out the hidden gems of railroading.
Places to go
Due to its importance to me, I begin with the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum because it has preserved rural New England railroading and historic equipment representative of my early interest. It’s also where I have friends who have worked to make this a fun place to visit.
Founded in 1984, Berkshire Scenic abides by its motto — “We are not just preserving history, we’re making it!” — and aims to preserve the rural railroading of the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts. The museum has an unusual arrangement that features two related but geographically separate operations. Its original location is the Lenox Station Museum on Willow Creek Road in Lenox, Mass. Since 2015, it has developed the Hoosac Valley Train Ride based in Adams, 25 miles to the north.
The Lenox Station building was built by the New Haven Railroad in 1903 to replace an earlier structure destroyed by fire, and is central to the museum’s railroad interpretation.
Things to see & do
Among the displays is a recreation of a classic New Haven Railroad block station complete with vintage telegraph equipment and the tools used by operators to deliver train orders. Short train rides are offered from the station to the yard, where a variety of classic mid-20th-century rolling stock is on display. Among the prizes of the collection is former New Haven Railroad Budd RDC1 No. 42, which is representative of the equipment that served this line during the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Classic diesels include former Maine Central No. 954, an Alco S1 built in 1945.
General Electric accepted this as a trade in the mid-1970s on an order of U18Bs, and rather than scrap it, repurposed the S1 to its Pittsfield, Mass., plant. In 1988, GE donated the engine to the museum.
Another Alco at Lenox is a type of locomotive that stirred my interest as a youngster: former Birmingham Southern RS3 No. 151 may seem like an outlander, but in its later career served a variety of industries culminating with work yarding coal trains at Holcim’s former Alpha Portland Industries cement plant in upstate New York. Berkshire Scenic acquired this rare operational example of an RS3 (with the 244H prime mover) in 2011 and has painted it to represent a former New Haven Railroad unit lettered as Penn Central No. 5599.
My favorite Berkshire Scenic component is its Hoosac Valley ride that shares trackage with Pan Am Southern on the north end of the former Boston & Albany North Adams Branch. On Columbus Day weekend in 2015, my father and I were on hand for the opening day excursions with Berkshire Scenic’s former New York Central SW8 No. 8619 leading ex-Budd RDC1 No. 6126 from Renfrew Station to North Adams and back. In 2018, the railroad opened a mile-long extension southward to the center of Adams, which is now its primary excursion station. To the south, this B&A alignment hosts the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail.
Excursions are operated on select weekends on the 10-mile round trip to North Adams. This scenic journey runs through its namesake valley, which is most popular during peak autumn foliage in early October. However, for me, the best time to visit is during the shoulder seasons in June and July when the RDC works solo under its own power. This a rare opportunity to experience a pure Budd RDC in action. In busier times, the RDC is part of a consist that includes a pair of former Lackawanna M.U. trailers operated push-pull style with the SW8 diesel.
Toward the northern end of the line, the former B&A branch crosses beneath Pan Am Southern’s former Boston & Maine Fitchburg route main line — jointly owned by CSX and Norfolk Southern — that is famous for its 4.75-mile passage through the nearby Hoosac Tunnel. (Hoosac’s east portal can be viewed from public property off River Road in Florida, Mass., about a 20-minute drive east of North Adams.) Berkshire Scenic stores additional historic equipment at its Ashtrack Yard in North Adams including former Boston & Maine SW1 No. 1113, a former Canadian National MLW-built S4 that later served Claremont & Concord, and a former Pennsylvania Railroad baggage car. Limited tours of the yard are planned in June and July.
Hours & operations
The Lenox Station Museum is only open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For the Hoosac Valley train schedules, events, and equipment descriptions, visit berkshiretrains.org.
