I had a talk yesterday afternoon with one of the crew working on the Berkshire (Housatonic) Line. There are about 50 people hard at work on the $30-million upgrade to the line within Massachusetts. They have 25 of the yellow machines you see in the photos, and perhaps I'll be able to get a video [...]
Train Minute #3: Marilyn Kelly, a lifetime resident of Lee, Massachusetts, talks about riding the Berkshire Line to New York City to see a show, and how she and her girlfriends could be home in Lee by 11pm. We're working to bring passenger rail back to the Berkshires! Train Minutes come from the Train Campaign, [...]
Click to download PDF of "Berkshire Line? Berkshire Flyer?" oped by Karen Christensen of the Train Campaign, and visit Berkshire Trade & Commerce for the full issue.
Rep. Smitty Pignatelli has been asked to be the lead sponsor of this legislation and the Train Campaign is looking forward to his sponsorship as well as support from the full Berkshire delegation: The Massachusetts department of transportation shall convene a working group to be referred to as the Berkshire Passenger Rail Service Working Committee [...]
Train Campaign presentation on Passenger Rail Advocacy in the Berkshires by Karen Christensen, President of the Train Campaign: Thanks to Trains in the Valley for these additional links: CTrail Hartford Line and Transit Oriented Development Update (PDF) John Bernick, Asst. Rail Administrator, CTDOT Expansion of Passenger Rail along the Northern End of [...]
Modern welded rail track comes in 1/4-mile sections. It is brought in on special rail cars. As the cars roll along, sections of rail are off-loaded. You can see them along the Housatonic Line from the Connecticut border to Pittsfield. Here is an example of the rail lying along the old jointed track in downtown [...]
Here is a video clip of the new Housatonic rail track being delivered to the Berkshires for upgrades to the line. Once these upgrades are complete, the Housatonic Line will have the capacity for passenger service, as well as existing freight service. Modern welded rail track comes in 1/4-mile sections so moving it is quite [...]
Thanks to MassDOT for these maps showing where they are working on two bridges on the Berkshire (Housatonic) Line. We are hoping to have a timetable for this work and the other upgrades underway. Railroad Bridge 77.55 over the Housatonic River – Lenox, MA [...]
This interactive webinar had some 25 participants and was held online in 2013, before the 2014 purchase by Massachusetts Department of Transportation of the 37-mile railway line in Massachusetts. The speakers came from the Housatonic Railroad Company and the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. If you want to understand the background for today's discussion of the [...]
Thanks to Terry Cowgill at the Berkshire Record for continued coverage of the Train Campaign. We're especially glad to get an update direct from Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy. More next month (and next year! - welcome 2016) on the Massachusetts DOT, which is not winning hearts and minds in the Berkshires. Here's Terry's recent cover [...]
A big thank-you to the companies that sponsor the Train Campaign
