Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum

The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum is founded in 1984 as a not‑for‑profit organization and begins passenger excursions that year between Lee and Great Barrington on Housatonic Railroad tracks. During the 1980s it also runs tourist trains between Lenox and Stockbridge, but deteriorating track conditions force a suspension of service after several years. Excursions resume in 2003, operating from the restored Lenox station with regular trips to Lee and Stockbridge until the Housatonic Railroad declines to renew the state operating lease at the end of 2011. A 2014 state grant of $200,000 enables the museum to relocate its operations to the Hoosac Valley, and in November 2015 the City of North Adams finalizes a lease for a temporary passenger platform; service launches in May 2016 from North Adams. After a $2.6 million MassDOT grant completes a permanent platform in Adams and adds the final mile of track in late 2017, the museum’s excursion service begins operating from Adams in 2018, marking the longest‑running seasonal heritage operation in the region.