Photo by Pedro Xing, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
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About Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum
The Hoosac Valley Train carries passengers on vintage diesel locomotives along a four‑mile (6.4 km) stretch between Adams and North Adams, Massachusetts, winding through the historic Hoosac Valley. Operating from the restored Lenox Station museum, the seasonal service offers scheduled rides as well as special pumpkin and Santa trains. The line runs on track restored with state and town funding and reflects the museum’s ongoing heritage‑rail operations that began in 1984.
📍 LENOX, MA 01240
History
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.
The Trains
The museum runs the Hoosac Valley Train between the towns of Adams and North Adams, covering the restored five‑mile (approximately 8 km) segment of the former Adams Branch. Service uses vintage diesel locomotives and historic passenger cars, operating from the restored Lenox Station museum and offering seasonal schedules, pumpkin rides and Santa trains. The line runs on standard‑gauge track that MassDOT rebuilt, first restoring four miles (6.4 km) south from North Adams and later adding the final mile (1.6 km) to reach Adams.
Nearby
Based in Lenox, Massachusetts, the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum sits about 19 mi from both the New England Rail Excursions and the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum.
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