ADAMS, Mass. — The children at C.T. Plunkett School are adding their voices to calls to complete the Berkshire Scenic Railway line: "we are all aboard here at the Adams Station, please build the tracks to downtown."
Earlier this month, Plunkett students took on a schoolwide effort to write more than 50 letters or draw pictures to Gov. Charlie Baker asking him to finish the last mile of the rail line to Hoosac Street.
"We though it could be fun, and the kids love that train. More than half of the Berkshire Scenic ridership were kids," Director of Community Development Donna Cesan said. "I hope it’s taken that this is important to the community whether you are 3, 30, or you are 90,"
The state Department of Transportation announced earlier this month that there were no funds to finish the last 6/10ths of a mile of the rail line that extends from North Adams to Adams.
This leaves Adams with its renovated "train station" on Hoosac Street, but with no train.
Cesan said Selectman Joseph Nowak, who sometimes substitute teaches, spearheaded the project and delivered stacks of letters and drawings to the Community Development Office last week.
The material varied from family portraits boarding the train to drawings of trains equipped with rockets.
Some letters stated that "the train will be cool" or "please make the train go behind my house" or "we have a station but no train."
Some students asked if Baker would ride the train with them and one student boldly asked the governor to "put the train tracks on the missing spots."
Cesan said the town has already invested a lot into a project that was promised to the town. That spur of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, now under construction, was delayed nearly three years while the state redesigned it to accommodate the rail line and purchased the section from North Adams to the industrial park.
The town, meanwhile, purchased and refurbished a former carwash on Hoosac Street to act as a welcoming pavilion for tourists expected to disembark from the scenic rail. Adams town meeting approved $230,000 toward the $600,000 project in hopes the nonprofit railway will prove an economic boon.
"The town made investments and decisions based on that promise," Cesan said. "There are 351 municipalities in Massachusetts and I am sure they all have very important projects, but this, in the scheme of things, is really a relatively small amount of money."
Cesan said to finish the track and install platforms in both Adams and North Adams it would probably cost between $1.5 million and $2 million.
She said the selectmen continue to reach out to state representatives and MassDOT to relay the importance of bringing the train to the newly renovated Adams Station
Cesan noted that the letter collections must have been a huge project and she hopes the governor sees them.
"To me it makes the point but in a fun light-hearted way. It is good for the kids, who are our future citizens," Cesan said. "I hope the governor takes it in the spirit that it was intended, and I would love to have him come out and visit and ride the train with some of the kids."
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