We are at the Keystone Arch Bridges Trail in Chester, Mass. It is a couple of miles hike in to this trail marker which tells the history of the Western Railroad of Massachusetts. In the 1830's a rail line was proposed to link Boston with Albany, NY. This line was the first mountian railroad ever built and critics said it wouldn't work. One of the first West Point Engineering graduates a Major George Washington Whistler, surveyed the route and it was constructed between 1836-1841. Whistler's son and wife became famous by his son's painting his wife, ( Whistler's Mother ). Major Whistler's engineering feat opened in 1841 and continues to carry freight and passengers today as CSX's Boston & Albany line. The line crosses the Connecticut River in Springfield and follows the Westfield river up through the Berkshires topping them at 1458 ft before desending to the Hudson River. This section, through Chester is some of the toughest and remote terrain in Massachusetts. The line has carried trains since 1841 with only one line relocation of about a mile in this spot to eliminate a sharpe curve. The resulting relocation left two of the large stone arch bridges unused and is now a hiking trail.

Photographed by Mike LaCasse, October 6, 2004.
Added to the photo archive by Mike LaCasse, October 27, 2004.
Railroad: CSX.

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