Welcome to Bedford Shop LocalBedford + Neighbors Join BK Email Group Calendar Activities + Classes Adventures Adventures Out Camps Dining with Kids Playgrounds Storytimes + Libraries Bedford Family Connection (BFC) Preschool K-12 Health + WellnessJob SearchKid-Friendly BusinessesSupport GroupsEverything Else! Mom Basics web site Robin's Blog Mom Basics Discussions Mom Basics Shop About Us Advertise Home
Adventures Out
All Aboard for Family Fun
Railroad tracks crisscross Massachusetts, connecting big city stations and deserted outposts across the country. Although the heyday of the iron horse and steam engines has passed, the allure of the rails continues. After all, countless children have read The Little Engine That Could, the Thomas the Tank Engine series, and The Polar Express. They’ve heard the legends of John Henry laying down railroad tracks, Casey Jones’ last ride, and Butch Cassidy’s train robberies. Hop aboard these trains to see what adventures await you.
First Stop: The Berkshires
You’ll find lots of railroad enthusiasts at the nonprofit Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum. Operating on weekends and holidays, this all-volunteer organization offers two 90-minute round-trip rides from Lenox Station to Stockbridge and a 45-minute round-trip passage from Lenox to Lee. You’ll travel in 1920s standard gauge coaches pulled by a 1950s diesel locomotive, with a uniformed conductor narrating the adventure.
The museum is housed in the station's depot, circa 1903. When the original station burned down in 1902, the wealthy “cottagers” who owned summer homes in the Berkshires influenced the stone-and-timber architecture of the new station. Check out the Gilded Age exhibit in a vintage railway car.
Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum, 10 Willow Creek Road, Lenox, MA; 413-637-2210. Open weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through October; special Santa Train weekend in December. See web site for train schedule.
Next Stop: Edaville
Take a two-mile loop on a narrow-gauge train at Edaville in Carver. In addition to its train ride around the park, Edaville has a 1938 steam engine called the Anne Elizabeth, which ran at a sugar plantation in Fiji, plus several trains to climb on, including one car with bunk beds.
Edaville is only open to the public for themed events, such as the popular Thomas the Tank weekends, the National Cranberry Festival, and the month-long Christmas Festival of Lights. Each event includes live entertainment, storytelling, crafts, and amusement rides. Plan to visit Edaville in December, when it gets dark early and you can see the glittering holiday lights from atop the Ferris Wheel or while spinning around the old-fashioned carousel. To warm up, visit the indoor play areas and tour the museum filled with locomotives, working model train sets, antique cars, and cranberry harvesting equipment.
Edaville USA, 5 Pine St., Carver, MA; 508-866-8190. See web site for dates of scheduled events from June through December.
Last Stop: Cape Cod
Hop aboard the Cape Cod Central Railroad in Hyannis for a two-hour round-trip excursion to the Cape Cod Canal. The railroad offers gourmet brunch, lunch, and supper train rides appropriate for families. Although the tables are decked out with white linens, the menu includes kid-friendly Choo-Choo Charley’s chicken fingers and Boxcar Willy’s macaroni and cheese. If you want to skip the white linens and just enjoy the scenery---past the cranberry bogs, woods, and marshes---try the Scenic Fun Train instead. The railroad also offers a Halloween Fun Train and a North Polar Express.
Cape Cod Central Railroad, 252 Main St., Hyannis, MA; 508-771-3800. Open May through October; plus Halloween Fun Train (Oct.); North Polar Express (Dec.); see web site for specific train schedules.
In the Station
Built in 1887, the Chatham railroad station served travelers for 50 years. Now this restored “country depot” is a museum. The collection includes hundreds of historic items related to railroads, including model trains, lanterns, bells, Western Union telegraph equipment, a diorama of the Chatham rail yards circa 1918, photographs, and memorabilia. Behind the depot, take a walk through the red 1918 New York caboose.
Chatham Railroad Museum, 153 Depot Road, Chatham, no phone. Open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., mid-June to mid-September.
(BPP, 9/08)
Before your next night on the town, visit Restaurant.com
for big savings at local eateries.
Bypass theater ticket lines. Buy movie tickets in advance at Fandango.com. Read reviews and find showtimes for any movie in the U.S.
Home | Shop Local | Advertise
© 2003-2008 Robin C. Mason, WordsWorth2
Email Robin with calendar event listings, suggestions, and corrections.