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Photo from the collection of Kinsley Goodrich, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
The need for more space and opulence led to the building of parlor cars of larger dimensions along the lines of steam road coaches of the day. Some had swivel trucks at either end of the carbody even as this configuration was just beginning to be adopted for regular service street railway equipment. Among the most splendid was the Berkshire Hills , built in 1902 by the Wason Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. It was ordered by the Berkshire Street Railway, a regional trolley system in that bucolic region of Western Massachusetts. Consolidation with connecting companies reaching into Vermont, Connecticut and New York would make the Berkshire Street Railway the only trolley company to operate in four states.
The Berkshire Hills was greatly appointed with Santo Domingo mahogany cabinetry and woodwork, curved and beveled glass, ornate light fixtures, opulent draperies and costly upholstery on its wicker chairs. The car was used largely for charters, but was also used for premium fare summer service from Pittsfield, the only major city of the region, to Cheshire, Connecticut and later to Bennington, Vermont. World War I ended the parlor service and the Berkshire Hills saw only a few charters until it was placed in storage in 1922.
The car was ultimately sold in 1932, at about the time the Berkshire Street Railway ended all electric rail service. The electrical and running gear was sold and scrapped separately, and the carbody was set out alongside Route 20 in West Pittsfield for use as a diner. Over the years, the diner's managements and usages changed. After some years as a landmark, the car was encased in a brick wall that made it unrecognizable, though little damage was done o the overall structure, until a 1994 fire in an attached building did substantial damage to the interior appointments, which has survived remarkably well until then.
The problem of removing the brick wall and anticipated costs of replacing it for ongoing possible uses had frustrated latter day efforts to save the Berkshire Hills and restore to as a street railway parlor car. After the fire, the owner was suddenly quite willing to donate the parlor car to Seashore. A curatorial party from Seashore inspected the property and reported that the Berkshire Hills , although gravely wounded was still far from dead, and that the carbody was still sound and restorable, though more expensively than before.
Area supporters and contractors were found who would extract and transport the carbody. Sufficient funds were generated in the Berkshire region to meet moving costs and defray a last minute demand for substantial money to rebuild the brick wall that was still going to have to be torn down, and the Berkshire Hills was plucked from its tomb and loaded for transport, finally arriving in Maine on March 13, 1995.
History from Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich
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