Gino DiCarlo Collection

Jump to:

• Early History
• Life as a Diner
• Historic Images
• Restoration Updates
  • Initial inspection at Kennebunkport
  • Overhauling the trucks (wheelsets)
  • Moving from Maine to Massachusetts
  • Unloading from the trailer
  • Putting the trucks under the car body
  • With help from the Trackmobile, rolling into the Car Barn! New!
  • Removing the tarps and other debris New!

The "Berkshire Hills" is an elegant parlor trolley car built for the Berkshire Street Railway in 1903. It served in extra-fare and charter service until 1917, then was a diner in Pittsfield, Massachusetts for many years. It was involved in a structure fire in the 1990's and then donated and in 1995 moved to Seashore Trolley Museum (Kennebunkport, Maine). Seashore donated the "Berkshire Hills" to us in 2023. They have many other trolleys in line for restoration work, and they felt that SFTM was closer to home for the "Berkshire Hills".

We plan a very long-term restoration, eventually to operating status.

Josh, our Restoration Manager, is leading the restoration of this car. You can reach Josh at josh@sftm.org if you'd like to volunteer to help with this project.

Please make a Donation to the "Berkshire Hills" Fund.

The "Berkshire Hills" has arrived at SFTM and been unloaded and untarped, ready for restoration inspection and planning. - S Bartlett photo

The "Berkshire Hills" in service on the Berskshire Street Railway ca 1910. - Gino's Railpage photo

According to the website Preserved North American Electric Railway Cars, out of the hundreds of trolley cars to have run in Western Massachusetts (west of Worcester), five survive. Two are lightweight cars built in the 1920s for the city of Springfield, MA. One is the body of a Holyoke Street Railway car, stored in a warehouse in Holyoke. One is our very own Number 10. The final car is the "Berkshire Hills", which arrived at SFTM in February 2025.

The "Berkshire Hills" (it never had a number) was built by Wason in 1903, as a parlor car for the Berkshire Street Railway. The company, formed in 1901, was established to run a trolley line between Adams and Great Barrington, with a connection to the Connecticut State Line. It was the only trolley company known to run in four states - it had routes in Vermont, New York and Connecticut as well as Massachusetts. It seems that the "Berkshire Hills" is the only car from the Berkshire Street Railway to have been saved, as all the rest were burned in 1932 or so.

"Berkshire Hills" herself was delivered June 12, 1903. She cost $20,000 when new, about five times as much as SF&C's Number 25. The interior was made of mahogany, with carpeted floors and upholstered wicker chairs. The car also had a water cooler and hinged mirrors containing glassware. The car was used in both charter service and in a scheduled summer service between Bennington, Vermont and Great Barrington Mass. at double the price of an ordinary ticket. The scheduled service was discontinued in 1917 due to World War 1, and never resumed. Between 1917 and 1922, the car was only used for charters.

"Berkshire Hills" was retired in the early 1920s, and was out of service by 1923. It was sold in 1932, and converted to a diner for many years, first known as the "Berkshire Hills Diner". In the early 1990s, the interior was badly burned in a fire, and in 1995 it was donated to, and moved to, Seashore Trolley Museum. In 2023 Seashore Trolley Museum very generously agreed to donate it to us.

As the only other preserved wooden Western Massachusetts trolley car, the "Berkshire Hills" is an excellent contrast to our Number 10. While Number 10 was a workhorse, the "Berkshire Hills" was a showhorse. It demonstrates the elegance of the trolley era, and the superb craftsmanship of Western Massachusetts.

Here is a short description from Transportation Bulletin Vol.79 1972 Berkshire Street Railway by O. R. Cummings: The "Berkshire Hills" probably was the most resplendent of the trolley parlor cars in New England. Built by the Wason Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Mass., for the Berkshire Street Railway in 1903, this car was 46 ft., 6 in. long and was painted a U.S. Mail white with buff trim and gold striping and lettering. The roof was a light drab and the trucks and underbody were painted green. The interior was finished in San Domingo mahogany and there were wicker chairs for 28 passengers.

This deluxe car went into regular service on August 26, 1903, running between North Adams and Great Barrington. Later, the "Berkshire Hills" joined with the "Bennington," a converted passenger car, in providing two daily round trips between Bennington, Vermont, and Great Barrington, Mass. Under the 1912 schedule, cars left Great Barrington at 7:39 am. and 1:39 pm., and arrived in Bennington at 12:15 pm and 5:45 pm. Leaving Bennington at 8:15 am. and 2:15 pm., they arrived in Great Barrington at 12:25 pm and 6:50 pm.

Needless to say, an extra fare was charged for the privilege of riding in these deluxe cars, but it must have been well worth it - for the 48-mile trip through the Berkshires certainly was one of the most, if not the most, scenic of any trolley ride in New England.

The "Berkshire Hills" was withdrawn from active service in the fall of 1922 and its body was later sold and rebuilt to a diner in West Pittsfield.

Here is another short history from Frank Hicks and the Preserved North American Electric Cars Roster:
Very few electric parlor cars were ever built and, as they had mostly been retired by the Depression, fewer still survive. The "Berkshire Hills" is one of the few that does. Berkshire Street Railway (BSR) was a sizeable conglomerate of smaller lines that had been organized between 1901 and 1903; at its peak, after it had been acquired by the New Haven in 1904, it operated 170 miles of street railways in four states. The company ordered the "Berkshire Hills" for use on charter outings and on extra-fare scheduled trips. The car, described by historian William Middleton in his book "Traction Classics, Vol. II" as "the largest and most elegant of all trolley parlor cars in New England," was painted white, had large windows for sightseeing, and was fitted with wicker furniture and drapes. Use of the car in regular service ended in 1917 but it continued in charter service until it was stored in 1922; in 1932 the car was sold and the body made into a diner in West Pittsfield. There it remained until a fire in 1994 damaged the car's structure, after which the diner's owner donated the carbody to Seashore Trolley Museum. It was moved to Kennebunkport in 1995 and has been in storage since then.

The elegance of the "Berkshire Hills" attracted the interest of modelers.

This O Scale model of the "Berkshire Hills" was scratch built by the late Kinsley Goodrich and loaned to SFTM by his family.

From Traction Prototype and Models, vol 4, no. 3, issue 21. From around 1993/1994.
Click here for a higher resolution image of the drawing above.

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The Berkshire Hills' life as a diner

Postcard showing the "Berkshire Hills" as a diner at 1485 West Housatonic Street in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

A Berkshire Eagle article described the car, with a focus on its life as a restaurant. Or you can get the pdf version of that article and an earlier article, both with some nice pictures. The more recent article also has information on Kinsley Goodrich, who helped us get No. 10 restored and running, and whose family loaned the "Berkshire Hills" O-Scale model pictured above. Kinsley was also instrumental in getting the "Berkshire Hills" donated to Seashore Trolley Museum and moved to Maine.

Historic Images

Postcard image from Ray D. Applegate.
The cupola and smokestacks are not part of the "Berkshire Hills".

Moving the "Berkshire Hills" from West Pittsfield to Seashore Trolley Museum, Feb 12, 1995 R. McDonnel photo.

Gino's Railpage has a good collection of

Dave's Rail Pix has a nice collection of "Berkshire Hills" exterior and interior shots. Start here at this picture as a diner, and click Forward to see the rest.

Josh, our Restoration Manager, is leading the restoration of this car. You can reach Josh at josh@sftm.org if you'd like to volunteer to help with this project.

Please consider making a Donation to the "Berkshire Hills" Fund - with your help, we hope the "Berkshire Hills" can serve the museum for years as an ongoing example of our restoration work.

Executive Summary: In fall 2023 we inspected the "Berkshire Hills" at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport Maine. In late 2023, we moved a pair of trucks from Seashore to SFTM. In 2024 we substantially overhauled the trucks enough to let the "Berkshire Hills" be movable (not under her own power) again. In February 2025 the "Berkshire Hills" was loaded by a crane and shipped down here on a road trailer. We unloaded the car body and set it on the trucks and moved it to the Car Barn for secure storage. In preparation we had extended our two-stall Car Barn and plowed the yard and tracks free of snow. Then we untarped and cleaned her out in preparation for a thorough evaluation and planning for interior and exterior restoration.

The next set of pictures, taken in fall 2023, shows what we are starting with. We believe that the frame is sound, but much of the interior was damaged by the fire.

This interior shot shows the original elegance of this car, as well as the amount of work that will be required to bring the "Berkshire Hills" back to its original appearance. N Bly photo

We temporarily removed the tarps for a better view. K Buffum photo

The woodwork in this car was very ornate. You can also see the fire damage in this section of the car. K Buffum photo

In this section of the car, some cleaning and routine stripping of old finish is all that is needed before it can be refinished. K Buffum photo

Through the soot you can make out "Wason Mfg Springfield Mass." K Buffum photo

This is about all that remains of the many once-ornate glass windows. K Buffum photo

Here is some inlaid details in a window post. K Buffum photo

Firefighters hacked their way through the roof to get at the fire, causing much of the major damage to the car. K Buffum photo

The frame and underbody of the car seem to have survived well. K Buffum photo

In late 2023, we moved a pair of trucks from Seashore to SFTM. These are not the original trucks but are similar models, also donated by Seashore. The trucks came from underneath a snow sweeper that was at Illinois Railway Museum. In 2024 we substantially overhauled the trucks enough to let the "Berkshire Hills" be movable (not under her own power) again. Here are some pictures of the truck overhaul.

Some of our volunteer Restoration Crew are seen here disassembling the trucks that have been acquired for the "Berkshire Hills".

January 2024.

January 2024.

January 2024.

February 2024 - Volunteers are cleaning up the truck parts for priming and painting.

The more portable parts were taken to Orchard Equipment Supply for donated blasting and priming. White Oak was acquired from a local saw mill for the wooden bolster pieces. Now reassembly can begin!

July 9, 2024 - Larry and Nash prime the wheel sets.

July 23, 2024 - Larry (and several other volunteers not shown) prime and paint the "small" parts.

Aug 8, 2024 - Josh uses the rosebud and arbor press to straighten a frame piece.

Sept 07, 2024 - We had to completely rebuild the spring planks. Here Josh uses the mag drill to put holes in the side pieces of the spring plank.

Sept 22, 2024 - The frames are all painted and assembled. The wheel sets are painted and ready to accept the frames.

Oct 8, 2024 - Now we await the installation of the bolster beams.
Note that the Car Barn extension is in use, beyond the trucks.

Oct 22, 2024 - The bolster beams are installed, sitting on temporary leaf spring replacement assemblies.

Cote Crane and Rigging brought a large crane to Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunk, Maine to lift the "Berkshire Hills" (under the green tarp) from the cribbing and subway truck it was resting on and place it on a Silk Road Transport trailer.

With longitudinal and lateral spreaders the crane made easy work of the 20,000 pound "pick". Photo by D. Rogers

On the trailer, now to tie it down and haul it to SFTM. Photos by D. Rogers

We had hoped to get this move completed before the winter set in, but didn't make it. The yard was kept plowed and we used the Trackmobile to plow the tracks. Here is a movie by J. Helzer of the Trackmobile plowing. Part of our Main Track has the rails buried to the tops so the truck could drive right up on the tracks. Silk Road Transport hauled the "Berkshire Hills" carbody to Shelburne Falls on February 11, 2025.

Many hours were put into getting and keeping ready for the arrival of the "Berkshire Hills". - J. Helzer

"Silk Road is here!" - M. Bartlett

First we centered the trailer on the track, between the pre-positioned jacking pads. - M. Bartlett

Some of the pads needed some tweaking. - M. Bartlett

Snow and ice added to difficulty. The compressor was for the air jacks. - M. Bartlett

Then we placed I-beams under the car to lift it off the trailer. - M. Bartlett

The Drott crane couldn't lift the car but it was useful for setup. - M. Bartlett

We had several job briefings as we proceeded. - M. Bartlett

Once the carbody was supported by the I-beams, the trailer was carefully pulled out. - M. Bartlett

Carefully.... - M. Bartlett

Now it is just on four jacks. Don't go under there! - M. Bartlett

We then pushed the trucks under the car with a tractor and lowered the carbody onto the trucks.

The trucks had been placed on the Main Track several weeks ago and shoveled off several times. - M. Bartlett

The iced-in flangeways on this section of track made moving the truck tricky. - M. Bartlett

Then we blocked the carbody on the trucks so weight is taken off the I-beams. Then the I-beams are removed and the jacking pads moved inward to be under the sill of the car. - M. Bartlett

Then it is a process of using the jacks to remove some cribbing, lower the jacks, then use the cribbing to reset the jacks, then repeat until down on the trucks. - J. Helzer

We ran out of daylight, back at it tomorrow! - J. Helzer

For the first time many years the "Berkshire Hills" was on steel wheels on steel rails. - I. Boyd

Then, with a lot of determination, ice chipping, ingenuity, diesel power and sand, we moved the "Berkshire Hills" from the Main Track, up to Salmon Falls, down the House Track and into the Car Barn.

On the iced-in flangeways the Trackmobile could barely get itself going, let alone push the "Berkshire Hills" - I. Boyd

With a tractor on the ice we could make some progress, then on the open track the Trackmobile took over.- I. Boyd

We left the end sticking out for the picture, but it does all fit, with the Trackmobile, in the newly extended Car Barn. - L. Weaver

This was the first time in almost a century that the car had moved on its own wheels or been indoors.

February and March 2025 - As you can see above, the "Berkshire Hills" was well tarped while at Seashore Trolley Museum because it was stored outdoors. Our first priority was to remove the tarp and other diner-era attachments so that we could evaluate the restoration work and to show it off to our visitors. Under the green tarp was a partial blue tarp as well as strapping and ropes for the tarps. We also vacuumed up the debris on the roof left over from the fire and from animal infestation. Some interesting things were revealed as part of this untarping.

Very faded "HILLS" and some striping is evident to the right of the opening. - S. Bartlett

Here is the "ERK" of "Berkshire" - S. Bartlett

The three ceiling light fixtures had two copper chimneys. Were they to vent the heat from the electric bulbs, or was it originally oil lamps, or something else? - S. Bartlett

A better view of the chimneys at one of the other fixture locations.
Most of these roof members will need to be replaced. - S. Bartlett

The four mirrors on the walls are actually cabinet doors. This one has a diner artifact, an electronic security system. - S. Bartlett

Another mirror cabinet had this glass ware, probably also from the diner era.- S. Bartlett

Tony and Nash discuss next steps for the "Berkshire Hills" - S. Bartlett

Brittle, charred and hacked, the roof will need much work but there is no rot here. - S. Bartlett

This is what we are starting with. The "door" openings on the sides of the car are not supposed to be there, those will have to be reframed as large windows, see below. - S. Bartlett

The "Berkshire Hills" in service on the Berskshire Street Railway ca 1910. - Gino's Railpage photo

We brought the car outside for cleanup and pictures, but it is stored under cover in our Car Barn. As you can see from the two pictures above, this is a monumental task. But consider that No. 10 was also in pretty rough condition when we started that restoration, as was Central Vermont Caboose 4015.

Josh, our Restoration Manager, is leading the restoration of this car. You can reach Josh at josh@sftm.org if you'd like to volunteer to help with this project.

The restoration of the "Berkshire Hills" will take a lot of time and money. We have already received a generous donation of $10,000 to cover the expenses of moving the car from Kennebunkport, Maine to SFTM.

The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum exists due to the generosity of members, visitors and friends.  Tickets cover about one-third of our operating costs.  Donations are tax-deductible, the museum is a 501(c)(3) organization, run entirely by volunteers. Our Tax ID is 04-3133373. Feel free to research our operation at Guidestar.org.

To make a financial donation, please send a check made out to "SFTM", to:

Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum
PO BOX 272
14 Depot Street
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370

If you wish you may designate your donation for a specific SFTM project in the memo line of your check:
General Fund, Car Barn Extension, "Berkshire Hills" Parlor Trolley, MBTA PCC Cars, B&M Box Car, MBTA Line Car 3283, CV Caboose 4015 or Volunteer Appreciation.
The General Fund is available for us to use to cover our costs of operation (insurance, electricity, etc.) or, if we have enough, we can transfer it to one of the other project funds.

After you click the "Donate" button below you may designate your donation for a specific SFTM project:
General Fund, Car Barn Extension, "Berkshire Hills" Parlor Trolley, MBTA PCC Cars, B&M Box Car, MBTA Line Car 3283, CV Caboose 4015 or Volunteer Appreciation.
The General Fund is available for us to use to cover our costs of operation (insurance, electricity, etc.) or, if we have enough, we can transfer it to one of the other project funds.

This is for Donations only. To Join or Renew your membership, go here.

Please send any additional information or corrections or pictures to Sam Bartlett.