Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum Celebrating 40th Anniversary with Two Special Train Events this weekend

• “Budd Fund” capital campaign launch and outdoor concert will be held on July 27-28

LENOX, Mass. — The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum (BSRM) will be celebrating 40 years of offering tourist train rides with two special events in July, as well as a new capital campaign to support the continued operation of these rides.

A 40th anniversary celebration will run from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 27th, at Lenox Station Museum (10 Willow Creek Road, Lenox). There will also be an outdoor concert by the Pellegrino Band at 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 28th, at Stockbridge Station (1 Depot Road, Stockbridge).

“Since we began offering these train rides in July 1984, hundreds of thousands of people have seen the beauty of the Berkshires in a whole new way. We’re holding these events to celebrate the work we’ve done and to hopefully kick off many more decades of educating and entertaining our visitors,” BSRM President Tom Delasco said.

Guests at the 40th anniversary celebration can enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks, remarks from special guests (starting at 5 p.m.), and tours of the Lenox Station Museum grounds. The historic Roger Williams train will be open to visitors, giving them the chance to walk through the train, sit in the engineer’s seat, and hear the engines run.

Roger Williams train

Three of the six original Roger Williams train cars survive today, and BSRM leased them last year from the Budd RDC Foundation. The train was a revolutionary early attempt at high-speed rail service, introduced by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in 1956 — 44 years before Amtrak introduced Acela on the same route. On April 23, BSRM ran the Roger Williams under its own power for the first time in more than 30 years.

In addition to the Roger Williams, BSRM cares for six other Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) — one of the most significant RDC collections in the world. The 40th anniversary celebration will mark the official kickoff of The Budd Fund, a capital campaign to support the restoration of these historic rail cars to operational condition.

“RDCs were an efficient, innovative way that railroads continued to offer value to passengers even as automobile and airplane travel grew more popular after World War II. All three railroads serving the Berkshires in the 1950s used RDCs when they were introduced, and we’re glad that we can continue using these historically accurate cars on our scenic train rides,” Berkshire’s Tim Doherty said.

Tickets for the 40th anniversary celebration start at $40 per person; guests also have the option to choose a sponsorship level to contribute a higher amount to The Budd Fund. Tickets for the concert at Stockbridge Station are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 3-13. For more information click here .

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