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Formation | 1963 (Inc. 1963) |
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Membership | 275 |
President | Joe Biagioni |
Website | amherstRail.org |
The Amherst Railway Society is a society of railway enthusiasts located in Palmer, Massachusetts which is also the home of seven railroads. The society puts on an annual Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show at the Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds in West Springfield, Massachusetts, in late January of every year. [1] [2] The attendance at the two-day show, which has over 7 acres of displays, usually averages twenty five thousand people, making it one of the largest two-day train shows in North America.
The Amherst Railway Society has about 446 members who share some aspect of railroading as a common interest. Monthly meetings cover current topics in railroad news and offer slide shows, movies or a prominent speaker on a railroading topic.
Dates for the 2025 show are January 25th and 26th.
According to written minutes, the Amherst Railway Society came into existence on October 15, 1963, in Goessman Laboratory, Room 151 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The first program on October 15, 1963, was "Mexican Steam" by Everett Turner, "American Diesels" by Al Wynne, and some steam shots from around Amherst by Harvey Allen. [3] Many of the people attending the first meeting had been active in a previous UMass railroad group that was organized by students. That group ceased to exist by 1963. The Amherst Railway Society quickly grew and five years later, the organization put on its own train show that is now held every year in West Springfield.
The annual Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show has become the biggest railroad show in the country. In 1993 and 1994 the Amherst Railway Society received the Walthers Showmanship Award for sponsoring the event.
Proceeds from the show are used to promote interest in railroads. Donations have been made to various railroad museums, historical societies, restoration projects and scholarship funds. Organizations that have received donations include: the Fall River and Old Colony Museum, the 470 Club's Boston and Maine diesel locomotive restoration project, the Boston and Maine Historical Society, the Chester Foundation Station Project, the Wiscasset Waterville and Farmington Building and Car Fund as well as trolley museums in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, Warehouse Point, Connecticut, and Kennebunk, Maine.
The ARS has given away over $800,000 in grants to railroad related organizations.
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The Flying Yankee was a diesel-electric streamliner built in 1935 for the Maine Central Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad by Budd Company and with mechanical and electrical equipment from Electro-Motive Corporation. It was also the name of a passenger train, the third streamliner train in North America. That train ceased passenger service in 1957 and is stored at the Hobo Railroad in New Hampshire. It is owned by the state of New Hampshire, which in 2023 said it wants to sell the train.
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The EMD FL9 is a model of electro-diesel locomotive, capable of operating either as a traditional diesel-electric locomotive or as an electric locomotive powered from a third rail. Sixty units were built between October 1956 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
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The EMD GP35 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between July 1963 and December 1965 and by General Motors Diesel between May 1964 and January 1966. 1251 examples were built for American railroads, 26 were built for Canadian railroads and 57 were built for Mexican railroads. Power was provided by a turbocharged EMD 567D3A 16-cylinder engine which generated 2,500 horsepower (1,860 kW).
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The Oklahoma Railway Museum is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit organization in Oklahoma City. It is self-funded through memberships, train fares, special events, donations, and grants for restoration projects. The growing membership, of approximately 210 members, has around 50 active members. Railroad operations are conducted under Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rules, and the Museum is a member of the HeritageRail Alliance, Frontier Country Tourism, and an associate member of the Adventure District of Oklahoma City.
The Boston Street Railway Association (BSRA) is a non-profit organization in Boston, Massachusetts, whose central objective is preserving transportation history in Boston and throughout New England. They host monthly membership meetings, publish a bimonthly transit news magazine, and are restoring an ex-Boston Type 5 streetcar. They also regularly publish their own books and materials, as well as organize fan trips on Boston's MBTA and to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. Funding for the organization is provided primarily through tax-deductible member and individual donations, as well as through grants and donations from other organizations and groups.
The Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show is an annual show, covering railroads, railroad Museums, model railroading, and railroad related toys, held at the Eastern States Exposition grounds in West Springfield, Massachusetts by the Amherst Railway Society. The show usually held on the last weekend in January. The show currently operates in three large buildings and one small building for a total of four buildings.
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The Central Corridor Rail Line was a proposed passenger service route between New London, Connecticut, and Brattleboro, Vermont. A primary purpose of the proposed service was to provide a rail link between state flagship schools UConn, UMass Amherst, and UVM.
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The Connecticut River Line is a railroad line owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), running between Springfield and East Northfield, Massachusetts.