Map of area covered. Green dots indicate start and stop points. This map is from when the RR was active, and before the road on the west side was rerouted, and before Bear Swamp Hydroelectric was built.
HT&W excursion Monroe Bridge to Bear Swamp Hydroelectric
The Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington Railroad "a.k.a. the Hoot Toot & Whistle" was a much loved narrow gauge Railroad that originally went from the Hoosac Tunnel Station in Rowe MA all the way to Wilmington VT. Over time it was gradually decimated by power plant construction. First the Harriman Reservoir in Whitingham/Wilmington restricted it to Readsboro, then Yankee Atomic in Rowe MA restricted it to Monroe, and finally Bear Swamp Hydroelectric killed it once and for all! The original RR was a narrow gauge, so mainline B&M traffic could not travel its route. Ultimately It was converted at for power plant construction. The railroad was windy and awkward at points and was called by some as a "cliffhanger". This page is a photo documentary of the section between Monroe bridge, and Bear Swamp Hydroelectric. This entire hike took me about 2.5 hours including time for taking pictures. It is not very strenuous. There are no "no trespassing signs" along what I hiked so you should be alright. At the very least the north section is open to the public.
Map
of area covered. Green dots indicate start and stop points. This map is from
when the RR was active, and before the road on the west side was rerouted, and
before Bear Swamp Hydroelectric was built.
All pictures are in order from Northern most to south. most are taken looking in a southerly direction. CLICK TO ENLARGE!
The
gate near the Bridge. Do not park here! Park at the town library which isn't far
away!
The
Old Glassine factory, closed since the 80s
Monroe
Bridge, and Deerfield 5 dam
The
Grade, notice its in very nice shape here! My car could pass this just fine!
More
pictures of the very interesting and very dead factory.
Ditto
Looking
northward, still a nice grade. Notice the retaining wall, this is a long one!
Plastic
Pipe. These are all over the place, I am not sure how old they are.
Still
well groomed, I am not sure why they keep this in such nice shape.
Large
piece of metal that had washed downstream presumably from Monroe. This is about
1/2 mile down stream.
Still
nice and passable, how long will it last?
Old
Railroad tie. These can be found in abundance on the river side of the old
grade.
A
washout that was patched by a giant concrete and metal slab. You can see this
from the road on the other side of the river, I always thought it was a bridge!
seems overkill for the relatively minor washout. Perhaps it serves another
purpose?
Making
a turn! yippie!
Entering
another straightaway.
The
first glimpse of flat land on the mountain side of the grade about 1 mile south
of Monroe Bridge.
Along
the flat area, notice the abundance of frost. It was 20 freaking degrees that
morning (and when this picture was taken) darn middle of November temperatures!
The
grade is still drivable by car after over a mile! So far so good!
The
only stone bridge remaining on this section. of the old RR
The
other side of the bridge.
Coming
towards a man made water trap (pool) on the right.
Looking
north, the pool, and a bunch of cut lumber. So far the old grade is well
maintained and all brush and fallen branches have been recently cut away.
An
exciting find! a 20 or 25 foot section of rail!
This
is as far as a car could take you. after this it gets a little choppy
the
park in Florida MA. That park is built at part of the old road (which was
rerouted for the reservoir and power plant) the Old road used to follow the
river more closely. you can still drive on it for a little ways before you are
stopped by a fence. This road leads to the new Deerfield 5 (the old Deerfield 5
was used to power the electric at Hoosac Tunnel up into the 1940s)
Our
newly found slightly less good shape grade.
Old
Retaining wall, still retaining!
The
Gate to Bear Swamp Hydroelectric. The grade takes a turn for the worse after
this gate. Notice that there are no "no trespassing" signs here. I will proceed!
This
fence would be intimidating, what with its clashing color, and triple barbed
wire. But wait.. What's this? Its wide open! not only that, but the fence ends
15 feet after the gate!
Here
is the fence lurking down towards the river. It had been hit by flood waters in
the past and it shows!
What
happened to the nice, well groomed grade? This isn't too bad, but it may be if
you are allergic to goldenrod!
The
first unpatched washout I encountered
You
can see across the river the old road. There are jersey barriers along the side
because a lot of the side has washed out.
Starting
to see more evidence of The hydroelectric power plant!
Another
old retaining wall, still holding up rather well.
Our
rail grade is still visible, but it is quite muddy here.
This
part of the reservoir looks quite neat. it is early in the morning so there
isn't a lot of water in there.
That
gate on the other side is as far as you can get by car.
Oh
no, brush is taking over the increasingly more desolate and ill maintained
grade.
Our last visible Retaining wall
The
Rail grade is completely destroyed here.
The
last visible bit of the grade.
A
large rock cut used for gathering rock for the Power plant dam
A
stone with a drill hole in it!
You
can see Deerfield 5 in the top right, and you can see the release gates for Bear
swamp off in the top center.
Deerfield
5
The
old HT&W used to be somewhere in there! RIP
Just a random pic of all the rocks in the "dry way" section of the Deerfield
river
Go North towards Harriman Station Powerplant
Go South towards Hoosac Tunnel
COPYRIGHT 11/12/2005 MARC HOWES. DO NOT COPY UNLESS I SAY ITS OKAY WHICH I PROBABLY WILL IF YOU ASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!