Timeline - School Street, Railroad Freight House
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Thomas Collins collection (colorized)
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Thomas Collins collection (colorized)
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Thomas Collins collection (colorized)
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Thomas Collins collection (colorized)
1890_Freight_House_Original_Site.jpg
Fred Merriam collection (colorized)
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Fred Merriam collection (colorized)
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Westford Historical Society collection
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Chelmsford Independent January 15, 1987 page 1

Chelmsford bids good-bye to old engine No. 444

By Jim O'Reilly

The people of Dunkirk, NY, a small city near Buffalo which turned out locomotives like Lowell turned out textiles during the golden era of railroad transportation, are planning a grand celebration when their Brooks Locomotive No 444 returns home after 70 years.

But at least one West Chelmsford rail road buff will be a bit disappointed at seeing the badly rusted steam engine and its accompanying coal tender return to their birthplace.

"It's been quite an attraction," related Stan Woodward, as he glanced out the window at the monstrous steam engine which has been his neighbor for a month.

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Woodward, 43, owns and operates Stan's Railroad and Hobby Shop in the former BAM Railroad freight office which sits near his School Street home. Since early December, passersby have stopped, glanced, and then come inside to question him about the behemoth occupying the railroad siding next to the shop.

No 444, one of only 43 known remaining Brooks locomotives left in the world, was discovered in September at the Fletcher Granite Co quarry in Westford. Word of the engine's discovery elated members of the Dunkirk Historical Society, who hoped to "cosmetically restore" the engine and keep it on permanent display in the railroad proud city, according to Woodward.

"That's about all (cosmetic restoration) they could do with it,” explained Woodward. "Most of it is just too badly gone." Indeed, the locomotove was literally buried when it was discovered at the Fletcher site.

The engine had been sold to HE Fletcher in April of 1952, according to Woodward, and "steamed to about mid 1952, when it was replaced by the big 80 ton diesel. "They're still in use at Fletcher's,” he noted. "It still cuts across Route 40 with the stone.

But it wasn't until this fall that Dunkirk Historical Society officials, who had been searching the nation for remaining Brooks engines, found their treasure. "They were looking for ones built in the Dunkirk shops." Woodward said. "There were only 43 known remaining Brooks locomotives in tiie world... All the ones B & M had with the exception of this one had been scrapped."

The trip back to Dunkirk has proved to be an arduous one. however The historical society enlisted the aid of an expert in train renovation projects. Illinois native David Conrad, to oversee to movement of the train, Woodward said.

No 444 and its coal tender were first loaded onto a flatbed truck trailer and moved from the quarry via back roads in Westford and Chelmsford to the tracks next to Stan's Hobby Shop on December 2 because “it was the only available siding they could use to mount it on flat cars," Woodward explained.

"The thing probably didn't travel more than two miles an hour,” added his father Verne, 68, from the hobby shop which used to be the B & M freight office he ran for some 30 years. (See related story)

There, however, 444's trip hit some legal snafus. Because the train is to travel across state lines, it needed the proper insurance and inspection permits from slate and federal railroad officials. So the engine, coal tender and entourage made the trip back to the quarry until "they brought it back down on the 11th (of December) and finally put it on the flat cars," Woodward said.

It has sat between his home and his shop since then, where it awaited further inspection and permits. “The people from Dunkirk (historical society) called me just this afternoon," he said on Tuesday, “and said it had been cleared to go on Friday, so I guess it could be any day now.”

In the meantime, Conrad and some other railroad buffs, including Woodward’s 10-year-old son Billy, have performed some initial touch-ups and moving preparations to the engine which may be tarnished, but which sits majestically facing School Street.

"He was all over it one Saturday when they were working on it," Woodward said of his son. And he also admitted that his son won't be the only one to miss old No 444. “It's been quite an attraction," he laughed. "And I can’t say It’s hurt business."

Westford Historical Society collection
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Chelmsford Independent January 15, 1987 page 12

Father, son share a love of railroads

Verne and Stan Woodward’s interest In the 1916 Brooks Locomotive No 444 went well beyond that of business publicity. True, the placement of the engine and coal tender next to Stan’s Railroad and Hobby Shop on School Street "didn’t hurt business." Stan admitted. But, more than that, it was a contact with the past for a father and son who share a love of railroading.

One need only walk into Stan’s shop to realize that his Interest in all types of train memorabilia and equipment — from books detailing the golden age of railroading to modern videos highlighting spectacular train trips through the Canadian Rockies — Is more a religion than a business. Stan Woodward literally grew up on the railroad. It wasn’t difficult, with a father who was the lone freight agent of the West Chelmsford stop along the Stony Brook Railroad Une — a branch line of the Boston and Maine Railroad — which ran from Ayer to the North Chelmsford / Lowell line.

Verne Woodward began his duties as freight agent just as passenger line service along the Stony Brook line was being phased out in the early 1940’s ... [The freight house] sits there today as Stan’s shop, just a stone’s throw from his home, north on School Street.

For Stan, memories of huge steam freighters running through Chelmsford are vivid. “When my father worked here I was down here quite a bit," he said while a video of an SD 40-2 running through the spectacular Canadian Rockies played in the background. "I saw all the local freight trains... I remember when they were steam. I can remember some of the double-headed steam trains coming through here," he added, “smoking up the whole neighborhood

And while Verne noted that he logged more hours in the freight office than actually on the rails, he was reminded of an amusing railroad tale as he watched a new medium — video — expand the hobby of railroading in his son’s store.

"I really scared the wits out of a couple of nuns on that train," as he motioned to the locomotive winding its way through Canadian Rockies on a television monitor. “We were crossing Rogers Pass, and we were really high up (on a trestle), and they were looking out the window and I said, ‘Sisters, you’d oetter not lean to hard that way or else we're going to go over.' Boy, you should've seen them sit back in a hurry," he laughed.

Courtesy of Rich McLaughlin, Westford Historical Society
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April 30, 2004 photo by Fred Merriam
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June 26, 2013 photos by Fred Merriam
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REFERENCES:
  1. All photos labeled (colorized) are black and white images edited by Fred Merriam
  2. "History of Chelmsford 1910-1970" Courier Corporation, Eleanor Parkhurst and Fred Merriam, 2011
  3. "Images of America, North and West Chelmsford" Arcadia Publishing, Fred Merriam, 2016
  4. "The Stony Brook Railroad" H. Arnold Wilder, 1979"
  5. Conversations with Stan Woodward's family, Bill (son), Faith (daughter), Dwight (brother), 2023
  6. Directories, Lowell Suburban-Chelmsford Section, Chelmsford Historical Society website Library page
  7. History, Boston & Maine Railroad, Wikipedia
  8. Newspaper, Lowell Daily Courier, October 18, 1884 edition
  9. Newspaper, Chelmsford Independent, January 15, 1987 edition
  10. Photo collection, Thomas Collins, West Chelmsford
  11. Photo collection, Fred Merriam, West Chelmsford
  12. Photo collection, Westford Historical Society
  13. Presentation slide, Alco-Brooks, Rich McLaughlin, Westford Historical Society, 2023
  14. State Inventory, Historical Commission website Railroads page, West Chelmsford Freight House
  15. State Inventory, Historical Commission website Homes page, 8- & 32-School Street, 16-Washington Street
  16. Warrant Article for April/May 2023 Town Meeting, Town of Chelmsford website
This feature was created by Fred Merriam for the Town of Chelmsford in cooperation with the Chelmsford Historical Society and Historical Commission. To comment: e-mail the Chelmsford Historical Society