The Berkshire Logistical Railroad, a division of the Berkshire Southern Export Group, has announced that it is petitioning the Federal Railroad Administration for the rights to re-open rail service to the remote Berkshire County town of Ripton. The service would include both freight and passenger service, and would use a portion of the former right-of-way of the long-defunct Lee and New Haven Railroad, with additional service via a branch line over the former Konkapot Valley Railroad (between Mill River and Canaan, Conn.).
In addition to the freight traffic, the railroad would capitalize on the remote location of Ripton by transporting tourists and second-home-owners between the tri-state area and Ripton. Connections to Amtrak’s famous “Shore Line” route along Long Island Sound would be made at New Haven, Conn. Travelers on the BLR would have the option of seating in luxurious club cars, with dining service available.
The new line’s president, Elvis Elias, indicated that to prevent the noxious fumes and noise of diesel-electric locomotives from disturbing the peace of Ripton and vicinity, the new railroad would be powered by electric locomotives only. Electrical power would be generated cleanly from wind turbines located atop Mount Ripton, one of the highest peaks in Massachusetts; from solar panels located atop the abandoned factories in the town; and from turbine-generators on the rapidly-rushing Ripton River that once powered those factories. The cleanliness and efficiency of the electric locomotives would allow the railroad to provide high-speed rail service compatible with that of the connecting Shore Line route.
The town of Ripton’s economy was once enhanced by the introduction of the railroad in the mid-19th century. In addition to carrying out tree stumps and their wooden “knees” required by the furniture industry, the railroad also carried imported silk worms from Japan into the town to supply raw materials for the town’s silk mills. The finished silk was shipped out on the same railroad to clothing manufacturers across the country.
Ripton possesses one of the very rare terrains in the county that also provided the proper environment for growing Camelia Sinensis, the leaves of which are used in brewing tea. The export of tea leaves via rail once provided for rapid delivery of the product to fermentation facilities throughout the nation.
Continuing the oriental theme, Ripton also was one of the leading producers of mah-jongg tiles, thanks to the hardwoods in the area.
The concepts for the tree knee, tile, tea, and silk manufacturing in Ripton were developed by the influx of railroad workers who had helped build the original railroad after they had gained experience in building the transcontinental railroad system in the 1860s. After the completion of the western railroads, the settlers who had once used Conestoga wagons to haul goods across the country to the far west sold those wagons to the unemployed workers, who then moved east.
Following the completion of Lee & New Haven Railroad and Konkapot Valley Railroad construction, these same workers capitalized on their home-grown skills to plant rice fields and tea plantations along the many hills that cuddle Ripton. In addition to providing sustenance to the Ripton citizens, rice left over from operations at the rice-paper mill was shipped outside the town by rail.
Pleased by the enthusiasm of Ripton citizens, who anticipate not only an increase in local employment, but by the potential for adjusting their taxes even lower, Elias has started marketing railroad shares locally as well as on the national exchanges. He hopes, also, to attract far-sighted entrepreneurs who will once again open the factories that produced the former products of the town.
