Author Brian Donelson autographs books after his slide presentation at Chapman’s Antique Barn in Wilmington.
Donelson, who recently published Volume I of “The Coming of the Train,” gave a slide presentation and lecture Wednesday night, July 1, to the Historical Society of Wilmington detailing the history of the HT&W, built by the Newton brothers, and the changes that it brought to the previously isolated areas of northwestern Massachusetts and southern Vermont.
“I’m a railroad buff and grew up in Shelburne Falls, so I knew what the Hoot Toot & Whistle was,” said Donelson. About five or 10 years ago he realized that the railroad was being forgotten. Alarmed by this, he figured that he could spend a few months pulling together information to share with historical societies and anyone else who was interested.
After 1,800 hours of research, a 384-page book emerged, covering the history of the railroad from 1870 to 1910. When asked when Volume II would be completed, Donelson said, “If you asked me that six months ago I’d have told you by the end of this year. Now I’m saying by the end of the first quarter of next year.” He explained that a lot of people have brought him photos and shared information that he doesn’t want to leave out.
“I wanted this to be more than a ‘railroad book.’ In order to convey the importance of the Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad, its impact on the industries and the people of the upper Deerfield River Valley needed to be understood,” Donelson wrote in the book’s foreword.
Without the completion of the Hoosac Tunnel in 1875, the northern railroad would not have been possible. The book includes an overview of the tunnel’s construction and some of the most important and least known facts. “However, this is not another book about the tunnel,” Donelson wrote, “but is about a railroad that started at the tunnel’s east portal and moved north into Vermont.”
In researching the railroad and the Deerfield River Valley area, Donelson uncovered history and information that had been lost to its modern residents. One such discovery was the puzzling railroad stops at Haywood’s and Logan’s, north of the depot at Monroe Bridge. Most people he spoke to in researching these stops believed that they were never really stops at all, but just potential stops for an area to be developed. Donelson said, “If you look at a map you’ll see no road or town at Logan’s and Hayward’s. It turns out they were places along the railroad that previously had been hard to get to, but there was a great supply of berries.”
Donelson laid the foundation of the history of the Deerfield River Valley of the 1870s as consisting of small family farms raising crops primarily for animal feed and food for the family. Some farmers made additional income by operating small mills and selling the lumber needed to build houses and barns or by selling their surplus of maple syrup.
Donelson also wrote a brief history on the Newton family and their impact on the area. The brothers, who grew up on the banks of the Green River as loggers and lumbermen, became industrial pioneers and helped establish Holyoke as the paper manufacturing capital of the United States.
Donelson wrote, “At this point, in the late 1870s, these four brothers could have rested on their laurels. They had already accomplished more in their lives than most men could ever dream of. Moses Newton often told about how he and his brothers remembered their time spent in the upper reaches of the Deerfield River valley and the natural resources they observed. It was while they were sitting on a riverbank above Readsboro that they first decided to build the Newton Paper Company mill in Holyoke. Now Holyoke was a successful paper manufacturing center in need of wood pulp and it was time to return to the upper Deerfield and utilize some of the resources that they observed years earlier.”
In order to supply more wood pulp to their paper mills, the Newton brothers formed the Deerfield River Company and built a mill in Readsboro, which began production in 1883. The pulp was then shipped to the paper mills in Holyoke via the Fitchburg Railroad from Hoosac Tunnel. The mill in Readsboro was 11 miles north of the Hoosac Tunnel, and the terrain between was extremely difficult, with mountains rising above the river over 1,000 feet. “This is the terrain through which the Newton brothers decided to build a railroad,” wrote Donelson, “and build it they did.”
On July 4, 1885, the railroad carried its first passengers from just south of Readsboro to Hoosac Tunnel. The mill in Readsboro was expanded to include the manufacture of paper products, and its sister company, the National Metal Edge Box Company (NMEBCo) was established and grew into one of the largest producers of boxes in the country. Donelson explained that NMEBCo produced boxes that were shipped flat, but when opened up they were very sturdy containers with metal corners and edges. The Readsboro Chair Manufacturing Company was also formed and thriving.
In 1880 Readsboro had been poor and isolated with 743 residents. In 10 years the population grew by more than 20%, and in 10 more years reached 1,250.
By 1890 the towns to the north of Readsboro wanted to get in on the action. “Wilmington in particular wanted the railroad extended to town. Whitingham kind of did, but not to the extent that Wilmington did,” Donaldson explained.
At first the Newtons rejected the idea because the level of business from the northern towns would not cover the cost of extending and operating a section north. However, it was decided that it would be considered if the towns would contribute to the cost. It was eventually decided that $35,000 from Wilmington and $25,000 from Whitingham and others totaling $60,000 would be needed. The decision to raise the funds sparked debate between the towns. Wilmington voted for the extension, but on May 14, 1889 Whitingham voted against providing funding. By 1891 the Newtons agreed to reduce the required money to $50,000, and on March 7, 1891 Whitingham voters approved a $3,000 contribution and a piece of land for an additional $3,000 credit. The Citizens Railroad Committee then began to raise the remaining funds. On March 30 they had all but $200, and it was decided that that was enough.
Construction began June 1, 1891, and by November 4, 1891, the 13-mile railroad extension to the Wilmington terminus was complete. Donelson wrote, “It was now possible to leave New York City at 5 am and arrive in Wilmington before 3 pm.” The trains brought tourists and business to the area, offering a connection to the outside world. Donelson said, “At that time Wilmington became one of the largest shipping areas for maple syrup in the state.”
In 1893 the Newton Brothers wanted to get closer to the source of timber and built Mountain Mills and a dam to create a storage pond to hold the logs.
After the death of one of the borthers in 1899, the remaining brothers, all in their 70s, began selling off their holdings in the area. Donelson said, “Many people were surprised, but they really shouldn’t have been. They were all pretty advanced in age and ready to slow down.”
The railroad was sold, and in July 1906 construction began on the Deerfield River Railroad, used solely for logging, which started at Mountain Mills and went north along the Deerfield River. Donelson said that many of the hiking trails in the Glastenbury and Searsburg area are the result of old logging railroad beds. All of that logging effort kept Mountain Mills in operation 365 days a year.
By 1909 a team of surveyors arrived talking of a dam with 60-foot walls. The railroad was then used to haul materials for the Somerset Dam in 1911, and the Harriman Dam in 1924, both owned by the New England Power Company. The flood of 1936 washed out the railroad bridge near Mountain Mills and the track to Wilmington ended for good. The track from Hoosac Tunnel to Readsboro continued operation until its last run on August 2, 1971.
Donelson said that the second volume will continue with the history of the railroad in the area from 1911, but he’s not sure exactly when it will end. More time will be spent on the river, the dams, and the hydroelectric power development that changed the Deerfield River Valley into what it is today.
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