Program Meetings are held, unless otherwise noted, at 8:00 PM on the third Thursday of the month at the Union Church in Waban, MA. These feature programs with speakers knowledgeable about railroad operations, history and travel. Upcoming programs are listed below.
On the first Tuesday of each month we hold a more informal social gathering: FIRST TUESDAY. This is where we usually prepare a trip flyer or our monthly newsletter, the Callboy, for mailing. These sessions are held at Newton Highlands Congregational Church, starting rather casually about 7:00 PM and are usually followed by an impromptu slide show or video program unless there is a Board meeting or the work session runs unusually late. Members and non-members alike are welcome.
For last minute updates or meeting cancellations in bad weather, please call our information line at 617-489-5277.
Third Thursday Monthly Program Meetings
Thursday, June 19, 8:00 PM at Union Church in Waban, MA: David Pierce of the Chester Foundation and Friends of the Keystone Arches talks about George Whistler, the civil engineer, and the Whistler Arch Bridges:
"Whistler's Father" - Major George Washington Whistler, the father of artist James McNeill Whistler - laid out the "world's first mountain railroad" - the Western Railroad's 1841 crossing of the Berkshire Hills. The work included ten keystone-arch, laid-stone bridges over the West Branch of the Westfield River. CSX uses some of these bridges today; others were destroyed in a November 1927 flood; three were bypassed when the Boston & Albany, successor to the Western, relocated its route through the Westfield Gorge in 1912-1913. David Pierce of Huntington, MA has been working to preserve these bridges, and public access to them, for decades. He will tell us their story with a talk and slide show.
Thursday, July 17, 8:00 PM at Union Church in Waban, MA: Member David Wilson (he who always carries two cameras) shows us "New England Railfanning in 3D."
SATURDAY, August 16, at Chester, MA: "Summer Gathering." (NO August 21 meeting in Waban.)
Meeting speakers always wanted! Richard Andre, Mass Bay RRE Program Chairman, is developing our 2008 program of speakers. To offer a program, e-mail ra_andre@verizon.net.
FIRST TUESDAY: (held at Newton Highlands Congregational Church):
Tuesday, July 1: Callboy mailing at 7 PM. Program, 8-10 PM: Beauchemin Collection video: Colorado's Historic Narrow-Gauge Railroads, a 1980's made-for-TV documentary. (Some of the scenes are becoming historic themselves, as changes come to the surviving narrow gauge.) Member slides and home videos: we'll have projectors; bring your favorite material!
Tuesday, August 5: Callboy mailing at 7 PM. Board meeting immediately following. No slides or video programs at this meeting.
Tuesday, September 2: Callboy mailing at 7 PM. Members' Night, 8-10 PM: Member slides and home videos: See the August Callboy for an advance program. (If you didn't bring slides or home videos to Members'Night in May, mark the September First-Tuesday on your calendar now!
Meeting Locations
MBRRE Program Meetings are usually held at the Union Church at 14 Collins Road (corner of Beacon Street), Waban, MA, (near the Waban MBTA stop on the Green Line):
If you are arriving on the T, exit the station onto Beacon St.; the Church is adjacent to the Waban Station.
If you are driving, take Exit 21 East off Route 128 (I-95) onto Rte. 16 (Washington St.). At the first traffic light east of 128 fork right onto Beacon St. and go 0.9 mile. The Union Church is on the right just before Beacon Street jogs to the left over the Green Line. If the church lot is full you may park on the street or in the Waban Station parking lot.
First Tuesday Meetings are held at The Newton Highlands Congregational Church, Lincoln & Hartford Sts., one block west of Walnut St. and two blocks north of Route 9 in Newton Highlands. Take a T Green Line "D Riverside" car to Newton Highlands and walk one block west. Driving east on Route 9 from 128, go under the T Green Line "D Riverside" overhead bridge; turn left at first traffic light; go two blocks north on Woodward Street to the blinking light; turn right onto Lincoln Street. Meetings begin at 7:30PM. Enter the church basement from the Hartford St. parking lot. The church normally keeps this door locked; ring the bell!!
Check the Callboy or the website to confirm date, time, and location of meetings.
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Mass Bay RRE is always looking for members to volunteer their time to keep us one of the most active groups around!
To Volunteer, Contact Us:
Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc.
Box 2742
Woburn, MA 01888-1342, or
Information Line 617-489-5277 or 978-470-2066
Email: MassBayRRE@aol.com or visit our "Post Office" page.
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