Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts

HISTORY OF THE RAILROAD ENTHUSIASTS

Compiled by Thomas J. Humphrey, Mass Bay RRE Secretary, July 2025

Founding of the Railroad Enthusiasts

For as long as there have been railroads, there have been people interested in observing them and documenting their operations in words and pictures. However, it was not until the early decades of the twentieth century that such interest in railroads began to be recognized as a group hobby rather than just an individual pursuit.

The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS), organized in 1921, was devoted to scholarly research into railroad history. R&LHS founder and long-term president Charles E. Fisher was unwilling to involve the R&LHS in less serious activities such as outings to ride and photograph trains.

On June 29, 1933, 11 men who had become acquainted at the R&LHS archives at Harvard University met in Allston Massachusetts at the home of rail photographer H. W. "Jack" Pontin to discuss forming a group to sponsor the sorts of activities that the R&LHS would not. The result was the somewhat loosely organized National Association of Railroad Enthusiasts (NARE). In September 1933, NARE began publishing a bi-monthly 14-page 6-by-9-inch format magazine, The Enthusiast. The content included reports on recent activities of NARE, short articles by members, and ads from railroads and railroad equipment suppliers. NARE also began sponsoring group visits to railroad facilities such as the engine houses in Worcester.

The First Fan Trip

By March 1934, NARE was holding meetings on the first Thursday of every month in Room 311 at North Station in Boston. Membership had grown to 94 (as yet all male) including one member in California and seven in Great Britain. A main topic of the March 1934 meeting was a proposed outing on the Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington (Vermont) Railroad (HT&W) on which passenger service had ended in 1927.

The planned trip on the HT&W took place on August 26, 1934. An account in the November 1934 issue of The Enthusiast called it "an outing which as far as is known is without parallel in modern times in these United States." More recently, this description has been simplified to "the first railfan trip in the United States."

Travel from Boston to Hoosac Tunnel Station and return was aboard two special cars attached to scheduled Boston & Maine Railroad trains. The HT&W portion of the trip was on a chartered train made up of a HT&W steam engine and caboose and one of the special cars, a wooden coach, set off from the Boston train. The following day, the North Adams Transcript described the trip as an outing for 48 members, wives, and guests of the New England Division of the National Association of Railroad Enthusiasts, although there was not yet officially such a Division separate from the National group.

Formation of RRE Divisions

A list of NARE Officers and Directors in the July 1934 issue of The Enthusiast showed that the group was still based mainly in greater Boston, but also had a Pacific Coast Director in California, a Central Division Director in Chicago, and a Resident British Director in London.

By June 1935, NARE was using the name The Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc. (RRE) but formal incorporation was not completed until October 4, 1935. Divisions of the RRE were run autonomously. Over the years, Divisions formed or disaffiliated according to the will or necessity of their members. The September 1935 issue of The Enthusiast listed as Divisions New England, Vermont, New York, Kentucky, and Pacific Coast. By January 1936, only the New England and New York Divisions were still listed, but an affiliation with the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society of Great Britain was noted on the cover of The Enthusiast.

The July 1936 Enthusiast issue announced a newly organized Washington, D. C. Division. The May 1937 issue welcomed a Philadelphia Division, followed in July 1937 by a Hartford Division, a Worcester Division in March 1938, and a Buffalo Division in May 1938.

Meanwhile, the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) had been founded in Pennsylvania in 1935, with objectives much the same as those of the Railroad Enthusiasts. The NRHS equivalent of RRE divisions were called chapters. The NRHS grew faster than the RRE, including establishment of a Boston Chapter in 1939.

The next RRE Division announced was Central New York, based in Syracuse, in May 1940. The Worcester Division was renamed Worcester County Division early in 1941. The Washington Division and the Buffalo Division were last listed in The Railroad Enthusiast in January 1942. There were no additional changes until the July-August 1946 issue, when the Central New York Division was no longer listed. The Worcester County Division was not listed after the May-June 1947 issue. The remaining RRE Divisions were then New England, Hartford, New York, and Philadelphia.

A report from October 1949 showed the same four Divisions as in 1947 and a new Housatonic Division. A Southern Connecticut Division was mentioned in March 1950. By December 1951, Divisions were back down to the four of 1947. By October 1952, the Philadelphia Division was gone.

As of August 31, 1955, there were 876 RRE members, in the following Divisions: Hartford 25, New England 360, New York 464, and unassigned 27. A new Division, Old Colony, began meeting in Taunton in September 1955, but was active for less than two years.

The 470 Club, organized in 1954 in Portland, Maine and named for the last steam locomotive in regular service on the Maine Central Railroad, joined the RRE as the Portland Division by November 1956.

The RRE Annual Meeting in October 1967 reported that the Directors had approved acceptance of a Chesapeake Division based in the Baltimore Area. This made a total of five Divisions.

To protect the members against personal liability for potential claims made against the club, the New England Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts was incorporated as the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts effective September 1, 1972. This was initially a 501(c)(7) non-profit social organization. In 1982, it was reclassified as a 501(c)(3) non-profit historical/educational corporation, making gifts to Mass Bay RRE tax-deductible.

A Forest City Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts, based in the Cleveland, Ohio area was incorporated in 1975. The Wolfeboro (New Hampshire) Branch Railroad Club, established in 1972, had joined the RRE as the Lakes Region Division by 1982. Also joining by 1982 was the Old Dominion (Fairfax, Virginia) Division. A new Western New York Division, based in the Buffalo area, was accepted by the RRE in June 1982, but was gone by 1986. A Queen City Division, based in Cincinnati, was approved in 1983, but shut down in 1987. A St. Louis Division was established by 1986.

The last new admission to the RRE was the Southern Tier Division, based in the Binghamton, New York area, in 1990.

The New York Division and the 470 Club/Portland Division both withdrew from the RRE in 1995 but continued operating independently. The Lakes Region Division disbanded in 1996, citing lack of interest. In 2001, the Chesapeake Division dropped its RRE affiliation and became the Chesapeake Railway Association, Inc.

Engine 494

Early in 1939, Boston and Maine Railroad management agreed to donate 4-4-0 engine 905, ex-494, to the RRE for cosmetic restoration for display at the 1939 New York World's Fair. This engine, built by Manchester Locomotive Works in 1892, had been destined for scrapping. Before going to the fair, the engine was moved to the B&M Somerville yards, renumbered 494, and restored by more than 150 volunteers from the B&M and 21 from the RRE New England Division.

After the fair, the 494 was stored on B&M side tracks. In 1949, the 494 was moved to the B&M Billerica shops pending a decision by the RRE on a permanent display location and remained there for several years. Meanwhile, the RRE turned down an offer from the New Haven Railroad to donate another steam locomotive.

In June 1955, the Hartford, Vermont Historical Society agreed to accept the 494 as a gift from the RRE, to be placed on display at White River Junction. July 27, 1957, was declared Railroad Enthusiasts Day in White River Junction, with a dedication ceremony for the 494 in its new location, and formal transfer of ownership to the Hartford Historical Society.

RRE Publications

As noted above, the NARE began publishing a bi-monthly magazine, The Enthusiast, in September 1933. Starting with the November 1939 issue, this publication was renamed The Railroad Enthusiast.

At the Annual Meeting of the Railroad Enthusiasts in Boston in October 1947, it was voted to discontinue publication of The Railroad Enthusiast after the November-December 1947 issue. The main factor cited was the decreasing amount of original material being submitted for publication over the preceding three years.

Meanwhile, in February 1947, the New England Division had begun publishing a monthly newsletter, The Callboy. This was originally mimeographed 8 1⁄2 x11 pages with meeting and trip announcements, railroad news, and trip reports and original articles by members. The first editor was Lewis Walter of Norwood, whose name appeared on the first RRE Membership roster published in September 1936. Walter was editor for more than 30 years, retiring after the July 1977 issue. Since then, The Callboy has been continued in various formats by a series of editors.

A new version of The Railroad Enthusiast was started Jan 1964 and lasted until 1979. From February 1982 to November 1998 the National RRE published a newsletter, RRE Journal several times a year for distribution to all RRE members.

New England Division and Mass Bay RRE Meeting Locations

Like many small non-profit organizations, the RRE New England Division and its successor, Mass Bay RRE, never owned its meeting site. Meeting locations varied over time, depending on availability and affordability of meeting space. As noted above, the founding meeting in June 1933 took place in a private home. By March 1934, NARE was meeting on the first Thursday of each month in Room 311 of the Boston and Maine Railroad's North Station in Boston. By June 1934, program meetings had switched to third Thursdays, a pattern that has continued ever since. Business meetings of the Officers and Directors were held on separate dates from program meetings, initially not on fixed schedules.

Starting in February 1936, the New England Division's program meeting location was changed to the second floor of the New Haven Railroad's Back Bay Station in Boston. This remained the NED meeting location until December 1953, when the location changed to the railroad YMCA rooms on the fifth floor of South Station in Boston.

For the first eight years of publication, mailing sessions for The Callboy were held at the home of editor Lewis Walter in Norwood, not always on a fixed schedule. Effective February 1, 1955, Callboy mailing sessions were held on the first Tuesday of each month, along with the Business meetings, usually at the same venue as the program meetings.

Because of a large rent increase at South Station in 1956, NED was forced to find a new program meeting location. The April meeting was held at the Boston Museum of Science. Meetings for the rest of 1956 were at the Boston City Club, except in July and August, when they returned to Back Bay Station. Business/mailing session meetings relocated to a small room at Back Bay Station, where they remained until 1974.

Again in 1957, the program meeting location changed several times, being held at the Boston City Club in January, the Museum of Science in February, Back Bay Station in March, and the Abraham Lincoln School in the Back Bay from April through December.

Program meetings in 1958 were held at the Abraham Lincoln School except in April, when the meeting was at the Museum of Science and in July and August, when the meetings were at Back Bay Station.

Program meeting locations stabilized in 1959, being held for the next several years at the Abraham Lincoln School except during school vacation weeks, when they moved to Back Bay Station. Starting in 1970, May meetings were Dinner in the Depot at a restaurant in the former Boston and Maine Railroad station in Malden.

In 1973, Mass Bay RRE learned that the Abraham Lincoln School would soon become unavailable as a meeting location. Starting in July 1973, program meetings moved to the Newton Highlands Congregational Church, where the NRHS Boston Chapter had been meeting for several years. Business/mailing session meetings continued at Back Bay Station until October 1974, after which they also relocated to Newton Highlands.

Yet another move was required when the Newton Highlands church converted the meeting space to offices. Mass Bay RRE program meetings relocated to the Union Church in Waban in January 2006, again following the NRHS Boston Chapter by several years. Business/mailing session meetings moved to the Union Church in August 2012.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced in-person meetings of all kinds to be suspended. Mass Bay RRE, like many organizations, began holding virtual meetings online. After restrictions on in-person meetings were lifted, it was found that most members preferred online meetings, which required no travel to attend. After a few trial hybrid online and in-person meetings, Mass Bay RRE stayed with the online-only format.