CHESTER – On Monday, members of the Western Massachusetts Climbers’ Coalition; Pete Ward, Pete Clark and John LaValley, fresh off the Unified Bouldering Championships Pro Tour, rappelled down a 70 foot high, 174-year old Keystone Arch Bridge that was part of the Western Railroad, the first mountain railroad in the world.
The bridge is among the first cluster of stone arch railroad bridges built in America, erected as Maj. G. W. Whistler, father of well-known painter James A. McNeill Whistler, pushed the Western over the 1,459 ft summit of the Berkshire Mountains.
Two of the original 10 bridges were bypassed in 1912 as then New York Central Railroad re-aligned a two-mile section of the road to ease gradient and two curves here. These abandoned structures are now part of the Walnut Hill Conservation Area owned by the Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, and can be accessed via the Keystone Arch Bridges Trail maintained by The Friends of the Keystone Arches, Inc.
The climbers were here to remove errant vegetation; mostly 20 to 30 foot tall trees which had planted themselves amid the 2,000-pound blocks of granite, endangering the structure. A group of nine volunteers backed up the climbers by hauling all the cut vegetation to the top of the bridge for proper disposal.
A 20 X 30 ft. section on top of a buttress was cleared of vegetation, revealing stonework that had been hidden for decades by the growth. It is the second such session of a planned four here. Volunteers who would like to get involved can call coordinator Meredyth Babcock at 413-623-2070.
The climbers worked above the roiling Westfield River, the first National Wild & Scenic River, swelled by recent rains. In fact, the entire workday was conducted in pouring rain. This project was sanctioned and funded by the Westfield River Wild & Scenic Committee in partnership with the Friends in order to stabilize these archeological wonders from the dawn of the railroad age.
These historically significant structures have withstood the elements in this road less wilderness for just over a century with no maintenance whatsoever. Attempts have been made by the Friends and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission over the past 30 years to have the bridges properly staged and maintained with a million dollar grant awarded in 1996, thus far to no avail.
Red tape, tightly wound by a myriad of agencies and regulatory practices, have thus far kept the needed stabilization at bay. Only through efforts largely of volunteer such as this group has any progress been made, including the 2.5-mile long hiking trail, which offers public access to these glorious monuments.
