Historic Blackstone Valley Train Excursion
On October 28, 2023, I checked off a bucket list item by riding the historic Blackstone Valley train from Woonsocket, RI to Worcester, MA to Putnam, CT and back again. This trip lasted from 9:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. with about six-and-a-quarter hours of travel on a vintage train and a two-and-a-half hour walk through Putnam. The day was sunny and bright, although the best fall color had passed the weekend before.
The Providence & Worcester Railroad (PW) last appeared on this blog when reviewing “A History of Worcester in 10 Maps”, an ArcGIS exhibit created for the 300th anniversary of the City of Worcester. Owned by Genesee & Wyoming Railroad (GWRR) since 2016, the company was founded in 1844 and ran its first trains in 1847. The original engines were brown on the top and orange on the bottom, as seen on some of the vintage cars, but the rail now runs engines painted orange, black, and yellow like those in its parent company.
The original Woonsocket Depot was constructed in 1847, the same year that the first PW trains ran. The building was scrapped and rebuilt in its current red brick, Gothic Revival style in 1882. With the reduction and later end of commuter rail, the depot closed in 1960. Since then, the building has served as a filming location for the 2009 movie, Hachi: A Dog’s Tale. The Rhode Island movie is based on a Japanese movie based on real life events, which involved a Japanese dog living in Tokyo whose owner died at work, and the dog visited the train station for the rest of its life, waiting for the owner to return home. A cute statue of the dog was installed in front of the restored depot in 2012. Not far away is an abstract sculpture symbolizing 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who visited Woonsocket on March 8, 1860, or a 164 years ago as of this Friday.
Across the street from the depot and part of the Main Street Historic District, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1991, is the Longley Building. The four-story building was named for Charles Edmund Longley, the Pawtucket resident who constructed the building in 1890. Local photographer and filmmaker, David Lawlor from Run of the Mill, plans to release a new documentary about the building and its creator later this year and was filming drone footage of the area on the day of the train trip. Lawlor last appeared on the blog during First Strike Fest 2023 at Old Slater Mill and with his own exhibit Blackstone Valley Mill Explorations.
Down the street from the depot was another building of historical significance. The Harris Warehouse was constructed in 1855 by Edward Harris, who worked as an abolitionist, temperance supporter, and wool manufacturer. When Lincoln visited Woonsocket, he stayed at the home of the Harris family. Harris donated his money to good causes like new roads, a cemetery, and a public library in Woonsocket, along with a questionable in 1859 when sending money to John Brown who had recently led the Raid of Harper’s Ferry. The warehouse has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.
Each passenger received a gift bag with souvenir history book written by Barbara Zdravesky, a local historian who has served as a tour guide for the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Providence Preservation Society, and the Preservation Society of Pawtucket. She included several paragraphs about each town that the train passed through during the trip, plus bonus information about other towns located along the railroad. The book contained painstaking research and in-depth facts, many of which I had not known about before the train ride, and I have reread the book in the months since the trip. However, the book may have been too detailed for passengers looking for light historical tidbits as part of a edutainment experience, rather than a college level history lesson.
After a surprise stop in Millbury to pick up last minute passengers from the local senior center, the train headed up to Worcester, made a sharp turn, and then went down to Putnam. The trendy little town was formerly an industrial mill village but now boasts outdoor sculptures, restaurants, a waterfall, and walking trails. The large, red brick Cargill Falls Mill with its distinctive smokestack still stands by the water and has become loft style apartments. Led by Oziel Wilkinson, the father-in-law of Samuel Slater who famously built Old Slater Mill as the first industrial textile mill in the United States, this mill was constructed in 1806. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Many sculptures along the riverwalk were created by Dale Rogers, whose work I last saw during the Meredith (New Hampshire) Sculpture Walk near Lake Winnipesaukee in July 2022. Rogers welds metal into simple shapes such as a giant hand holding red birds, people dancing, and a family of bears. Other sculptures on the trail included an interactive lovelock gate designed by local artist Hayley Kuhn and a blue metal biker beside the bike rack.
Not to be missed in Putnam was The Gertrude Chandler Warner Boxcar Children Museum dedicated to the life of children’s author and Putnam resident Gertrude Chandler Warner. Her original book about four orphans who live in a boxcar before being rescued by their estranged grandfather was turned into a mystery series featuring the beloved characters. A mural along the sidewalk, posters by local historians, and artifacts from Warner’s life tell her story.
Among my most expensive excursions to date, tickets for the ride were $79 for First Class seats, $89 for Premium seats, and $99 for Private Cabins seats. No food or beverages were served or available for purchase during the trip. No music or narration was played, although some passengers opted to loudly share their own music. Many passengers fell asleep during the ride back to Woonsocket. Confusingly, the name on the outside of the train car did not match the name on the inside of the train car, so passengers frequently sat in the wrong seats and had to move. The train cars were not accessible to those using wheelchairs or with limited mobility despite the trip catering to an older, retired demographic. The cars were cold despite the warm, sunny weather outside. This trip combined my love of trains, the Industrial Revolution, and New England history into a fun day away. I hope better communication, organization, and guest services will lead to future improvements of this potentially excellent trip.