Abby Epplett, Historian

Yesterday — Thursday, March 21 at 7:00 p.m. — I watched the third installment of the 2024 season of Parked at Home featuring Amistad National Recreation Area in Texas with park archaeologist Jack Johnson. Park ranger Allison Horrocks of Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park started the webinar by explaining the migration of butterflies between New England and Texas, which takes four generations to complete. She compared this migration to “The Butterfly Effect”, a theory that small events can affect people around the world. In this way, the dam and mill in Pawtucket, RI built in 1793 started social changes and industrialization across the young United States.

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.

For my last history stop during my adventure to Amesbury, MA and Portsmouth, NH in September 2023, I strolled along the Amesbury Riverwalk . Built atop a former railway, the 1.3 mile out-and-back trail passes the historic Carriage House and underneath major roads along with providing a story walk for younger adventurers. The flat, paved path is perfect for people of all ages and abilities. Near the start of the path is the red brick Carriage House and a large open patio, owned by the Carriage House Museum , which also manages the Industrial History Center , and undergoing renovation. According to the Carriage House website , the carriage industry in Amesbury started in 1853 as local entrepreneur Jacob R. Huntington moved a shop from the nearby town of Merrimac. He used standardized parts and hired specialized workers to manage each section of the assembly line, a precursor to the moving assembly line invented by Henry Ford for his car company. When a massive fire in ...

In July 2023, I visited the segment of Massachusetts Central Rail Trail (MCRT) in Holdon and West Boylston, MA. This three-mile out-and-back walking trail was built atop a former railroad bed and includes pathways through abandoned Springdale Mill Village . Plentiful signage, maintained in a joint effort between the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and Wachusett Greenways , allows visitors to learn about the American Industrial Revolution in the early 20 th century while exploring a tiny ghost town. The story of Springdale Mill in West Boylston began before the story of the railroad that would become the trail. In preparation for building a mill, an eighty-five-foot dam was constructed across the nearby Quinapoxet River in 1865 to create a millpond. Greenman Smith , who wins for name of the day, built the first wooden mill in 1867 and enlarged it four years later in 1873. As was customary for mills at the time, it was destroyed by fire a mer...

Yesterday — November 14, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. EST — I watched the ninety-minute webinar Parallel Tracks: Steinheimer, Silicon Valley, and Steel Rails about the life of photographer Richard “Dick” Steinheimer . The talk was presented by Ken Rehor , an electrical engineer from Palo Alto, CA, and Elrond Lawrence , Acquisitions & Marketing Coordinator at Center for Railroad Photography & Art (CRP&A) , which hosted the webinar. Rehor had met Steinheimer while working with semiconductors at Bell Labs, while Lawrence met him photographing trains in Stockton, CA. The talk covered the life and photography of Steinheimer in great detail with accompanying photographs. The CRP&A currently has 30,000 Steinheimer slides, 4,200 prints, and 2,700 black and white negatives donated by his wife and fellow railfan, Shirley Berman-Steinheimer . Steinheimer began taking photographs of trains in 1946 when he was seventeen years old. He went to City College of San Francisco , where J...

Last night — August 22, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. — I watched a conversation with the six winners of the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards hosted by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art (CRP&A). The award is named for the CRP&A founder, who began the nonprofit organization in 1997. The theme for this year’s contest was “The Role of Technology”. During the program, the winners spoke on the circumstances surrounding their award-winning image, their experiences photographing railroads, and tips for aspiring photographers. The recording of the event will be available on the Rail Photo Art YouTube channel in about two weeks. Chris Walters , winner of First Prize for Black & White, used a drone to capture a stunning image of lined up Alstom Metropolis driverless train sets on the Sydney Metro, part of Northwest Rapid Transit (NRT Group) . The image is related to Walters’ project to photograph the approximately 360 railway stations in the Sydney, New...

After enjoying an online program on train model expert and photographer Linn Westcott hosted by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art (CRP&A) back in July, I discovered that the organization had just launched a new collections management system using Odyssey Preservation Software created by History IT . As someone who maintains a database for my “real job” and met Odyssey representatives during NEMA Conference 2022 [ Day 1 , Day 2 , Day 3 ], not to mention that I really like trains, the webinar held on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. EDT was an ideal opportunity to learn more about several of my interests. CRP&A Executive Director Scott Lothes gave an introduction to the organization and its upcoming events, while Director of Archives & Collections Adrienne Evans and Reference & Digital Projects Archivist Erin Rose led the two-part demonstration and answered questions. Before the demo, Evans and Rose described the “long road” to selectin...

On Tuesday, July 25 at 8:00 p.m., I watched the online program “Linn Westcott’s Wildly Diverse Railroad Photography” presented by Kevin P. Keefe and sponsored by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art (CRP&A) , a train photography collection based in Madison, WI . Keefe is former editor and publisher of the aptly named Trains , a magazine and online platform all about real railroads and railroad models. His book Twelve Twenty-Five: Life and Times of a Steam Locomotive published by Michigan State University Press was a 2017 Michigan Notable Book from the Library of Michigan . Keefe knew Westcott while working for Kalmbach beginning in 1974. Today, Kalmbach Media “connects enthusiasts to their passions with magazines, books, digital products, videos, online stores, social media, and more.” Their primary areas of focus include everything associated with trains, model building, space, and general science. Westcott was the editor of the Kalmbach publication Model ...

Yesterday, on May 16, I watched a webinar about The Great American Transit Disaster based on a book written by speaker Nicholas “Nick” Dagen Bloom and published by the University of Chicago Press . The Skyscraper Museum in lower Manhattan’s Battery Park City , which is part of New York City , hosted this talk via Zoom with a livestream available on YouTube . Museum founder, director, and curator Carol A. Willis introduced the talk and facilitated the Q & A after the main presentation. Robert L. Fishman , a professor at University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning , joined Bloom and Willis in conversation near the end of the talk. Bloom began his talk with the question, “Was the destruction and subsequent poor quality of mass transit inevitable in twentieth century America?” Some historians believe the rise of automobile culture in the 1940s and 1950s brought the end of mass transit such as streetcars, trolleys, and local trains. This p...

Besides many great museums and historic houses in Newbury and Newburyport, some of which I will explore during my next trip to the Essex National Heritage Area , I visited several quick history stops along the Newburyport Harborwalk & Clipper City Rail Trail . The Custom House Maritime Museum is located along the route, along with sculptures from New England artists, lighthouses, and signage describing historical events and buildings in the area.

Founded in 1897 as a place to collect the history of the rapidly changing industrial city of Lynn, MA , the museum in the Downtown Cultural District houses the community art galleries of LynnArts on the first floor and the artifact-based exhibits of Lynn Historical Society on the second floor. Set in an area described as “one of Massachusetts’ best kept secrets” by Mass Cultural Council , this perfectly sized museum is a quick visit to give a comprehensive overview of life in the so-called city of sin since its settlement by European colonists in 1629.

On the same trip where I visited Canterbury Shaker Village and Castle in the Clouds , I rode a train on Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad and saw art on the Meredith Sculpture Walk in Meredith, New Hampshire . Sitting between Lake Waukewan and Meredith Bay, the town of Meredith is a relaxing getaway, less busy than nearby towns border Lake Winnipesaukee and filled with history.