OK, I admit it. This is driving me NUTS. I like to think I am something of an expert on what is far and away my all-time favorite rail line, The Central Mass Railroad. (I've hiked the entire line from Clematis Brook in Waltham to Northampton and it's easily my favorite for that reason alone.) But....

This cabinet photo from my collection, (above), said to be a depot on the Central Mass, has thus far has defied my attempts at identification.

Here are the clues:
It says on the back it's the Boston and Lowell Engine #327 "Concord", taken about 1890. I know the B&L was absorbed into the Boston and Maine in 1887, so this must be actually be 1886-87. It says this is on the Central Mass, and the sleeper in the rear went through to Philadelphia and Washington. And that's true- there WAS such a train.

 So far, so good. But you know what? I can't identify this station. I do not recognize it, and it does not match any of the photos I have of Central Mass depots. I have had this sitting on my mantel for months now, hoping I would figure it out- but I am stumped.

  Initially I thought it must be "Pansy Park Depot".  Because it was the only CM depot with two words in the name I had never seen a picture of. (If you look closely at the photo itself it appears there are two words on the station sign.) But then I acquired a photograph of Pansy Park- and it's not even close. So...

  Can you help identify this one?

  If you can, please e-mail me.

--------------------------------------------Update, 2005------------------------

I posted a link to this page on the Message Board of the Boston & Maine Historical Society.

It wasn't long before I got this reply:

February 6 2005, 5:40 PM

Mystery Central Mass. Depot Identified

Steve,

46 years ago the same photo appeared in print also as a Mystery Photo. It was published in two different issues of the B&M Employees magazine: Oct.-Nov.-Dec. 1958 p. 30 (green ink) and Jan.-Feb. 1959 p. 22 (black ink, a better reproduction). The photo was from the collection of John W. Merrill of Newton, who if I recall correctly was an officer or at least an active member in the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society back then. The answer appeared in the B&M emp. mag. of Mar.-Apr. 1959 p. 21: Rockbottom, later renamed Gleasondale. I knew one of the people who identified the photo quite well -- Charles R. Cole, who was agent in Wayland. If you compare your photo with p. 91 of the Central Mass. book, you can see that the building was apparently replaced (or at least drastically altered) between ca. 1890 and 1915. There was still a flag stop signal there in 1915. With two baggage cars and a combine, it could very well be the "Philadelphia Express" (i.e. Philadelphia & Washington Express) as it was identified in the B&M employees magazine. The train would be westbound.

Rick Conard

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Wow. What an awesome reply for so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that I know of you, Rick- and you are a highly credible source. Thank you so so much.

-------------Of course I was anxious to see if I could confirm this. First, here is the image on the page Rick mentioned. (I have to love a guy who refers to an exact page on my favorite book ever published. A very obscure out-of-print book at that.)

At fist I was sure that what Rick said is quite correct. The way the depot is situated fits with what I know of the site of the former depot. The photographer would have been facing East. This would have been a Westbound train, because there was a bridge behind the photographer where a road crosses over the right-of-way. (Still there today, but the bridge has been filled in.) However the two photos don't seem to show the same structure, although I do know how depots can be wildly changed over the years. These two photos were taken about 30 years apart. So I figured it could have been heavily modified at some point.

Next I e-mailed my friends Gary Lapointe and and Alan Lepain to get their input. (These two guys really know their stuff.)

Gary had this to say....

-----------

Steve:

All of that note from Mr. Conrad sounds pretty persuasive. The only image I have called Gleasondale (which you probably saw on my site) is attached and clearly doesn't look like the same structure at all--no modifications could result in this! So, what do I have? The signboard clearly says "Gleasondale," and the only Gleasondale in Karr is the Rockbottom one (should have left that name--a great name for a railroad depot!). Was mine a later station?

Gary

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Well, you're right, Gary- "Rockbottom" is such a great name for a depot. The depot pictured in the photo from Gary is IMHO, the OTHER "Gleasondale", the one nearby on the former Fitchburg RR branch from Maynard to Marlboro. The Fitchburg one was just north of the CM depot.

Next I recieved an e-mail from my pal Alan Lepain containing some very astute, detailed observations. (Told ya these guys know their stuff.)

-------------

Steve,

After comparing both these pictures I can safely say that these are in
fact two different structures. How different can be seen in my list
below detailing the differences. Your mystery station is in fact an
"L-shaped" structure whereas the 1915 version is straight with only the
small protrusion of the station agents booth.

Did you know there was a second depot named Gleasondale depot on the
Fitchburg line but I do not know if it was in the same town or named
after a village area of another town. {Note: Yes, I did. See Gary's photo above. :-) }

There are two ways to determine how two depots came to be. One is going
to the local historical society for information and the other are the
1915 ICC valuations. If the first structure burnt down and rebuilt then
the valuation might say something like: "Built 16 yrs ago" or the like.

Alan

Mystery Depot

Roof design is a "cross-gable". Both roof ridges meet together
and the gable that faces the track is at the "end" of the building which
is only done when the structure is built in a "L-shape".

No roof supporting knee braces.

Board and batten construction

No wainscot, fake or otherwise

Left end view has door with transom above.

Chimney is off-center to the roof ridge and is on the opposite
side of the ridge.

Station agents booth is not under the gable roof facing the
track.

Tack side features from left to right: window, door, window,
agent booth. Window, fright door? (centered under the gable), window.

The 1915 Depot

Roof design is a straight "gable" with a small gable over the
station agents booth.

Has roof supporting knee braces at the four corners.

Board and batten construction

Has wainscot board around structure

Left end view (one of my pics) has a dual window centered in the
gable end.

Chimney is off-center to the roof ridge and is on the track side
of the ridge.

Station agents booth is centered on the structure with small
gable roof above.

Tack side features from left to right: ?, door, ?, agent booth,
door, window, freight door.

-----------------

Holy, cow. Thank you so much for all that info. (You're the best!) You do know I am dying to see this other photo you have, right?

Sounds like I asked for input from the right people.

So based on all the evidence at hand, I am going to go out on a limb here. At first I thought the depot in the 1915 photo was the same structure as the 1886 view, only heavily modified. But after Alan's in-depth analysis, I have to agree it's NOT the same edifice at all.

I must say that Rick Conard, and the people who solved this puzzle when it first came up nearly half a century ago sure are highly credible indeed. It sure would be silly to disagree with these folks. But as I say, I am going to go out on a limb here. Because....

I just don't think it's so. It just doesn't look right to be Gleasondale, aka Rockbottom. It's not the station that was there 30 years after the photo in question was taken. The background does not look right to fit the known location either.

Alan has also created an interesting 3D computer-generated image of my Central Mass Mystery Depot to help visualize what it looked like:

(Thanks, Alan! Pretty cool.)

Update, August 2007:

Just acquired this outstanding photograph of the Central Mass, Gleasondale Station, taken from roughly the same angle as the photo in question. And it only serves as further confirmation of what Alan pointed out. This is not the structure in my Mystery Photo.

So the mystery remains. Which Central Mass depot is the one depicted in my cabinet photo?

  -Steve Fisk