By Jack Trowill, The Berkshire Edge; March 25, 2019
In 1919, the Hoosac Tunnel had been open for over 40 years, and the east-west railroad line between Boston and Troy, New York, through North Adams and Williamstown is being operated by the Boston & Maine Railroad (today’s Pam-Am Southern Railroad). The tunnel is powered for electric locomotives to avoid the noxious fumes from steam locomotives that killed crew members and caused multiple crashes. There are over a dozen freight and passenger trains through the tunnel each day. (By 2015, the line was widened for over-sized loads on some dozen freight trains each day, but there are no passenger trains.)