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"We call this the 'hugging railroad,' because you will see everyone that comes will hug," joked Joan Jackson, a volunteer station agent with the museum, as she was preparing for a group of nearly 90 children to arrive for an historic train ride on Tuesday. "We are all volunteers, nobody gets paid."
The RMNE, a nonprofit educational and historical organization, was founded in 1968 with the mission of establishing an interpretative facility telling the story of the region's rich railroading heritage. There are currently 400 to 500 members of the museum.
"The museum has two purposes; we run a train and we restore railroad equipment that is related to New England," said Sue Sample, the conductor and engineer with the station since 1997.
School group and the general public take advantage of the train rides, which are offered on Tuesdays and Sundays, and this summer, from July 31 through Aug. 9, the organization will host "A Day Out With Thomas Hero of Rail Tour," a 25-minute ride with Thomas the Tank Engine, which includes storytelling, live music and more.
Lou Beres, a volunteer car host at the museum, explained that the museum built a new restoration shop three miles south of the station for maintenance purposes, and a current project involves building a new coach that will have mahogany interior.
"We have done a lot of work around here, clearing the whole area out," said Ms. Sample.
The station was built in 1881 by the Naugatuck Railroad, and the 2,424 square-foot building sits on 1.1 acres off East Main Street in Thomaston. The station is thought to be the second that served the town, replacing a smaller wooden building that stood on the opposite side of the line.
"[The Thomaston station] is historic. [Railroads were] the way people went years ago and hopefully they are going to do it again," said Carmine Pascuzzi, a retired volunteer with the museum. "People used to be able to set the clocks by when the trains went by."
The station was used for passenger service through December 1958, and from then until 1968 as a freight agent's office. Later, the building was used by the nearby Plume & Atwood Manufacturing Co., and after that it housed a small engine repair business into the early 1990s. The station suffered a major fire in 1993 that destroyed the roof, but it is slowly being restored to its former glory by the museum.
In 1995, after the Boston & Maine Railroad discontinued the last freight service along the line, the Railroad Museum of New England restored the original Naugatuck Railroad name when it obtained a state charter to its wholly-owned operating subsidiary-and then turned its attention to the restoration of the Thomaston station.
In 1997, the Thomaston Savings Bank made it possible for the first phase of restoration to begin. Restoration not only includes the station itself but also the outer buildings, display tracks, an operating control tower, pedestrian walks and much more.
The first phase included the rebuilding of the roof, upper masonry work and chimneys. Through 1999, work continued on the interior of the station. In 2001, another grant was given by the Thomaston Savings Bank, allowing for platform and canopies to be restored and a new canopy was deck was installed during that summer.
In 2003, work was completed on the new "Comfort Coach" restroom facility. The facility is designed to look like an old passenger car body. The siding the behind the station was rebuilt and lowered to allow several display pieces of railroad equipment to be shown. While so much has been done to restore the station to its original glory, there is still more to be done.
"Hopefully we are going to see [the station] rebuilt," said Mr. Pascuzzi.
The original Naugatuck Railroad was originally chartered through its namesake river valley in 1845. It was built between Bridgeport and Winsted. Construction began in 1848 and was completed in 1849. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad began leasing the Naugatuck in 1887 and formerly merged with it in 1906.
What is now known as Thomaston was originally Plymouth Hollow. When clock maker Seth Thomas arrived in 1813, he began manufacturing timepieces and his company flourished and dominated the village to the point of having it referred to as "Thomas Town/"
The break with Plymouth became official in 1875 when "the Hollow" became Thomaston.
The historic rides offered today begin with view of the Seth Thomas Clock Company to the east and go as far south as the Waterville section of Waterbury, which was once home to several large brass mills. Along the way, the route travels along the banks of the Naugatuck River, runs through Mattatuck State Forest and clings to rock cliffs. And on the return trip, the route traverses the face of the Thomaston Dam. The dam was built as a result of the 1955 flood and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"We are the only train in this country that goes across the dam," said Ms. Jackson.
"We are here because we want to be, not because we have to be. It does make a difference," said Mr. Beres.
For more information about the station and the museum, visit the Web site at www.rmne.org.
