Antique railway switch installed at park in Hudson
By Angela Greiner Contributing Writer

(l to r) Duncan Power, Tom Kelleher and Ed Beauchemin install switch in the ARRT Park. PHOTO/ANGELA GREINER

Hudson - Volunteers squirted oil on the vintage 1906 railway switch Oct. 21 as they worked to restore the antique fixture. ! e working railway switch, along with an official railroad sign, will sit next to the caboose at the park on the Assabet River Rail Trail (ARRT). ! e switch is the first piece of antique rail equipment to be placed at the ARRT Park in Hudson for community members to enjoy.

Duncan Powers, an ARRT volunteer and railroad enthusiast, along with ARRT President Tom Kelleher and local volunteer Ed Beauchemin, first installed the switch along with a signal sign at the end of September.

"! e goal today is to get the switch moving," Power said.

Armed with a sledgehammer, a can of oil, a jack and what looked like several pieces of scrap metal, the three men tried to pry the switch despite more than 100 years of rust. ! e switch was originally located at an intersection near Broad Street.

"It was, at one point, a very popular stop for grain stores and also used to serve customers along the Marlborough Railroad line," Power said.

He explained that the Sonnichson family of Stow saved the switch from the trash heap. Several years later, the family donated the switch to the ARRT.

! e switch and the caboose are the first two parts of what is hoped to be a small historical exhibit.

"! is will be a bit of a remembrance of what Hudson used to be," Power said.

Historically, there was a large number of textile companies in the area and that the local passenger station was very active, he said.

Both the representatives from the ARRT and Hudson Town Planner Michelle Ciccollo are hoping to restore a few more historic railroad artifacts. Ciccollo explained that the town hopes to get three or four interpretive panels and a railway sign that would display information about the railroad. She also said that several signs and other artifacts from the trolleys and the trains are currently being stored at the Department of Public Works.

"! ere were other pieces that were carefully saved when they were working on the trails," Ciccollo said.

Power hopes that they will also be able to get some historic pictures to display at the park.

"It will be a nice commemoration of the industrial activity that happened along the railway station in Hudson," Power said.

"! e bike trail currently runs five miles from Marlborough to Hudson," Kelleher said. "The proposed trail length is`12 miles, which would also incorporate Stow, Maynard and Acton."

! e ARRT is hoping to break ground on the second half of the trail as soon as possible, Kelleher said. The ARRT is currently in negotiations about acquiring the remaining land needed to complete the trail.