With photos of snow-covered tracks and other long-forgotten images of the past, the 2023 Railroad Wall Calendar is now available at local stores, but this time, it comes with a request for assistance.
Among the 13 photographs included in this year’s calendar are several scenes with unnamed railroad workers posing in front of trains and the calendar’s staff are hoping the current residents of Franklin County can help shine a light on these men’s identities for historical preservation.
“Who are these men? It seems likely that some of these stout fellows have descendants still living in the area,” calendar author and railroad historian Alden Dreyer wrote on the calendar’s website. “If anyone can help with names — or even guesses — please email aldendreyer@gmail.com.”
The annual calendar, which has been published nearly every year since 2008, is now available for $15 at Baker Office Supply and World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield, Hager’s Farm Market and Apex Orchards on the Mohawk Trail, Foxtown Diner and Nancy Dole Books in Shelburne Falls, the Historic Deerfield museum store and Elmer’s Store in Ashfield. The calendar also can be purchased online at bit.ly/3AM8JhD.
The calendar is put together by Dreyer, who did research and wrote captions for the photos, Publisher David Allen and historian Peter Miller before he died last year. Dreyer said the vast majority of “undated and unlocated” images throughout the years have come from Allen, who was the former Historical Society of Greenfield president.
“We think of this as a picture book concealed as a calendar,” Allen said in a statement. “It makes a nice collector’s item.”
Providing a historical railroad tour from Rowe to Millers Falls, Dreyer said the calendar is a great holiday gift for anyone interested in the history or railroads.
“I always buy a bunch, it’s a wonderful way to give Christmas gifts to my friends and relatives,” Dreyer said by phone, adding that some of these photos were “precious items to come across” when they were doing research.
The cover photo, according to the calendar’s website, comes from either the Olive Street or Coombs Avenue roundhouse with 17 railroad workers posing in front of Express Train No. 21 in 1900.
Much like his request on the website, Dreyer said any help in identifying any of the railroad workers featured in the calendar would be much appreciated.
“It’s a lot of guesswork,” Dreyer said. “I love to get feedback and get things corrected.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.