“Hobos” Matt O’Brien, Chet Brett and David Pierce made a campfire and sat on boulders, talking about the hobo lifestyle during the 2023 Hobo Harvest Dinner.
Reminder Publishing file photo
CHESTER — The annual Hobo Harvest Dinner fundraiser will take place Saturday, Oct. 19, at Chester Railway Station, 10 Prospect St.
The menu is “hobo” beef stew, corn pudding (from a vintage railroad recipe), side salad, homemade rolls, choice of apple or pumpkin pie for dessert, and a choice of lemonade, coffee, tea or water. Tickets are $14 for adults, and $10 for children under 12.
Melissa McAuliffe, from Gateway Food Services, will prepare and serve the dinner with her crew in the vintage Blue Caboose dining car.
Reservations are a must, at Dave@chesterrailwaystation.net or 413-354-7878. The cutoff date for reservations is Oct. 16. Reservation messages should include a contact name, phone number, number in the dining party, and arrival time, as well as whether the individual or group is eating there or taking out. The proceeds support upkeep of the Chester Railway Station, a 501c3 nonprofit organization and National Historic Landmark.
Chester Foundation President David Pierce said this year was a productive one for the station, in terms of physical upgrades. The station was painted with historically correct colors, paid for in part by a grant of $2,500 from the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, the oldest railfan organization in the country, established in 1934.
“It’s much better painting weather now than over the summer. There is some high stuff left, such as the gable ends which are 30 feet in the air. We’ll be 99% complete by the end of the season,” he said.
Vintage boxcars were also scraped and painted by volunteers from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, and a shower was installed in the station for overnight guests renting the 1919 wooden caboose, another source of income for the station’s upkeep. The cost of renting the caboose is $70 for one night, and $60 for additional nights. Pierce said the wooden caboose is outfitted as it was when it was in service.
“People bring their own sleeping bags and pillows,” Pierce said. “It’s an immersive history exhibit — the trains go by all night.”
He said there are a lot of regular renters who come a couple of times a year, including one Amtrak engineer. This summer, a family with twins came. Pierce said one of them asked his mother if they were going to live at the station from now on.
The station also hosted a lot of day rentals this year, including library events and yoga classes, in addition to walk-in visitors and museum tours. Pierce said the Hilltown Community Health Center’s Hilltown Family Center is using the station one day a week for six weeks, until it moves into a permanent location.
“This year we had five or six day rentals — it was helpful, but kind of chaotic,” he said.
During the Hobo Dinner there will be a hobo reenactment on the lawn, and folk singer Mark Franklin of Dalton will perform train and hobo songs, among other selections.
The annual dinner salutes the hobo culture that began in the early 1800s and lasted until about 1950, forming around the railroad lines as people were driven for economic reasons to follow the harvest. Rails were the best way to get from Point A to Point B, and it was possible to hop on without being noticed.
