EAST LONGMEADOW — Take a step back in time on Aug. 9 as a steam engine runs the rails of Graham Central Railroad, at The Depot at Graham Central Station, 60 Maple St.
The Depot’s owner, Steve Graham, has been running a scaled-down train on 7¼-inch gauge rails for three years. He first saw miniature trains while at a business trade show in Germany and promised himself that he would purchase a miniature locomotive and give train rides in his backyard. After buying the town’s antique train depot and turning it into an ice cream shop, he saw an opportunity to create a train ride there and provide people with a family-friendly experience.
The Amherst Railway Society is a community organization of railroad and model railroad enthusiasts. Show Director John Sacerdote said he met Graham in 2020 when the Amherst Railway Society was considering purchasing the Depot from him for use at the Big E fairgrounds. While Graham decided to keep the Depot, his collaboration with the Amherst Railway Society continued. Sacerdote said the society had acquired sections of track but did not have space to set it up, so they sold over 1,350 feet of it to Graham. Since then, Graham has set up three loops on the property surrounding the depot.
Graham said, “The overriding factor is I really like little kids and kids are infatuated with trains. I like trains, but little kids love them.” He recalled a group of three children, all of them under 3 years old, who rode the train through a part of the track called “the jungle,” which was decorated with a fake monkey in one tree and owls in others.
Of one of the children, Graham said, “His eyes got so big. I said to his mom, ‘That was so adorable. We’re going to go again. Everyone back in.’” He said it was “really magical.”
The Amherst Railway Society has once again partnered with Graham, this time to bring the steam locomotive, which belongs to a member, to East Longmeadow. Graham has one gas-powered and two electric locomotives, as well as several train cars, but said, “The steam locomotives are really cool. They chug and the wheels turn and it’s a lot more like the [full-sized] ones that used to run.”
Amherst members will help with train operations and promote the Amherst Railway Society during the event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will also feature Maggie the Clown. Sacerdote said the clown, whose real name is Nicole Portwood, is a graduate of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and lived on the traveling circus’s train for four years.
Graham and Sacerdote are continuously dreaming up new attractions for the miniature Graham Central Railroad. Sacerdote said, “We always talk. We love brainstorming. There’s a man-made tunnel. It’s a snow shed.” He said, “It would be the perfect place to project cities — Boston or New York.” Graham added, “If there’s anyone out there who wants to help turn the tunnel into different places … There’s got to be an expert out there.”
Thinking of other ways to expand the world building around the trains, Sacerdote said that in the jungle, “We got to have animatronic dinosaurs along the track.” For the Depot’s ice cream offerings, Graham said he is working on a train-themed flavor.
More about The Depot at Graham Central Station can be found at thedepotatgrahamcentral.com.
