The Freight House will be receiving a new museum-quality display in a few months. Progressive Model Design of Romeoville, Illinois, has been commissioned by the Friends of Bedford Depot Park to build an HO-scale diorama that accurately depicts the Bedford rail terminal in 1955. The 2½×12 foot non-operating model railroad, with a 2×4 foot extension on one side, was designed by William Deen based on his research for Minuteman Railroad.
The diorama will encompass the area from the passenger depot to the locomotive servicing facility west of South Road. Among the detailed custom-built structures will be the depot, freight house, section house, and engine house, all based on historic photos and measurements in the Friends collections. Included also will be the Middlesex Lumber & Fuel building (home now of the Bikeway Source). The trackage in the Bedford yard will be represented nearly to scale.
For much of the twentieth century, Bedford’s main importance to the Boston & Maine Railroad was its being the origination or destination point for all passenger trains on the Lexington Branch to or from Boston. The 1955 date was selected because that was the last year its terminal facilities remained intact; the engine house, made obsolete as diesel locomotives replaced steam, was razed late that year. The Bedford facilties continued to contract until passenger service ceased entirely in 1977.
This project was made possible by a major donation received last winter from Robert and Barbara Shea of Red Lodge, Montana. Their gift was in honor of Bob’s younger brother, Jim, who passed away suddenly in September 2022. Jim Shea was the founding president of the Friends and an ardent proponent of preserving Bedford’s rail history. Creating an accurate model of how things once were is a form of preservation we think he would have supported. Bob and Barbara’s generous gift is allowing the Friends to consider other capital improvements for the organization and Depot Park.
