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Date: 9/14/2023
CHESTER — The Chester Railway Station is planning for the Hobo Harvest Dinner, coming up on Saturday, Oct 14, at the Railway Station.
“We are largely returning to a traditional format, though to-go meals can also be ordered. For the convenience of patrons. the plan is to have seatings every 15 minutes during the event beginning at 4:15 p.m. and continuing through 6 p.m.,” said Chester Foundation President David Pierce.
The menu is hobo beef stew, corn pudding (a recipe from the New Haven Railroad Cookbook) side salad, rolls and butter, and a slice of apple or pumpkin pie. Water, cider or lemonade will be available for beverages. Eat-in prices are $14 for adults, $10 for kids under 12. To-go, without drinks, is $12 for adults, $8 for kids.
Orders can be placed and seating times reserved at 413-354-7878 or dave@chesterrailwaystation.net by Oct. 11. Reservations must include a name and phone number, the number of people in the party, pie choice and preferred seating time.
Proceeds raised from the dinner will go to the upkeep of the Chester Railway Station.
The Chester Factory Village Depot, a railway station constructed in 1862 in the village of Chester adjacent to the Western Railroad line (now the active CSX line) was named a National Historic Landmark in 2021, along with two of a series of 10 Western Railroad Keystone Arches, constructed in the late 1830s. Pierce said the other two surviving intact arches belong to the CSX Corporation and are still used for train crossings.
The Chester Railway Station is described as a pre-Civil War wood-frame passenger station, one of only four surviving Western Railroad stations from that era.
The Chester Foundation moved the station from one side of the tracks to the other in 1990 to save it from being razed, and subsequently restored it. The station now houses a museum of the Western Railroad line, and is the site of many town and private functions, and attracts visitors from around the country and around the world. The yard houses a vintage food service car, the “Blue Caboose,” which is used as a kitchen for functions, and the 1919 “Wooden Caboose,” which is available for campers to rent for the night.
“It’s an immersive history exhibit, if you think about it. You can experience what it was like to be a brakeman 100 years ago when you’re in there and the trains are going by all night long,” Pierce said. For more information on the history of the Chester Railway Station, visit www.chesterrailwaystation.net.