Welcome to the Mason Square Community Rail-Trail

In the heart of Springfield’s McKnight Neighborhood there is a long-forgotten railroad corridor that stretches around the neighborhood like a lucky horseshoe. Nestled between dozens of homes and Oak Grove Cemetery, industrial areas, and long tracts of hidden woods, lies a great opportunity for the McKnight Neighborood , the Mason Square Community, and the City of Springfield.

The abandoned rail corridor, now called the Mason Square Community Rail-Trail, is approximately two miles in length. The tracks have been removed, but the wooden rail ties still remain—now almost entirely hidden beneath the flora and fauna.

The former corridor is a testament to the great possibilities and diversity of the neighborhood and city. On portions of the trail there are no visible structures—only trees rise up quietly from rail banks that once rumbled with passing freight cars. What a blessing to be surrounded by nature, and to feel alone in a city of 150,000. Walk a little farther, and giant blue industrial fuel storage tanks rise up, a reminder of our city’s industrial past and present. An old train bridge still stands on its granite foundation, its steel girders waiting for new wooden planks to hold up hikers and bikers. A hawk circles over the dry grass and disappears into the woods. In a sense, the corridor is a linear park that gets few visitors, but has a growing fan base.

In brief, what we’re trying to do is to turn the abandoned rail line into a hiking and biking trail. A task no doubt easier said than done. We can do it, but we cannot do it alone. Go for a hike on this blog to learn more about the trail. If you would like to learn how you can get involved, please contact us—and don’t forget to take a virtual tour of the trail while you’re here.



The Arch of Recreation as seen by Urban Design Students

Students at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst — Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, have provided the below images. Dubbed the Arch of Recreation by the urban design students, their representations of the trail reflect a creative and thoughtful approach to the corridor's full potential.

To see more of their work, scroll down and click on the slideshow.

This is a sketch of the gas storage tank between the trail and Albany Street. Like the slide show on this blog that has photos of the gas tank, this sketch also shows the potential beauty of the tanks.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Trail Work Underway

On April 10th, at the Bay to St. James section of the Highland Division rail trail, the weather was perfect and 9 people turned out ready to work: Steve Gray and his amazing bobcat, his friend Susan, Liz and Mike Stevens, Neil Greene, Elizabeth Lederman, Pat Scahill, Tim Kirk, Ed Kelly and Tony Anthony.


With the help of the bobcat, a chainsaw, two weedwackers, a few other tools and some hard work, the trail is now passable to pedestrians and a truck. We hauled a nice pile of brush to the corner of Clifford and Bay which the DPW has agreed to pick up.


This work will allow us to proceed with the next phase of clean-up. This phase involves getting as much trash and debris as possible off the trail. We are hoping to enlist some volunteers (Boy Scouts, youth council and friends) on April 22nd to create piles of trash ready for pick-up. Then on April 24th, we will use trucks to haul the trash out to the street. Once again, the DPW has agreed to pick up whatever trash we haul out.


The final phase of the clean-up plan will take place on May 1, 2010 in conjunction with Keep Springfield Beautiful (KSB), the city wide clean-up. Once again, we will meet on the trail and haul out whatever trash we didn’t get on April 24th. KSB has agreed to put one of their dumpsters at the corner of Clifford and Bay for this purpose.


Anyone who wants to get involved in this clean-up is welcomed. Invite your friends and neighbors to join in turning this trail into a green space in the city. See the schedule below. Contact Liz Stevens, 736-2136 or by email at: cnmstevens@comcast.net.


Date Time Meeting location

4/22 10 am Clifford and Bay

Sat, 4/24 9am Bay St. entrance to the trail

Sat, 5/1 9am Bay St. entrance to the trail

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