Participants were (left to right) : Joan Orton, Rosalie Corcoran, Pauline Cloutier, Bill Johansen, Pauline Lavallee, Arnold Gaskin, Mike Gains, and Viv Ouellette. Hank Ouellette led the tour.

The purpose of the tour was to view the locations of the Mass Central Rail Trail that Greenways has under construction between Sterling, MA and Rutland. The tour began in Sterling at the entrance to the rail trail next to the Wicky Wax Candle Co. The next stop was the Quaq bridge area. We then proceeded to the West Boylston trail entrance, then to River St. in Holden where we encountered an overwhelming swarm of mosquitoes. Following this location, we drove to Quinapoxet Street to see the site where the railroad had a small station. Next we went on to Rutland to the Wachusett Street entrance. This section is graded for about a mile or so to the Holden line. Our next stop was on Glenwood St. where the trail crosses the road and heads west toward route 56. We then stopped at Miles Ave. near Thayer pond. This is where the Rutland depot once stood. The last stop on the tour was Rutland State Park on Whitehall Rd. The railroad crossed the road here and we saw the location where the West Rutland depot once stood. As time ran out at noon time, we then ended the tour at this point. Should there be additional interest, we could view other sections of the rail bed to Coldbrook Springs at a later date.

Checking the marker is MDC Head Ranger John Kovich, and standing in front of the mill sluiceway intakes is Jim Lafley, MDC Director of Education.

A group of five Americorps volunteers came to Holden during the week of May 21 to 25, 2001 to cut a trail from Manning St. (Trout Brook area), over the hill (via the power lines) and down to route 31 at Mill Street. The trail will become part of the Mass Central Rail Trail now under construction. Now that the trail has been cut through the MDC woods, a trail bed remains to be laid with gravel fill. Wachusett Greenways wishes to thank this group for an outstanding job in spite of three days of rain.

The team met at Glenwood Road and cleared about 400 feet with three chain saws. All three workers wore chaps and helmets in accordance with safety guidelines and our Wachusett Greenways policy. Dick reports that Linwood Erskine and his hiking partners are completing a diagonal hike through Massachusetts from southwest to the northeast corner.