Restored Vintage Baggage Cart Added to Depot Park

Submitted by Joe Piantedosi, Chair of  Bedford’s Depot Park Committee

In a ceremony held at Bedford Depot Park on Monday May 19, 2014, a fully-restored antique railroad baggage cart was unveiled. It will become a permanent display in front of the historic Freight House and Welcome Center at Depot Park.

During the ceremony Joe Piantedosi, Chair of the Bedford Depot Park Committee, recognized the three groups who made this donation to Depot Park possible:

• The Bedford Friends of Depot Park represented by Jim Shea, President who are donating the railroad baggage carts to the town
• The Bedford Cultural Council  represented by Barbara Purchia, Chair who provided the grant funds for the restoration and
• The Bedford Department of Public Works represented by DPW Director Roy Sorensen, Carl Silverstrone and Paul Quatrale  who provided the very talented labor for the restoration.

Background

The Friends of Bedford Depot Park acquired two antique railroad baggage carts last year that are very similar to the original Railway Express Agency carts that were in use at the Bedford Depot back in the 1920’s. The Railway Express Agency was a national monopoly set up by the federal government in 1917 to provide small package and parcel transportation using the railroad infrastructure much as UPS functions today using the road system. The baggage carts were used to transport packages and parcels at the Bedford Depot and Freight House.

The two carts were in dire need of restoration.  A grant application was submitted to the Bedford Cultural Council to restore one of the carts. The Cultural Council awarded a grant application for $488 for materials, including new wood decking, stainless steel hardware, paint, primer and other items needed to restore the cart.Bedford DPW Director Roy Sorensen assisted with the project and assigned Silvestrone and Quatrale to work on the project as time permitted during the winter months.