Central Shaft Ventilator for the Hoosac Tunnel

The ventilator is off Central Shaft Road in Florida, Mass. It took some work to get there as the public works department was working on some culverts on the road. They marked a detour in terms they understood but about which I had no clue. After interrogating them a couple times, I finally figured out how to get where I wanted to go.

The ventilator was open and blowing the whole time I was there. Mostly fog seemed to come out. A significant storm event had recently cleared out and the cloudy remnants are in the background of the picture. I sketched from across the road in a patch of golden rod which I had to share with at least one bumble bee. The bumble bee was accommodating, but my nervousness got the best of me when it took off at one point and ran into me. Is that why they're called bumble bees because they're always bumbling into things? I fell off my tripod stool and spilled my oil pastels into the nearby grass.

Later a man came by with his son and daughter. His father liked to do drawings on large bracket mushrooms which struck me as an interesting idea. I think they would have liked to watch me draw, but I kept talking with them the whole time and they finally went on their way. Some guys in a truck saw me off as I left. They told me there was a nice view of Adams from the hill behind me.

The ventilator ventilates the Hoosac Tunnel which is a long railroad tunnel going through the the mountains here. It was quite an engineering feat. There is a museum devoted to its story in North Adams. I had driven by this fascinating thing many times on my way to Savoy Mountain State Park without ever noticing it. A woman on an organized hike in Mount Greylock State Park brought it to my attention.

September 10, 1996