CHESTER, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- A local piece of history finally moved after sitting just 100 feet away from its final destination for several weeks.

Western Mass News is getting answers on the residents impacted by the road closure, and the details on the not-so-little engine that could. It’s a train that Western Mass News has been covering for years. A dining car from Bernie’s Depot in Chicopee was loved by restaurant-goers until the business’s closing in 2022.

Former Chester resident, Leonard Alexander, dedicated most of his life to everything train related; and everything Chester-related. When asked if he has ever seen anything like this in his lifetime, he tells us, “No, this is all new to me! Its gonna be interesting... It’s quite an operation!”

Now, just months shy of his 100th birthday, he still can say he’s experiencing some “firsts” in the town he once called home.

Alexander worked on the railroad for many years. Now, his children have brought him back to watch this huge piece of Western Mass history finally make it to the Chester Railway Station and Museum. “I am very fortunate; my family is very good to me,” Alexander says.

Western Mass News also got the chance to speak with Dave Pierce, the president of the Chester Foundation, who tells us, “The car itself has its own following… people who ate there for over 40 years.”

Pierce is one of the several people who were ecstatic to hear that the car would be relocated to the museum in his town, but when the car departed from its spot in late November, it only traveled 99% of the way.

“We’ve got a lot of equipment over there already that we moved under the bridge over the years. But nothing this long. That’s the only difference,” he tells us.

The 85-foot-car was not expected to fit under the overpass, which is the only way to get to the museum. When tell us about this predicament, Piece says, “If it doesn’t work, the other alternative would be cut it in half and then bring it over...There’s 40 houses on the other side and the bridge is the only way out.”

After some deliberation, some emergency safety protocols, two hours of towing, and dozens of residents standing by with anticipation, the riddle of getting the car to the other side of the tracks turned mission impossible, into a job-well done.

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