Next home found for landmark Bernie’s Dining Depot train car; move makes way for new restaurant

CHICOPEE — The landmark Pullman train car from Bernie's Dining Depot soon will be on its way to a new home as event space for the Chester Railway Station and Museum .

"It's a big project," said Dave Pierce, president of the museum and the Chester Foundation. "But it's in good shape, and people will be able to rent it out for parties and events. It will be a good fundraiser for us."

Chester Railway Station and Museum will move this rail car from Bernie's Restaurant in Chicopee to Chester. The carriage will be refurbished into an event space for the museum. It sits on a trailer in the restaurant's parking lot on Monday afternoon. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook

The Bernie's building at 749 James St. has been sold and will become the home of a new restaurant.

Riggers from Iron Mountain Iron and Equipment already have lifted the car onto a flatbed trailer. Pierce said they needed to measure precisely how high the car is on the trailer, so movers can get the necessary permits.

The car might start moving 30-or-so miles west to Chester in a few weeks.

The car was free, but the museum is spending about $24,000 on the move, Pierce said.

Bernie's was known for its 4-inch-thick "Conductors Cut" prime rib. Roger Bernashe opened the eatery in 1980, and it closed in 2022.

Bernashe died in 2014 at the age of 87 after having turned the business over to his son, Gary, and his wife, Barbara.

Chester Railway Station and Museum will move a rail car from Bernie's Restaurant in Chicopee to Chester. The carriage will be refurbished into an event space for the museum. It sits on a trailer in the restaurant's parking lot on Monday afternoon. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook

Pierce said the Pullman Co. built the rail car in the 1940s for New York Central. It served Penn Central after the merger and then Amtrak before it was retired to the restaurant.

New owners Duy Ngoc Nguyen and Loan Thi Le, of Hudson, New Hampshire, bought the Bernie's property at 749 James St., Chicopee, in July for $549,000.

Nguyen plans a new restaurant there, he said by phone Monday. But the dining car doesn't fit into his plans. He knows it's a beloved landmark, and he sought out a museum to take it.

Duy Ngoc Nguyen and Loan Thi Le, of Hudson, New Hampshire, bought the Bernie's property at 749 James St., Chicopee, in July for $549,000. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook

Chester Railway Station and Museum already has a collection of historic railcars, including a 1919 wooden caboose it rents out to campers as an Airbnb. The caboose is booked through November.

Chester also has an early steam engine, two boxcars with museum articles to study, a Baker's Chocolate tanker and a Blue Caboose kitchen with two cook stoves that is also available for parties.

The restored station itself dates back to 1862 and was part of the Western Railway, an engineering marvel of the age when it was completed through the Berkshires in 1841. The rail lines' Keystone Arch stone bridges over the Westfield River area are popular hiking destinations.

The site is a National Historic Landmark, Pierce said.

"It's the same category as Mount Rushmore or the Washington Monument," Pierce said.

A vintage photo of the Chester Railway Station, a National Historic Landmark. (Provided photo)The Westfield News

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