The Berkshire Pink Granite Quarry at the Mitchell switch, the cutting saw blade was stolen in the 1970’s.  Built to cut its pink granite on site for a complete quarry and cutting works. Just one of several along the long abandoned five mile railroad spur off the Boston and Albany. Owned by the Becket Land Trust.

  Chester and Becket Railroad starts about a quarter of a mile on the Round Hill side of Chester and sets out west to Becket wriggling and squirming its way up the side hill. The matter of the grade is complicated by the curves. The worst curves on the line are 16 degrees; the worst on the Boston and Albany eight degrees, and the worst possible in railroad construction is 18 degrees. These curves were first built without protection, but recently the railway put in double rails along them. The common engines have no flanges on the front drivers, and they feared they would keep dropping off engines 500 or 600 feet into the front yards of poor farmers, who could not afford to clean up after them. So they protected all the curves and as a result about two-thirds of the road is double-tracked.

After scrambling up about three miles the road goes as far as possible in that particular direction, and the engine runs out on a switch-back and takes a fresh start on. From this point on the ride up the hill becomes the most interesting. A big fat switch engine is as helpless on the mountain side as a fat woman. The largest locomotive on the road, capable drawing unlimited tons on the level, has all it can do to take care of three loaded cars of granite. You can hear it for miles as it goes coughing up the grade. It is the rule of the company that the engine shall be on the under side, both going up and coming down the hill. Berkshire Eagle 1899.

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