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THE LAYOUT of BOTH FRIDAY'S and SATURDAY'S 
OUTDOOR  TOURS

Here's a LINK to a Google Map of all the Walking and Biking Tours 

Click on the spreadsheet above to go to all 14 tours
Note, if you want to print this, it will print on legal-size paper.

On Friday from:

5:00-7:00, 
Networking, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at

Hotel Northampton. Please plan on joining us!

7:00--? On your own for dinner at one of Northampton's scores of restaurants.

The Conference

Golden Spike 2018 

A Conference at the Junction of Two of the Longest
and most Historic Rail Trails in New England 
Northampton, Massachusetts
27-28 July, 2018
By the Numbers

BY THE NUMBERS 

$35 &

$15 

$35 for the indoor conference
$15 for each of the outdoor tours.
Participants
maximum capacity
for the indoor event

150 

Miles of  Soon to  be Interconnected
Trail Updates

190 

 0.0 

Milemarker start points of both of the longest trails in New England
Walking and Biking Tours

14

 1 

Inspirational Keynote Speaker

Past Golden Spike  Events

Past Events

The first Golden Spike event was in the summer of 2002, on the campus of Bentley University in Waltham  near the old truss bridge over Linden St.  Over 400 people attended this event making it the largest rail trail ever held in Mass--up to that time. The most recent  event was in 2014 and held in Clinton--and included a tour of the nearly 1,000 foot long tunnel.

 

Other events over the years included a small gathering at  Northampton Brewery about 10 years ago. Another was in Somerville and another one in Rutland that included a tour of Charnock Cut--the highest point on the MCRT.

Also in 2014, we did rail trail update events in both Easthampton, MA and Simsbury, CT for gatherings of the folks involved in the north - south trail.

The location  for this 2018 event has a special meaning, too.  Union Station is located at 0.0 miles—the starting point for the east-west  line that goes all the way to Boston’s North Station.  And it is the technical terminus--0.0 miles of the old New Haven Railroad’s Canal Division line from New Haven, CT to Northampton.

The location is at the junction of the longest interstate trail developing in the Northeast with the longest developing rail trail in Massachusetts. TO LEARN A BIT MORE ABOUT THE MCRT COALITION: CLICK HERE.

The small images just above here are of the MCRT's Golden Spike event in 2002 on the campus of Bentley University in Waltham Massachusetts.

 

The image to the right is of a bumper sticker that was popular in the Metro West area of EMass back in the mid-90s.

 

And the overall background image here is by K.C. Martin and it is over one of the Connecticut River communities near to the MCRT's Norwottuck section. 

Sponsors

Contact

QUESTIONS?   CONTACT US!

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