NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Spearheaded by longtime rail trail advocate, Craig Della Penna, theMass Central Rail Trail will become the longest bike trail in New England, at more than 100 miles long, winding from Northampton, MA, to Boston. Fifty-nine miles of it are already open, often incorporating existing trails, like the Norwottock, which takes bikers over its iconic rail bridge that goes across the Connecticut River.
Della Penna’s passion is helping to boost efforts to get rail trails done. As a former rail industry executive and writer on rail history, his vast knowledge and grasp of details make him sought out by rail trail projects that need help getting to that vital and final “yes.”
A bit further west to the Berkshires and Great Barrington, another labor of love takes place. Jill and Rufus Jones tell the fascinating story of how they’d come to buy a former vacation home of pioneering author and early civil rights figure, James Weldon Johnson…