That image of the blizzard of 1888, also from The Eagle's photo archives, apparently came up in a conversation locally. "Zoomed today with a childhood friend who now lives in Pittsfield!" a Beschloss follower, Dr. Linda Tribuzio, replied. "Sent this to her - with appropriate references, of course!ð" In a recent online feature, The Eagle presented a collection of images from notable blizzards. As staffer Jen Huberdeau wrote in that account, "Mysteries from the Morgue: Legendary Snowstorms to hit the Berkshires," the 1888 storm was a killer. It began the evening of March 11 and lasted 3 days. Reported snow totals vary from 36 to 42 inches. What made the storm so memorable was the huge snowdrifts that came with it and the aftermath. A train arriving from Albany, N.Y., on the Boston and Albany Railroad was caught in the "Washington Cut," the name given to a granite outcropping on Washington Mountain 3 miles outside Hinsdale. There, 72 passengers remained for two days as efforts were made to free them from the snowdrifts that reached the top of the train cars. Passengers dined on raw eggs, which they took from a crate in the baggage car. A train carrying livestock didn't fare as well. The train, stopped in "the Junction" in Pittsfield, lost 32 carloads of hogs. The hogs froze to death during the night. But six carloads of sheep and another of cattle were saved.