The Vermont Central Railroad was chartered October 31, 1843,[1] to build a line across the center of Vermont, running from Burlington on Lake Champlain east to the capital Montpelier, and then southeast and south to Windsor on the Connecticut River. Initial plans had the main line running through Montpelier. However, due to the difficulty of building through the Williamstown Gulf, a narrow valley south of Barre, Vermont, and to land interests of Charles Paine in Northfield, Vermont, a course to the west was selected. The state capital was to be served by a short branch line.
Construction began on December 15, 1845, and the first section, from White River Junction west to Bethel, opened on June 26, 1848.[1] Subsequent sections opened to Roxbury on September 17, 1848, Northfield on October 10, 1848, Montpelier (including the branch from Montpelier Junction) on June 20, 1849, Middlesex on August 30, 1849, Waterbury on September 29, 1849, and the full distance to Burlington on December 31, 1849.[1] The part along the Connecticut River from Hartford south to Windsor opened on February 13, 1849.
The Vermont and Canada Railroad was chartered October 31, 1845, as a continuation of the Vermont Central north and west to Rouses Point, New York, splitting at Essex Junction, Vermont (east of Burlington) and running north via St. Albans and Swanton.[1] A branch split at Swanton and ran north to the border with Canada. On August 24, 1849, the Vermont Central leased the Vermont and Canada, and it was completed in 1851. However, the Vermont Central defaulted on rental payments, and the Vermont and Canada returned to its original owners on June 28, 1852.[1] The lease was later reinstated.
1887 map with connections
The Montreal and Vermont Junction Railway was chartered in 1860 and opened in the 1860s, extending the Vermont and Canada's branch from the international border north to St. Johns, Quebec, on the Grand Trunk Railway's Montreal and Champlain Railroad. From opening, it was operated as an extension of the Vermont and Canada.[1]
Though the Missisquoi Railroad was chartered as an independent entity in 1867, the Central Vermont RR gained control of it shortly thereafter. It was formally leased in July 1873, providing a branch from St. Albans northeast to Richford, Vermont. It was operated until November 15, 1877, when the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad took it over. The company was reorganized in December 1886 as the Missisquoi Valley Railway, and was once again leased to the Central Vermont.
The Consolidated Railway was formed on June 30, 1884, to consolidate the 'Central Vermont' and 'Vermont and Canada', and to settle litigation between the two companies. A new Central Vermont Railroad was formed on July 1, 1884 to take over from the Consolidated Railway.
In 1896, the Central Vermont entered receivership, and the Rutland Railroad was separated. The Grand Trunk Railway bought the bankrupt company on March 20. The Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad lease ended in 1898, and that company was leased by the Rutland in 1901. The Central Vermont Railroad was sold at foreclosure on March 21, 1899, and was reorganized as the Central Vermont Railway on May 1. During this process, on April 15, 1899, it purchased the Missisquoi Valley Railroad outright.[1]
On July 12, 1920, the entire Grand Trunk system was placed under the control of a "Board of Management" by the federal Department of Railways and Canals in Canada after several years of financial difficulties. After several years of legal battles by Grand Trunk shareholders, intent on preventing the federal government from nationalizing the company, the company was nationalized on January 20, 1923, and fully merged into the Crown corporationCanadian National Railway.
CN and NECR: 1923-present
On December 12, 1927, in the aftermath of the Great Vermont Flood of 1927, the Central Vermont Railway entered receivership again, and was reorganized January 31, 1930, to form a new company of the same name.[1]
While the Central Vermont was no longer independent, it kept much of its corporate identity and was run as a separate railroad from the rest of the CN system. As the grip of the Great Depression eased, the railroad became a relatively successful arm of the CN network until the postwar period. It moved a wide range of freight from general merchandise and furniture to milk and agricultural products.[1]
During the 1950s, diesels from CN began to appear on the Central Vermont, with the last steam locomotive ending service in 1957.[1] The 1960s were an especially-rough period due to declining traffic, rising costs, and falling revenues.
Under the Grand Trunk and later the Canadian National, the Central Vermont system saw many of its unprofitable branch lines abandoned. The CN continued to operate the CV as a modestly successful system; however, in the process leading up to the privatization of the CN, which took place on November 28, 1995, several non-core routes were identified for sale, one of then being the CV.
This line was formed as the Missisquoi Railroad, then became the Missisquoi Valley Railroad, and then the Missisquoi Valley Division, before gaining its final name. Operations continued on the entire 27.48-mile (44.22km) length until 1984, when a derailment on the bridge spanning the Missisquoi River near Sheldon, Vermont, forced the dismantlement of one of three spans. Operations continued on the east end, while the Lamoille Valley Railroad operated on the isolated west end of the line to Richford occasionally after 1989. In 1990 the tracks from St. Albans to the bridge were pulled up.
The following stops were made on the branch from west to east:
White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest community within the town of Hartford.
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983.
The Rutland Railroad was a railroad in the northeastern United States, located primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York at both its northernmost and southernmost ends. After its closure in 1961, parts of the railroad were taken over by the State of Vermont in early 1963 and are now operated by the Vermont Railway.
The Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad planned to connect Portland, Maine to Ogdensburg, New York. The plan failed, and in 1880 the Vermont section was reorganized and leased by the Boston & Lowell Railroad. In 1886, the Maine and New Hampshire section was reorganized as the Portland & Ogdensburg Railway. That part was leased to the Maine Central Railroad in 1888, and in 1912 the Maine Central leased the eastern part of the Vermont section from the Boston & Maine Railroad, the successor to the B&L.
The New England Central Railroad is a regional railroad in the New England region of the United States. It began operations in 1995, as the successor of the Central Vermont Railway (CV). The company was originally a subsidiary of holding company RailTex before being purchased by RailAmerica in 2000. In 2012, the company was purchased by Genesee & Wyoming, its current owner.
The Vermont Railway is a shortline railroad in Vermont and eastern New York, operating much of the former Rutland Railway. It is the main part of the Vermont Rail System, which also owns the Green Mountain Railroad, the Rutland's branch to Bellows Falls. The trackage is owned by the Vermont Agency of Transportation except in New York, where VTR operates a line owned by the Boston and Maine Corporation. The rail line employs about 150 people in Vermont.
Burlington Union Station is a train station and office building located in downtown Burlington, Vermont, United States. It is the northern terminal of the Amtrak Ethan Allen Express service. A single side platform on the west side of the station serves Vermont Railway excursion trains and Amtrak trains. The symmetrical Beaux Arts building, built of buff brick with limestone and granite trim, has a central pilaster over two entrances. The main building is divided for use by a variety of tenants.
The Montreal, Portland and Boston Railway was an international railroad located in northern Vermont and southern Quebec. In 1871 it was formed as the Montreal, Chambly, and Sorel Railway Company, a company which constructed their line from Saint Lambert opposite Montreal to Chambly. Upon merging with the Missisquoi Junction Railway Company in 1874, it retained its name. In 1875 it became the Montreal, Portland and Boston Railway Company, with the intent of creating a new Montreal to Boston route via the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad. To achieve this, the MP&B extended their line from Chambly to Frelighsburg, Quebec, and to Sheldon, Vermont in 1881; at Sheldon Junction it connected with the P&O.
Bellows Falls station is an Amtrak intercity rail station located in the Bellows Falls village of Rockingham, Vermont, United States. The station is served by the single daily round trip of the Washington, D.C.–St. Albans Vermonter. It has a single side platform adjacent to the single track of the New England Central Railroad mainline.
Randolph station is an Amtrak train station in Randolph, Vermont, United States. The only train that serves the station is the Vermonter, which operates between St. Albans, Vermont and Washington, D.C. The former depot building contains a market and restaurant. On the other side of the tracks is the depot for a non-profit bus company, Tri-Valley Transit, essentially creating an unofficial intermodal transportation center. However, the schedules of the two systems are not aligned in any way.
St. Albans station is an Amtrak train station in St. Albans, Vermont, United States. It is the northern terminus of the daily Vermonter service.
Rouses Point station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Rouses Point, New York, served by the single daily round trip of the Adirondack. The station building is a former Delaware and Hudson Railway constructed in 1889, with a one low-level side platform on the east side of the track. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as Rouses Point Railroad Station.
The St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad (StJ&LC) was a railroad located in northern Vermont. It provided service to rural parts of the state for over a century, until track deterioration and flood damage made the line unusable and uneconomical to repair, which forced the line to close in 1995. Vermont is in the process of converting the roughly 96-mile route from St. Johnsbury to Swanton into a rail trail, known as the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. Once completed it will be the longest rail trail in New England.
The Morrisville Depot located at 10 Depot Street in Morrisville, Vermont, is a decommissioned historic train station. Built in 1872 to serve the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway, the depot was known as the most important train station for the Vermont lumber industry, for its decorative architectural ornament, and for housing the headquarters of the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad from 1959 to the early 1970s. It was subsequently converted into a restaurant. The Morrisville Depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as building #15 in the Morrisville Historic District.
Daniel Chipman Linsley was an engineer, businessman, author, and political figure from Vermont. He was most notable for his railroad work which included serving as chief engineer of the Central Vermont Railway and assistant chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Linsley was also active in politics and government in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont, and briefly served as Burlington's mayor in 1870.
The Plattsburgh and Montreal Railroad was a railway company that operated in the state of New York in the mid-19th century. The company completed a 23-mile (37 km) line from Plattsburgh, New York, to the Canadian border north of Mooers, New York, in 1852. The company was subsequently reorganized as the Montreal and Plattsburgh Railroad in 1868 and consolidated with two other companies in 1873 to form the New York and Canada Railroad. The southern half of the company's line is part of the Canadian Pacific Kansas City's Canadian Subdivision; the Delaware and Hudson Railway abandoned the rest in 1925.
Railroads in italics meet the revenue specifications for Class I status, but are not technically Class I railroads due to being passenger-only railroads with no freight component.
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