RAILROADS OF NORTHWESTERN VERMONT

A Brief History

Before the railway age water was Vermont's primary mode of transportation. By fast steamer and canal boat Burlington was only 24 hours from New York and less than a day from Montreal. New York cost $1.88 and Montreal $1.25. Overland transport on the other hand was both slow and expensive. In contrast the trip from Boston took three days and cost about 27 dollars not including meals and lodging. Thus, in the 1830's, the men planning and building the nation's early railroads saw them primarily as connections between marine terminals. For Vermont that meant Bellows Falls in the southeast and Burlington in the northwest. And so, two separate railroads were completed between those points in December 1849; the Rutland & Burlington Railroad (R&B) and the Vermont Central Railroad (VCR).

The Rutland & Burlington Railroad (later known as the Rutland Railroad) ran from Bellows Falls through the town of Rutland then north to Burlington. At Bellows Falls the Rutland connected with other lines which continued south to Hartford and east to Boston. At the Burlington end ferries provided connections to various points on the lake including Plattsburgh and Rouses Point, New York and Saint Johns, Quebec.

Somewhat to the north of and running approximately parallel to the R&B the VCR also reached Lake Champlain in Burlington following the valleys of the White and Winooski rivers in order to cross the state from White River Junction. At White River Junction on the line's eastern end the VCR connected with the Northern Railroad of which stretched across western New Hampshire toward Boston.

Even before construction on either of these lines started, visionary leaders could already see the advantages of extending the rails north to Montreal and west toward the Great Lakes. A third railroad, the Vermont & Canada (V&C), was chartered to meet both the R&B and the VCR at Burlington and than continue north to Montreal and west via a ferry across the narrow channel in Lake Champlain between Alburg and Rouses Point, New York.

Later when these railroads were actually built Governor Charles Paine, the VCR's president, had the acumen to perceive that success lay in control of the rail route to the west. Therefore, he colluded with the V&C's management to meet a few miles east of Burlington in the town of Essex and operate both railroads as one. This strategy left the competing R&B without a rail connection at Burlington and gave the VCR a significant economic advantage.

The Vermont & Canada rail line from Essex to Alburg, Vermont was completed on January 10, 1851 and the bridge across Lake Champlain to Rouses Point, New York and Lake Ontario, opened September 17 of the same year. Trains were also running to north the Montreal ferry by 1852.

Governor Paine located the Essex station to the east of Park Street, behind what is now Flanders Lumber, and named it Paynesville after himself. The honor was short lived, however. The V&C management maneuvered Payne out of office in 1852 and took control of both railroads, and before long changed the station's name to Essex Junction. In 1872 the two lines were consolidated into a single company known as the Central Vermont (CVRR), a name used for 121 years.

We don't know what that first station looked like, but in 1862 the railroad built a new Victorian style station north of Main Street. Attached to the northeast side of this building was a train shed covering three tracks. Each track entered and left the building though arched doorways which had a large iron doors. As locomotives grew in size the doors became a hindrance; in 1867 they were removed. The arches were eliminated altogether in 1891. The present station was built in 1957 on the site of the 1862 building.

Beginning in 1877 the CVRR shared their station with another railroad, the Burlington & Lamoille (B&L). The B&L ran from Burlington through Essex Junction, northeast to Essex Center, Jericho, Underhill and Cambridge where it connected with the St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain Railroad, a line which ran across the northern part of the state from Swanton to Saint Johnsbury. The B&L was not a roaring success and was absorbed into the CVRR in 1889. The line was abandoned in 1938 after serving the area for 61 years.

During the 19th century the passenger traffic was an important income source for most railroads. After World War I, however, this type of traffic began to decline with the growth of motor vehicle usage. The CVRR discontinued passenger service between Essex and Burlington in 1932 and all passenger service on September 3, 1966. Amtrak brought long distance passenger service back to Essex on September 30, 1972. Currently, Amtrack operates one train in each direction through Essex between terminals at St. Albans, Vermont and New York City.

After World War II as the technology of trucks and highways continued to improve, the CVRR found it increasingly difficult to compete for an adequate share of Vermont's freight traffic. In 1993 the Canadian National Railway, the CVRR's parent company, offered the property for sale. A deal was negotiated with the RailTex Corporation and on February 7, 1994 the new owner ran its first train. Today RailTex's subsidiary, the New England Central hauls fuel, salt, finished lumber, and refined mining products over the old Central Vermont line.

Written by Jerry Fox

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