Brattleboro – Windsor railway line

Brattleboro VT – Windsor VT, as of 1999
Society:	NECR
Shared use:	Amtrak , PAR
Route length:	approx. 78 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks:	1
Legend from New London from Dole Junction 0.00 Brattleboro VT ( Amtrak ) to South Londonderry 7.77 Dummerston VT 14.58 Putney VT 18.97 East Putney VT 29.37 Grout VT 32.09 Westminster VT Tunnel (85.5 m) 33.49 Bellows Falls VT ( Amtrak ) Connecting track towards Burlington to Burlington and South Ashburnham Connecticut River North Walpole NH 43.45 South Charlestown NH 49.76 Charlestown NH to Springfield 58.42 North Charlestown NH by Concord 65.98 Claremont NH ( Amtrak ), (formerly Claremont Junction) 68.99 West Claremont NH 73.16 Balloch NH Connecticut River (former BM / CV property line ) 78.74 Windsor - Mt. Ascutney VT ( Amtrak ) to Burlington

The Brattleboro – Windsor railway is a rail link between New Hampshire and Vermont ( United States ). It is about 78 kilometers long to the former property line just before Windsor and connects the cities of Brattleboro , Bellows Falls , Charlestown , Claremont and Windsor . The route belongs to the New England Central Railroad , which operates the freight traffic on the route together with Pan Am Railways . Amtrak uses the route for their Vermonter express train .

history

The rail line is the northern extension of the late 1840s under construction line from Fitchburg of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad in the Connecticut River valley . In Windsor it was to connect to the Windsor – Burlington line of the Vermont Central Railroad, which was also under construction . The Sullivan Railroad was founded in New Hampshire in 1846 and the Vermont Valley Railroad (VVR) was founded in Vermont in 1848 . Construction work began in the spring of 1847. It wasn't until January 4, 1849, that the first section from Bellows Falls to Charlestown went into operation, initially without any connection to other railways. On February 5, Sullivan County reached the bridge over the Connecticut at Windsor, which marked the state line to Vermont and thus the property line to the Vermont Central Railroad. In the same year, other companies opened two rail lines to Bellows Falls and Vermont Central began operations. The gap between Brattleboro and Bellows Falls was only closed in the second half of 1851 with the opening of the Vermont Valley Railroad.

From the beginning, the Vermont Central, from 1873 under the name Central Vermont Railroad (CV), ran the entire route, but the ownership and lease conditions during this time were much more complicated. In 1861, the VVR first leased the route from the Sullivan Railroad. This only lasted until 1866. In 1865, the line from Brattleboro to Bellows Falls was leased by two contractors who owned the Bellows Falls – Burlington railway line . In 1871 the Rutland Railroad took over this contract and temporarily ran the section together with the CV. Vermont Central in turn leased the Sullivan line from 1866 to 1876, but the Sullivan Railroad was sold to the Northern Railroad of New Hampshire at the same time . After the VVR was reorganized, the leases with the Rutland were dissolved in 1877 and instead the Connecticut River Railroad took control of the entire route. However, this company was in turn leased by the Boston and Maine Railroad , which now took over the management together with CV. The owners of the route were still the VVR for the part in Vermont and the company in New Hampshire, which had now been reorganized into Sullivan County Railroad . In 1880, the VVR finally acquired Sullivan County from the Northern Railroad, so that the entire route was now owned by the VVR. From 1900 onwards, overall management of the route was the responsibility of Boston & Maine, which had agreed to share it with CV. Another change came in 1925 when Boston & Maine took over the lease for the Connecticut River railroad. From 1949 the line finally belonged to Boston & Maine after the VVR and Sullivan County had been dissolved.

In September 1966, the express service to Montreal ended, which initially meant the cessation of passenger traffic on the railway line. It wasn't until 1972 that Amtrak reintroduced express train services from Washington to Montreal via the route. The Montreal resident used this route once a day . In 1983, Guilford Transportation - still together with CV - took over operations on the route after it had taken over Boston & Maine. Since the track conditions on the line were bad, the Amtrak had to hire the Montreal operator on April 5, 1987 . The following year, Amtrak acquired the route on the instructions of the Interstate Commerce Commission . As early as September 9, 1988, she sold the route to the Central Vermont Railroad. After a comprehensive renewal of the track system, which was financed by the owner of CV, the Canadian National Railway , passenger traffic was resumed in July 1989.

After a dispute over the joint use rights with the Guilford Transportation this sold all buildings still in their possession on the route to the Central Vermont. In 1994, New England Central Railroad (NECR), a subsidiary of RailAmerica, acquired the route and granted Guilford, which has been operating under the name Pan Am Railways since 2006 , a right of joint use. The Montrealer was replaced by the Vermonter in 1995 after the train services between St. Albans and Montreal were abandoned.

Route description

Line in Westminster.

North portal of the tunnel in Bellows Falls, 2007.

The route runs the full length of the Connecticut River . It begins in Brattleboro on the Vermont side of the river. Due to its location in the river valley, it is quite winding, but does not have to overcome any major gradients. Bellows Falls is the larger of Vermont's two rail tunnels, 281 feet (85.5 meters) in length. It was extensively renovated in 2007. In Bellows Falls, the Green Mountain Railroad crosses at the same level, to which there are also connecting curves. Immediately after the junction, the route crosses the Connecticut River and thus the state line to New Hampshire. Until the end of the line at Windsor, it now runs on the east bank of the river. The only major hub is Claremont station , where the Concord – Claremont line joins. The line crosses the Connecticut River again immediately in front of Windsor Station. Here was the property line between Guilford Transportation and Central Vermont until 1988 and the line merges here into the CV trunk line Windsor – Burlington .

passenger traffic

The timetable of September 28, 1913 provided five express trains on workdays and three on Sundays, including the Green Mountain Express New York City– Newport (Vermont) and three trains from New York to Montreal. There was also a weekday passenger train pair that only ran between Bellows Falls and Claremont and two passenger train pairs on weekdays and one on Sundays between Brattleboro and Bellows Falls. The travel time between Brattleboro and Windsor was between 81 and 150 minutes, but mostly around 100 minutes, depending on the stay in Bellows Falls and Claremont.

According to the schedule of January 15, 1934, as in 1913, five trains ran on weekdays and three on Sundays, including the Dartmouth New York City – White River Junction and two daily trains between New York and Montreal. The travel time was between 71 and 90 minutes.

The timetable of October 25, 1964 now only offers two daily express trains, the Washingtonian / Montrealer , which operated on the Washington – Montreal route and was later taken over by Amtrak, and the Ambassador , which operated between New York and Montreal. The travel time between Brattleboro and Windsor at that time was 64 to 68 minutes.

In 2009 the Vermonter St. Albans - Washington drives the route. It stops in Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Claremont and Windsor and runs daily. At 68 to 70 minutes, the travel time has hardly changed compared to 1964.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 1999.
2. ↑ Distance kilometers from http://www.trainweb.org/nhrra/Mileage-Charts/BM-RR/Connecticut-River-Main.htm
3. ↑ ^{a b} Photo and article about the tunnel at www.vermontrailway.com
4. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued November 1913. Boston & Maine Railroad, Table 68. page 201.
5. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued February 1934. Boston & Maine Railroad, Table 68. page 85.
6. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued November 1964. Boston & Maine Railroad, Table 2. page 60.
7. ^ Official site of the Amtrak

literature

• Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .

Web links

• Boston & Maine Historical Society (English)
• Rail America, owner of the railway line (English)
• Pan Am Railways (English)