Burlington – Cambridge Junction railway line

Burlington VT– Cambridge Junction VT
Society:	last CV
Route length:	57.6 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend from Windsor 0.0 Burlington VT Union Station to Bellows Falls Industrial connection 1.5 Burlington VT Dorset Street Winooski River Windsor – Burlington line Connection curve from Burlington Essex Junction – Rouses Point route 15.9 Essex Junction VT ? Butler's Corners VT 21.6 Essex Center VT Alder Brook Lee River 27.7 Jericho VT ? Riverside VT (formerly Dixon) Brown River 34.3 Underhill VT ? North Underhill VT 43.8 Cloverdale VT 51.7 Cambridge VT 56.2 Jeffersonville VT by Maquam 57.6 Cambridge Junction VT to Lunenburg

The Burlington – Cambridge Junction railway was a railway line in Vermont ( United States ). It is 57.6 kilometers long and connects the cities of Burlington , Essex , Jericho , Cambridge and Jeffersonville . The line has been closed and the tracks have been dismantled.

history

The Burlington and Lamoille Railroad , founded in 1875, intended to connect the Lunenburg – Maquam railway line, which is currently being planned or built, with the city of Burlington. Although the area to be driven through is very sparsely populated, enough money was available for the construction, so that construction began on May 24, 1875. The line was opened on June 30, 1877. Regular operations started two days later. From June 1, 1880, the section from Burlington to Essex Junction was only used irregularly in freight traffic and the regular trains used the CV route via Winooski.

On May 1, 1889, the Central Vermont Railroad (CV) leased the line and shortly thereafter put the section of the line from Dorset Street freight yard in Burlington to Essex Junction. The short section to Dorset Street was also closed a few years later. In 1898 the CV finally acquired the line.

The traffic on the route was always sparse. On June 16, 1938, all traffic was stopped and the line closed, only between Cambridge Junction and Jeffersonville were freight trains for a time to connect a factory.

Route description

The line begins south of Burlington Union Station , where it branches off the Bellows Falls – Burlington railway line. A few meters of track are still there and serve to connect an industrial company. In the further course of this section, the line that was closed in 1889 has now been completely built over. The route crosses the Winooski River shortly before Essex Junction , but even in this area there are hardly any remains of the railway line to be found. By 1889, the railway line crossed the Essex Junction triangle. Then a connecting switch to the CV main line was used and the line to Burlington was dismantled.

Most of the railway line has been preserved from Essex Junction. It first leads east through Essex Center and Underhill, and then continues north through largely unpopulated woodland. After a few kilometers, Cambridge on the Lamoille River is reached. South of Cambridge and within the town, as well as in the urban area of ​​Jeffersonville, State Road 15 now runs on the former railway line. In Cambridge the route turns east again and runs parallel to the Lamoille River. Behind Jeffersonville the line joins the also disused Lunenburg – Maquam railway .

Accidents

The only fatal accident on the line occurred on March 9, 1902. After heavy rain, part of the embankment at Cloverdale was washed away and collapsed under a train. A little boy was killed. On March 25, 1904, passenger train No. 12 derailed in a curve about two kilometers west of Cambridge. The wagons fell down an embankment, with twelve people slightly injured.

The engine shed at Cambridge Junction burned down on March 5, 1905, and its successor building suffered the same fate seven years later. The Cambridge Junction station building was on fire on January 26, 1922.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.
2. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways, July 1932. Pages 1187f.

literature

• Robert C. Jones: Railroads of Vermont, Volume I. New England Press Inc., 1993. ISBN 1-881535-01-0 .
• Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .