Eastman – Elkhurst railway line

Eastman QC-Elkhurst VT
Route length:	36.4 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend from Windsor Mills and Sherbrooke 0.0 Eastman QC to Waterloo (from 1884) Autoroute 10 Huntington Mine connection 3 Dillonton QC to Waterloo (until 1884) Paisley siding (until 1886 / from 1904) Missisquoi River (northern branch) 11.6 Bolton Center QC Rivière Missisquoi (northern branch) (until 1886 / from 1904) 16.4 South Bolton QC Potton Springs QC Peabody Crossing QC 29.1 Mansonville QC Québec ( Canada ) / Vermont ( USA ) from Newport 36.4 Elkhurst VT to Farnham

The railway Eastman Elkhurst is a railway line in Quebec City ( Canada ) and Vermont ( United States ). It is 36 kilometers long and connects the cities of Eastman , Mansonville and Troy , among others . The line has been closed and the tracks dismantled.

history

First stretch to Potton Springs

In Potton Springs around 1800, sulfur springs were discovered, which have medicinal properties. From the middle of the 19th century, numerous spa guests came to the place. The Missisquoi and Black River Valley Railway (M & BRV), founded on December 24, 1870, built a railway line that was to branch off in Dillonton from the Waterloo – Huntington Mine railway line, which was planned and opened in 1872, and lead south through Bolton to Potton Springs. In 1875, a new spa hotel opened in Potton Springs. On December 11, 1877, the Waterloo and Magog Railway extended the line coming from Waterloo via Dillonton via Eastman to Magog and on the same day the line from Dillonton to Potton Springs (South Bolton Station) went into operation. At the beginning of 1878, Waterloo & Magog leased the line and, as on their own line, the Central Vermont Railroad now ran to Potton Springs . In 1881 the M & BRV was renamed Missisquoi Valley Railway (MVR). The CV ceased operations between Bolton Center and South Bolton in 1884, and the rest of the route in 1886, which was subsequently closed.

Continuation to Elkhurst

In 1902 the Orford Mountain Railway took over the disused route. They already operated a route from Eastman to the north, which was originally planned by the M & BRV. The OMR renewed the tracks and put the line to the mine near Dillonton back into operation in the same year. By August 19, 1904, the rest of the route to Potton Springs was rebuilt, but in Bolton Center on a new route east of the river to save the two river bridges. In order to make the route more economical, the railway company planned to connect it south to the Newport – Farnham railway line . On July 12, 1907, the section went to Mansonville in operation. However, the company could not finance the further construction on its own, so it was leased on March 7, 1910 by the Canadian Pacific Railway , which also took over the management. It completed the route in the summer of 1910.

Further development

Passenger traffic on the route always consisted of only one pair of trains running on weekdays. The trains ran from Windsor Mills via Eastman first to Eastray, where there was a transfer point to the main route of the Canadian Pacific. There they turned their heads, drove back to Eastman and then drove further south to Elkhurst and, since there was no turning track in Elkhurst, continued on the connecting line to North Troy. Freight traffic on the route was also sparse; the through traffic planned by the Orford Mountain Railway did not materialize. On April 1, 1936, the line was closed.

Route description

The line begins in the track triangle at Eastman station of the former Waterloo & Magog, which was closed in 1888 with the opening of the Brookport – Mattawamkeag line . The section from Eastman to Eastray was retained and served to connect the station with the main line. From Eastman the route of the disused railway line leads south, along the northern arm of the Rivière Missisquoi . Between the lakes Lac Trousers and Lac Long Pond , the route reaches Bolton Center after a few kilometers, where the river is crossed twice. It then runs continuously east of the river. The inefficiency of the route was also due to the fact that the train did not run directly along the country road through the towns, but a little way off on the other side of the river, so that a longer walk had to be covered from the train stations to the actual town. The route continues south through Mansonville and shortly thereafter crosses the state border to Vermont, where it joins the Newport – Farnham railway after a few kilometers. Part of the route is now used as a roadway.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. Quebec & Labrador + Newfoundland. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.

literature

• Derek Booth: Railways of Southern Quebec. Volume II: From the Richelieu to the Chaudière. (2nd edition) Railfare / DC Books, Pickering / Montreal, 2008, ISBN 978-1-897190-31-9 .
• Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .