Hollister Quarry – Albertson railway line

Hollister Quarry VT-Albertson VT

Society:

Route length:

21 km


	0	Hollister Quarry VT (quarry)
	2½	Florence Crushed Stone Co.
		Connecting track to Florence
	3	Florence – Florentine Quarry route (Florence Junction)
		Florence connecting track
	4th	Industrial connection

		Connection to the Bellows Falls – Burlington line
	9	Proctor VT

		from Rutland
	16	Center Rutland VT
	17½	West Rutland VT
		Connection to the Whitehall – Rutland route
	21st	Albertson VT

The railway Hollister Quarry Albertson is a railway line in Vermont ( United States ). It is 21 kilometers long and connects marble quarries with marble processing industries in Florence , Proctor and Rutland . Most of the route, which is mainly used for freight traffic, has been closed. The Vermont Railway runs about a kilometer long section near Florence .

history

On September 10, 1885, the Vermont Marble Company founded the Clarendon and Pittsford Railroad (C&P) to move stones from the quarries at Proctor and Florence to West Rutland without having to use the existing railroad lines. In addition, the time-consuming maneuvering in Center Rutland should not be necessary, as there was no connecting curve from the direction of Proctor to West Rutland. The line from Proctor to West Rutland, designed as a public railway, was opened in sections, from Center Rutland to West Rutland in July 1886, from Proctor to Center Rutland in December 1887 and from Hollister Quarry to Proctor in July 1888. In Proctor and West Rutland connections to the existing railway lines were established. In 1903 the line was extended at Hollister Quarry and in 1908 from West Rutland to Albertson. Until 1925, quarry workers from Rutland and Proctor were taken to their workplaces by train, but there was no public transport. Nevertheless, passengers were allowed to use the freight trains for a small fee.

In 1938, the C&P closed the section from Hollister Quarry to the quarry near Florence, as mining in Hollister Quarry was stopped. Only Hollister Quarry Road reminds of the quarry there today. 1972 the Vermont Railway acquired the C&P and with it the remaining railway line from Florence to Albertson. The same company also owned the parallel Bellows Falls – Burlington railway from Florence to Rutland . For this reason and also because of the poor track position in this area, the section from Center Rutland to Proctor, including the connection in Proctor, as well as from the junction Florence Junction to the quarry north of it, was closed. From 1977 to 1980, the Otter Valley Railroad operated a tourist train from Proctor to Florence Junction in the summer season. After that, however, the section was shut down from an industrial company south of Florence Junction to Proctor. In 1988 traffic also ended between Center Rutland and Albertson. The only section of the route that is still served by the Vermont Railway is the connection to an industrial area in Florence.

Route description

The route began at Hollister Quarry, about two kilometers north of Florence. It led from there to the south, parallel to the main route of the Rutland Railroad , which was taken over by the Vermont Railway in 1964. In Florence Junction it crossed another quarry railway, in 1911 connecting curves were built here. From here to the industrial area about one kilometer south there are still tracks. Further industrial operations were served along the Otter Creek . Through Proctor, the line reached the urban area of Rutland. Here the route turns to the west. In Center Rutland, the Pittsford and Rutland Railroad had built a link to the city's freight yard . From Center Rutland to West Rutland, the railway ran parallel to the Whitehall – Rutland railway of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad , to which there was a connection in West Rutland. It is not known whether, as is customary in many places, a track connection was also built to the tram , which also runs parallel here . In West Rutland, the route turns northwest and shortly thereafter reaches its end point at Albertson.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.
^ Lindsell 2000, page 241.

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 .

[SPV-1] Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.

[2] Lindsell 2000, page 241.