Newport – Farnham railway line

Newport VT-Farnham QC
Route length:	104.1 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend from White River Junction 0.0 Newport VT to Lennoxville Lake Memphremagog Summit siding Newport Center VT Connection to the Blue Line Railroad Blue Line Railroad ( forest railway ) by Eastman Elkhurst VT (formerly Troy Junction) Missisquoi River 23.0 North Troy VT Vermont ( USA ) / Québec ( Canada ) 27.0 Highwater QC 36.9 Glenton QC Québec ( Canada ) / Vermont ( USA ) Missisquoi VT Steven's Mills Connects to the St. Albans – Richford line Missisquoi River 49.9 Richford VT Vermont ( USA ) / Québec ( Canada ) 53.9 Abercorn QC Sutton River 62.8 Sutton QC 67.8 Enlaugra QC (formerly Sutton Junction) to Drummondville Yamaska West Brome QC Yamaska Sweetsburg QC 82.7 Cowansville QC Yamaska Mapledale QC 92.4 Brigham QC by Mattawamkeag 94.0 Brookport QC Yamaska Ferndon QC from Sorel and Waterloo by Sheldon Junction 104.1 Farnham QC (formerly West Farnham) to Stanbridge to Longueuil to Saint-Jean to Montreal

The railway Newport Farnham is a railway line in Vermont ( United States ) and Quebec ( Canada ). It is 104 kilometers long and connects the cities of Newport , Richford , Sutton , Cowansville and Farnham , among others . The route is operated by the Central Maine and Quebec Railway exclusively in freight traffic.

history

On August 15, 1866, the South Eastern Counties Junction Railway (SECJ) was founded in Canada to provide a direct standard gauge connection from Montreal to the then end point of the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad in Newport. Until then, goods on this route had to be transported on the road to Sherbrooke , where they were transferred to the trains of the Grand Trunk Railway , which also ran on a different gauge, so that even after the connection from Newport to Sherbrooke was opened in 1870, they had to be transferred there. The Missisquoi and Clyde Rivers Railroad , which the SECJ was to lease from the opening of the route, was founded on November 11, 1869 for the sections of the route in Vermont . Construction work began in 1869. For financial reasons, the SECJ was reorganized as the South Eastern Railway in 1872 . On October 31, 1871, the Farnham-Richford section was opened. The remainder of the route to Newport went into operation on July 9, 1873. In Farnham there was a track connection to the railway line Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu-Waterloo of the Stanstead, Shefford and Chambly Railroad , over which the trains continued in the direction of Montreal.

On March 1, 1875, Connecticut & Passumpsic and the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad jointly leased the route and operated it. Just two years later, Boston, Concord & Montreal withdrew from this contract. The South Eastern Railway, meanwhile, complained that the route maintenance was insufficient and blocked the route. Traffic was not resumed until September 10, 1879. In 1883 the Canadian Pacific Railway took over the South Eastern and from then on ran operations on the line.

Passenger traffic ended in 1965 with the discontinuation of the Boston – Montreal express train, which had previously driven over the route. The Montreal – Halifax express train ran on the section from Brookport to Farnham until the end of 1994, but without a stopover. The Canadian Pacific sold the route in March 1995 to the Canadian American Railroad , which went bankrupt in 2002 and was bought by the newly formed Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway , which resumed operations on January 9, 2003 and in 2014 as Central Maine and Quebec Railway was repositioned.

Route description

The line branches off the White River Junction – Lennoxville railway line in Newport and initially runs winding along a ridge to the northwest until the Missisquoi River valley is reached in Troy . This is followed by the railway line to Richford. She crosses the US / Canadian state border twice. Shortly after Richford the state border is crossed again. Customs clearance takes place at Richford Railway Station. From here the route runs northwards in the valley of the Sutton River . After a few kilometers through Sutton, the line reaches the former Enlaugra station, where a line branched off to Drummondville . In the direction of Farnham the route now runs northwest again in the valley of the southeast tributary of the Rivière Yamaska , which is crossed several times. In Brookport branches off the Brookport – Mattawamkeag railway line , which was part of the transcontinental railroad of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The line ends at Farnham junction, where there is a rail connection towards Montreal.

passenger traffic

The timetable of October 26, 1913 provided for two daily express trains to Montreal and a Newport – Montreal passenger train, which only ran on working days.

According to the timetable of October 25, 1964, the route was also still being used by passengers at that time. The Alouette , an express train from Boston and New York to Montreal, stopped at all stations on the way when required. A short time later, passenger traffic ended on the route.

Accidents

On August 16, 1942, the Canadian Pacific Train 903 derailed five kilometers east of Richford on an embankment that was washed out. Three people were killed.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.
2. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. Quebec & Labrador + Newfoundland. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.
3. ^ Official Guide of the Railways. March 1920. p. 917.
4. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued November 1913. Canadian Pacific Railway, Table 7. p. 675.
5. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued November 1964. Canadian Pacific Railway, Table 4. p. 848.

literature

• J. Derek Booth: Railways of Southern Quebec, Volume I. Railfare Enterprises, West Hill, ON 1982, ISBN 0-919130-37-2 .
• Robert C. Jones: Railroads of Vermont, Volume I. New England Press, 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 .

Web links

• Central Maine and Quebec Railway