North Bennington – Chatham Railway

North Bennington VT – Chatham NY
Society:	VTR
Route length:	99.5 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend from Hoosick Junction to Rutland 0.0 North Bennington VT (triangle station) Connection curve from Rutland Bennington Tram Walloomsac River to Glastenbury 7.2 Bennington VT 14.2 Anthony VT Vermont / New York 17.7 Bee Hive Crossing NY 26.1 Petersburg Junction NY Greenfield – Troy route North Pownal – Rotterdam Junction line Hoosic River 27.4 North Petersburg NY 35.9 Petersburg NY Little Hoosic River 43.5 Berlin NY 47.2 Center Berlin NY Little Hoosic River 50.9 South Berlin NY (formerly Cherryplain) 56.3 North Stephentown NY 60.8 Stephentown NY ? Wyomanock NY 68.9 Lebanon Springs NY 71.1 New Lebanon NY 73.5 Center Lebanon NY 76.9 Adams Crossing NY Children's Hook Creek (2 ×) 82.1 Brainard NY 85.5 Riders NY 89.6 Old Chatham NY from Worcester 99.5 Chatham NY to Albany and Hudson

The railway line North Bennington Chatham is a railway line in Vermont and New York ( United States ). It is about 100 kilometers long and connects the cities of Bennington in Vermont, Petersburg , Berlin , Stephentown , New Lebanon and Chatham (all in New York). Most of the route has been closed. The section from North Bennington to Bennington (7.2 km) belongs to the Vermont Railway in the Vermont Rail System . However, the line has been out of service since around 2000 and in the urban area of ​​Bennington it is no longer partially passable.

history

The Western Railroad of Vermont , founded in 1845, wanted to connect Bennington to the railway network. A branch from the Rutland – Hoosick Junction railway from North Bennington was supposed to accomplish this. The branch line was opened in 1854. The Lebanon Springs Railroad was founded in New York in 1852 to extend the route via Lebanon Springs to Chatham. Construction began in the same year, but had to be stopped for financial reasons. The line was not finally completed until 1869. The operator changed several times until the entire route was bought by the Rutland Railroad in 1901 .

Passenger traffic south of Bennington ended in 1938 after only one pair of trains had run on weekdays many years earlier. In December 1952, the Rutland received approval to shut down the route from Bennington to Chatham. The last train ran on May 19, 1953. Passenger trains ran between North Bennington and Bennington until June 26, 1953. After a strike on September 25, 1961, freight traffic on this section also ended and it was threatened with closure. However, the State of Vermont bought the line and leased it to the Vermont Railway, which resumed freight services on January 6, 1964. Although the line from North Bennington to Bennington is not officially closed, it is no longer passable in the urban area of ​​Bennington and is only used as a siding for North Bennington station.

Route description

The line branches off at the North Bennington triangular station from the Rutland railway line and initially heads south-east to Bennington. The disused route runs in a large arc to the north again out of the city and then goes west across the border to New York. Here it turns south again and crosses the main line of Pan Am Railways in Petersburg . Further south in the valley of the Little Hoosic River, the route continues uphill via Petersburg, Berlin and Stephentown to New Lebanon. Here the train turns west and reaches the valley of Kinderhook Creek at Brainard, which it does not follow for long. The railroad leaves the valley and continues south to the village of Chatham, which is on the main CSX Transportation line from Boston to Albany .

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

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

literature

• Robert C. Jones: Railroads of Vermont, Volume II. New England Press Inc., Shelburne, VT 1993. ISBN 978-1881535027 .
• Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .
• Jim Shaughnessy: The Rutland Road. (2nd edition) Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY 1997, ISBN 0-8156-0469-6 .

Web links

• Site of the current operating company (Vermont Railway System)