Whitehall – Rutland railway line

Whitehall NY – Rutland VT
Society:	CLP
Route length:	38.1 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend from Rouses Point 0.0 Whitehall NY ( Amtrak ) to Troy Wood Creek (2 ×) Poultney River ( New York / Vermont ) Rutland tram 13.5 Fair Haven VT Castleton River (2.5) Lake Bomoseen 16.4 Hydeville VT Castleton River Rutland tram from Eagle Bridge 21.6 Castleton VT ( Amtrak ) Castleton River 31.7 West Rutland VT Connects to the Hollister Quarry – Albertson route Rutland tram Clarendon Springs siding (approx. 1920–1944) Center Rutland – Rutland route Otter Creek from Burlington 35.7 Center Rutland VT ( wedge station ) Connecting track from the former C&P station Connecting track Tenney Brook 38.1 Rutland VT ( Amtrak ) to Hoosick Junction and Bellows Falls

The Whitehall – Rutland railway is a railway line in New York and Vermont ( United States ). It is around 38 kilometers long and connects the cities of Whitehall , Fair Haven , Castleton and Rutland . Today, between Center Rutland and Rutland, trains use the Bellows Falls – Burlington railway line, which is right next to it on this section . The track that used to be part of the Whitehall line has been closed. The Clarendon and Pittsford Railroad operates the entire route in the Vermont Rail System . The express Ethan Allen Express of Amtrak is running on the route once a day on the way from New York City to Rutland and back.

history

In 1847 the Rutland and Washington Railroad was founded, which wanted to build a railway line from Rutland to the border with New York near Whitehall. The Saratoga and Washington Railroad had a route from Troy to Whitehall under construction and should help build the section of the route from Whitehall to the border. However, the Rutland & Washington changed their plan and now wanted to relocate their route from Castleton further south directly towards Troy. The Saratoga & Washington then founded the Rutland and Whitehall Railroad in Vermont and built the section from Whitehall to Castleton on their own. The Rutland & Washington opened the section from Rutland to Castleton in October 1850 and on November 1 of the same year the route to Whitehall also went into operation. At the end of 1852 the railway company opened an approximately 2.5 kilometer branch from Hydeville to Lake Bomoseen . However, this line was closed again in 1855. In 1865, the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad took over all of these railway companies and with them the entire route from Whitehall to Rutland. From May 1, 1871, the Delaware and Hudson Railroad ran after it had taken over Rensselaer & Saratoga.

In 1933, for the time being, the last passenger train ran on the route. However, freight traffic was maintained. When a flood raged in Rutland in 1947, the railway line between Center Rutland and Rutland was destroyed, as was the parallel Bellows Falls – Burlington railway, which was operated by the Rutland Railroad . The two companies agreed to rebuild only one route and it was decided to go with the Rutland. The Delaware & Hudson received a right of use for this section of the route and officially closed its route between Center Rutland and Rutland. In August 1983, the Vermont Railway acquired the line after Delaware & Hudson went bankrupt. Since then, Clarendon and Pittsford Railroad, a subsidiary of the Vermont Railway, has been operating.

In the mid-1990s, the line was extensively renovated and the track quality increased so that passenger trains can use the line. On December 2, 1996, Amtrak resumed passenger services on the daily Ethan Allen Express . Trains run between New York and Rutland, but don't stop at Whitehall, where only the trains going to Canada stop. The connecting curve from Whitehall station to the railway line has been dismantled. The only stop along the way is in Castleton. The stop in Fair Haven, which was operated from 1997, was canceled on January 9, 2010 and replaced the next day by the new station in Castleton. In February 1998 a second train per day from Albany to Rutland was introduced, but it was discontinued after a few years.

Route description

Bridge over Otter Creek at Center Rutland, 1905.

The route begins in Whitehall. Until the mid-1990s there was a track triangle here, today only the connecting curve towards Troy is left. The railway then leads northeast to over the border to Vermont, from where it takes a largely eastern direction. It runs along the Castleton River to the town of Castleton, where a simple stop now serves the Amtrak trains. The route to Rutland continues parallel to US Highway 4 . The original route between Center Rutland and Rutland train station has been dismantled and trains are now using the adjacent route from Burlington. The only engineering structures on the route are the numerous river bridges, which today mostly consist of steel girders.

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 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

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