Windsor – Burlington railway line

Windsor VT – Burlington VT
Society:	NECR
Shared use:	Amtrak
Route length:	185.7 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks:	1
Legend from Brattleboro Connecticut River ( NH / VT ) 0.0 Windsor VT Amtrak stop 7.1 Hartland VT 14.6 Evarts VT (formerly North Hartland) Ottauquechee River Interstate 89 Connection to Concord NH to Lennoxville 22.7 White River Junction VT Amtrak stop by Concord to Woodstock and Billings Park ? Hartford VT Interstate 91 White River Interstate 89 34.4 West Hartford VT White River 43.3 Sharon VT Interstate 89 51.2 South Royalton VT White River 54.1 Royalton VT White River, 2nd branch Interstate 89 Connection to the granite quarry to Rochester 62.1 Bethel VT (former wedge station ) White River, 3rd branch (3 ×) Gilead Brook 73.5 Randolph VT Amtrak stop White River, 3rd branch (2 ×) 82.7 Braintree VT ? East Granville VT White River, 3rd branch (3 ×) 96.2 Roxbury VT Dog River (4 ×) 107.8 Northfield VT Dog River Cox Brook ? Northfield Falls VT Dog River (2 ×) ? Riverton VT Dog River (4 ×) from Williamstown (Montpelier Junction) 121.8 Montpelier-Barre VT Amtrak -Stop Winooski River 129.4 Middlesex VT Overland tram from Stowe 137.1 Waterbury-Stowe VT Amtrak stop Winooski River ? North Duxbury VT Winooski River 148.7 Bolton VT 153.2 Jonesville VT 158.4 Richmond VT Interstate 89 Winooski River 166.6 Williston VT to Rouses Point 173.0 Essex Junction VT Burlington – Cambridge Junction route Connection curve from Rouses Point 176.5 Fort Ethan Allen VT Winooski River (2 ×) Interstate 89 Burlington Tram 181.0 Winooski VT Winooski River Freight station (terminus 1849-1860) North Avenue Tunnel (approx. 50m) from Rouses Point 185.7 Burlington VT Union Station to Bellows Falls and Cambridge Junction

Bridge over the Winooski River near Winooski.

The railway Windsor-Burlington is a railway line in Vermont ( United States ). It is 185.7 kilometers long and connects the cities of Windsor , Bethel , Montpelier , Waterbury and Burlington , among others . The line belongs to the New England Central Railroad , which operates the freight traffic. The Vermonter , an Amtrak express train , runs once a day between Windsor and Essex Junction . Passenger traffic has ceased between Essex Junction and Burlington.

history

construction

The Vermont Central Railroad was founded in 1843 with the aim of connecting Lake Champlain to the Connecticut River by a railroad. The company's headquarters were in Northfield , the hometown of the company's founder and ex-governor Charles Paine . Since Paine wanted to connect his factories to the route, it was planned by the city of Northfield. However, you had to accept that you would not be able to directly connect the capital Montpelier. However, this was done through a branch line .

Construction soon began, and on June 26, 1848, the first section of the Vermont Central Railroad went into operation. It ran over 25 miles from White River Junction to Bethel . On September 17th, Roxbury and with it the pass between the valleys of the White and the Winooski Rivers were reached, from October 10th 1848 the trains went to Northfield . At the same time, the line was also expanded to the south. On the west bank of the Connecticut River along the Sullivan County Railroad was built , which reached the state line between Vermont and New Hampshire near Windsor on February 5, 1849. Eight days later, the gap between Windsor and White River Junction also went into operation. In the same year one continued the railway construction in the direction of Burlington. On June 20 the rail line reached Montpelier , on August 30th Middlesex , on September 29th Waterbury and on December 31st, 1849 the remaining line finally went into operation to the terminus in Burlington. The trains initially ran from Windsor or White River Junction via the branch line to Montpelier, turned their heads there and drove back to Montpelier Junction and on to Burlington. Only later did you have to change at Montpelier Junction. The terminus in Burlington was initially in the north of the city without a rail connection with the Rutland route. It was not until May 1860 that Vermont Central built the connection between the two lines with the short tunnel under North Avenue.

Further development

From October 1, 1900, the Central Vermont Railway , which had meanwhile emerged from the Vermont Central Railroad, gave the management of operations between Windsor and White River Junction to the Boston and Maine Railroad , but at the same time agreed a right of use for the Boston & Maine line connecting in Windsor. Trains from both railway companies now used the section south of White River Junction. In 1927, a large part of the route was destroyed by flooding. The route was soon rebuilt with financial support from Canadian National Railways .

In September 1966, Central Vermont stopped passenger services on the route between White River Junction and Essex Junction. Only freight trains have been running between Essex Junction and Burlington since 1938. The tram line running parallel on this section had already been converted to bus operation at this point in time. After the supraregional rail passenger traffic was transferred to the Amtrak in 1971 , the trains New York – Montréal ( Montréaler ), which previously ran north of White River Junction via Newport , were diverted via Essex Junction, as the population density is higher here. From September 29, 1972, the line was operated again to Essex Junction in passenger traffic. From April 1987 to 1989 the Montréal was discontinued because the track quality in the valley of the Connecticut River no longer allowed passenger traffic. In 1988 the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered Guilford Transportation , which had taken over Boston & Maine, to sell the section from Windsor to White River Junction to Amtrak. The Amtrak sold the route directly to the Central Vermont Railway, which they repaired and could finally let the express train run again.

In January 1995, the New England Central Railroad bought the route and continued freight traffic. From April 2, 1995, the Vermonter ran instead of the Montréaler , and since then has connected Washington with St. Albans .

Route description

90 ° panorama of White River Junction train station, 1915, looking north to east.

White River Junction Railway Station, 2006.

Randolph Railway Station, 1937.

Shortly before the terminus in Burlington, 19th century.

Burlington Union Station, 2006.

The line begins at the bridge over the Connecticut River in Windsor, where it forms the northern continuation of the Brattleboro – Windsor railway line . The river, on which the state border to New Hampshire runs, was the property line between Boston & Maine and Central Vermont until 1900. The route initially runs north on the west bank of the Connecticut River.

The White River Junction junction is about 23 kilometers away. Originally there was a triangular station here with platforms on all three sides. The north side formed the line from Concord , which ends here , to which there is a rail connection from the direction of Windsor. The connecting track of this line to Burlington including the former passenger platform has been closed. The east side of the station forms the White River Junction – Lennoxville railway line . The Montréaler stayed here until 1972 . The railway line to Burlington is the southwest side of the station, which has also been the Amtrak platform since 1972. Today the New England Transportation Museum is located on the site of the station .

The route continues to the northwest in the valley of the White River, which is crossed several times. At Bethel, the route turns into the valley of the third arm of the White River, a smaller tributary that has no name of its own. The route now heads north to Roxbury, where the watershed between White River and Winooski River is. The route descends over the ridge into the valley of the Winooski River, which it follows to Burlington. Additional hub stations are in Montpelier Junction and Essex Junction. There are track triangles and Amtrak stations at both stations. In Essex Junction, the trains do not stop at the original station, but north of the triangle, already on the Essex Junction – Rouses Point railway line . However, the Essex Junction facility was initially even more complex. The Burlington – Cambridge Junction railway crossed the Gleisdreieck at the same level until 1889. It led south around the city of Burlington and met again at the terminus, Burlington Union Station , on the line from Windsor. From 1889, however, the trains from Cambridge Junction used the Central Vermont route via Winooski. A connection switch was therefore installed in Essex Junction.

Accidents

On February 5, 1887, the Night Express to Montréal derailed on a nearly 200 meter long river bridge over the White River near West Hartford. Four of the six wagons on the train fell into the frozen river and caught fire. The number of victims varies depending on the source from 30 to 32 to 38. 40 to 49 people were injured.

After a dam was flushed, locomotive 394 derailed on June 15, 1902 with a freight train. The locomotive and car slid down the embankment, and four of the five people on board the train died.

A head-on collision of a locomotive with a mixed train at full speed in the tunnel under North Avenue in Burlington killed nine people on June 5, 1918. The locomotive was on its way to Winooski station and, in addition to the three people in the driver's cab, was manned by several workers who drove on the tender and on the buffers. The mixed train came from Cambridge Junction and was on its way to Burlington.

An incident that made headlines across the country took place on October 20, 1973. A perpetrator who was never caught broke into the locomotive shed in Rutland and started locomotive 602. He jumped off and left the moving locomotive to its fate. She drove driverless north on the Bellows Falls – Burlington railroad, crossing over 100 level crossings, passing through the city of Burlington, and driving onto the Central Vermont route, where she turned north at Essex Junction. It was only stopped by a police officer who jumped on the slow-moving locomotive after 140 miles in Milton . Nobody got hurt.

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 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.
2. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways, July 1932. Pages 1187f.
3. ^ Jones 1993, 189.
4. ↑ Lindsell 2000, page 173.
5. ↑ Hans-Joachim Ritzau: Shadow of the railway history. A comparison of British, US and German railways. Pürgen: Ritzau KG, 1987. Page 156. ISBN 3-921304-69-5
6. ↑ Jones 1993, p. 192.
7. ^ Jones 1993, 124.
8. ^ Robert C. Jones: Railroads of Vermont, Volume II. New England Press Inc., Shelburne, VT 1993. Pages 293-4. ISBN 978-1881535027 .