Montpelier and Wells River Railroad

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The Montpelier and Wells River Railroad (M & WR) is a former railway company in Vermont ( United States ). It was founded on November 6, 1867 and intended to connect the state capital, Montpelier , with the Connecticut River at Wells River . The approximately 61.5-kilometer route went into operation in 1873.

The terminus in Montpelier had a connection to the main line of the Central Vermont Railway via the Montpelier Junction – Williamstown railway , which, however, was only used by the M&WR in freight traffic. On March 1, 1876, the shareholders took over the administration of the company because it was in financial difficulties. It was re-established under the same name on January 1, 1877.

With the opening of the Barre Branch Railroad and the Barre Railroad , the M&WR leased these two railways on June 1, 1889 and ran the branch to Barre . In the 1909/10 financial year, the railway company had nine locomotives, seven passenger cars, three baggage and mail cars, 148 freight cars and 29 company cars.

On September 18, 1913, the M&WR acquired the Barre Branch Railroad. At the same time, the lease with the Barre Railroad was terminated. The entire share capital was owned by the Vermont Valley Railroad , which in turn was leased in 1925 by the Boston and Maine Railroad . In January 1945, the Barre and Chelsea Railroad , which was also owned by the Vermont Valley Railroad, bought the M&WR. Parts of the route in Montpelier and from Barre to Graniteville still exist today and are now used by the Washington County Railroad . The remaining sections including the main line of the M&WR to Wells River have been closed since November 1956.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence
  1. ^ Poor's Manual of Railroads, 44th Annual Number. Poor's Railroad Manual Co., 1911, p. 60.
literature
  • Robert C. Jones: Railroads of Vermont, Volume II. New England Press Inc., 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 .
Web links