St. Albans Tram (Vermont)

St. Albans Tram (Vermont)
Main Street in St. Albans, 1909
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )

The city of St. Albans in the US state of Vermont had a tram service from 1901 to 1921 .

history

In November 1892, 18 local entrepreneurs founded the St. Albans Street Railway Company . Since not enough money could be raised to apply for a concession, investors were brought in from Massachusetts a few years later and the founding of the company was repeated on November 2, 1900. Elmer E. Carpenter became the first president of the railway. Construction work began in the spring of 1901. On July 4, 1901, the first section of the railway went into operation. The city-side terminus was at the Exchange Hotel on Lake Street between the intersections of Pine Street and Maple Street, immediately west of the Essex Junction – Rouses Point railroad crossing . At that time Lake Street crossed 21 tracks, as the street ran right through the city's now-built freight yard. From there the route led west to the shores of Lake Champlain in the settlement of St. Albans Bay . The route was 4.60 kilometers long.

A year later, on July 3, 1902, the rest of the planned route went into operation. It led from the Exchange Hotel over the level crossing, which had to be secured at the expense of the tram, through St. Albans to Swanton , a route length of 14.44 kilometers. In addition, a 1.41 kilometer branch on South Main Street in St. Albans went into operation. A track triangle was created at the junction at the American House (intersection of Main Street / Lake Street). The total route length of the operation was thus 20.45 kilometers. At two level crossings, namely in Lake Street and on the one with the St. Albans – Richford railway line in North Main Street, there were connecting tracks to the railroad that were used for freight traffic.

In 1905 the railway company had to go bankrupt. On September 2 of that year, one of the previous directors, Fuller Smith, and Walter H. Vorce were appointed bankruptcy administrators. As a first measure, the railway's own power station was shut down and the electricity from Fairfax Falls was purchased from the Vermont Power and Manufacturing Company . Walter Vorce was one of the presidents of this power plant operator. On April 27, 1912, the railway company was auctioned and finally reorganized as the St. Albans and Swanton Traction Company . The former treasurer, WR Dame, became president.

The transport numbers sank rapidly after the end of the First World War , so that with the end of the summer season on August 30, 1921, the continuous service over the Lake Street level crossing with its 21 tracks was discontinued. Passengers now had to change trains and cross the level crossing on foot. On November 11th of the same year the last trams drove through St. Albans. The line initially remained operational, but no one showed any interest in taking over the railway. On October 2, 1922, the company went bankrupt and the liquidator PE Sullivan sold the vehicles to the Burlington Tramway . The tracks and contact line systems were dismantled in the summer of 1923 and the depot was sold to a car dealer.

Route

The line was single-track with a turnout and built in standard gauge . The terminus of the train in Swanton was near the post office on Merchants Square (intersection Merchants Row / Canada Street / Grand Avenue). From here the track was in the middle of Grand Avenue. The level crossing of the Lunenburg – Maquam railway line was at 0.77 km . The Fonda Junction – Iberville railway line crosses the road and the tram on a bridge at a distance of 1.63 km. Near this bridge, the tramway swiveled sideways and continued along the eastern edge of the road along what is now US Highway 7 . Shortly afterwards the route crosses the Missisquoi River on John's Bridge at kilometer 1.80. At kilometer 2.72 there was a railway power supply substation. The first diversion of the route was at 3.32 km.

In the further course of the line there was a level crossing from a railroad siding to a quarry until the mid-1910s. This track crossed the tram roughly where Highway 7 comes closest to the railway line, south of the Fonda Junction junction. 6.86 kilometers after the terminus in Swanton, shortly after the crossing of the quarry track, the second turnout at the level of the post office at the Bachand Road junction is reached. At Ball Park , the former St. Albans sports field, about 9.61 miles north of the Jewett Avenue intersection, was the nearest turn-out where reinforcement cars ended up at events. Together with what is now Highway 7, the tram line soon turned into North Main Street in St. Albans. The city limits used to be at the level crossing of the railway line to Richford, and here the tram track swings back into the middle of the road. At this level crossing there was also a connecting curve to the railroad, and directly south of it at route kilometers 12.55 was the tram depot. The route now runs in the middle of North Main Street to the American House at kilometer 14.05, the central tram stop in St. Albans. Here the short branch track branched off into South Main Street, which had neither a siding nor a siding. Only one car could ever drive on this branch. The end of this branch was at the Freeborn Street intersection.

The main line ran from the American House on to Lake Street. Shortly after the junction, the route crossed the St. Albans freight yard with its 21 tracks. A connecting curve was built to the thirteenth track of this transition from the city side. The first, provisional depot of the railway was located at route kilometer 15.10. The city limits at that time were reached about 300 meters further and the route swung back to its side. On the north side of the road it now ran to the lake shore. Shortly after the Bragham Road junction, the road went down a dip. To avoid the steep descents, the tram built a yoke bridge over the valley right next to the road . The last turnout of the route was at Pelkey's Farm at 16.79 kilometers. In the settlement of St. Albans Bay, the route first turned east onto Georgia Shore Road and then led in an arc to the lake shore. It ended directly on a wooden pier where ships docked to sail Lake Champlain.

Operational flow

Timetable

When the line opened in 1901, a 30-minute cycle was introduced, and trains ran every hour in winter. The extension of the line to Swanton in 1902 initially increased the frequency to 40 minutes, but shortly afterwards there were only trains every 70 minutes in the morning and every 45 minutes in the afternoon. Outside the summer, trains ran every 70 minutes. Additional trips were made on school days between St. Albans and Swanton, at events in Ball Park, and following ships that docked in St. Albans Bay. The operating time extended from 6 a.m. to midnight in summer and until 10 p.m. in winter. The junction through South Main Street was used by the Swanton – St. Albans Bay, who made this "detour" in both directions. The total travel time was about 70 minutes. During the 70-minute cycle, the two railcars in use met at the depot. The car going towards Swanton drove into the depot while the car drove by to St. Albans Bay. There was no escape route here.

The clock on summer afternoons was increased to 50 minutes around 1906. In 1912, when the railway company was reorganized, there was only one train every 70 minutes all year round. There were significant restrictions from 1919, when several trips at lunchtime were canceled and a train only ran every 140 minutes. The last official timetable from September 1921 provided for a 100-minute cycle on the line to Swanton in the mornings. In the afternoon, trams ran every 90 minutes. A car shuttled every hour between Lake Street / Pine Street and St. Albans Bay.

Freight transport

Via the two track connections to the Central Vermont Railway in St. Albans, freight cars of the railroad were transferred to the tram tracks, which were transported to industrial residents by tram cars. Freight cars for St. Albans Bay were handed over on Lake Street. Due to the topography, two freight wagons could be coupled to a railcar in the direction of the port, but only one on the uphill route to St. Albans. Since the connecting curve to the railroad was not electrified and was too narrow for a steam locomotive, the tram railcar had to move to the siding Pelkey's Farm and pushed the freight car to Lake Street in the connecting curve, where a railroad shunter was waiting.

The connection near the depot was not so close and so even steam trains could run over the tram tracks into the city center. This was practiced at public festivals with a parade train of open passenger cars and the Central Vermont 49 light shunter. Since the curves in Lake Street and the branch there were too narrow for the steam locomotive, the train had to be pushed out of the city back to the connecting track at the depot. Freight wagons were also transported over this connection.

The main cargo was hay, which was loaded in Swanton and St. Albans Bay and transported to St. Albans on the railroad. Coal was delivered to Swanton by tram. During the first few years of operation, ice that was mined in St. Albans Bay was also transported by tram and distributed along the route. The ice was cut into blocks while in the bay and sold directly from the tram and loaded onto carts. Merchandise such as beer, fruit, vegetables and other groceries that arrived in St. Albans Bay by ship were also transported into town by tram and delivered directly to stores along the way.

There was a special feature of operations on the branch line along South Main Street. If there were no deliveries south of Welden Street, the train first drove from the port to South Main Street, then backed up into Lake Street after the goods had been delivered and then headed north. If deliveries were to be made south of Welden Street, the freight car was first parked in the connecting curve from Lake Street to South Main Street, the railcar circumnavigated the freight car over the track triangle and then pushed the freight car into South Main Street to go directly from there then drive north.

Depots

The railway had leased a temporary depot on Lake Street when it opened in 1901, which was located east of Walnut Street on the north side of the street. With the opening of the rest of the line, the six-track depot on North Main Street went into operation and the temporary depot on Lake Street was closed. The new depot included a workshop for car maintenance and the headquarters of the railway company. The exit from the depot led in a southerly direction.

vehicles

Except for the snow plow bought in 1915, all vehicles were four-axle. The following vehicles were available for the tram:

dare	Manufacturer	Construction year	Furnishing	Remarks
1	Osgood-Bradley	1901	28 seats, closed Tw, combined passenger / luggage car
2-3	Laconia Car	1901	28 seats, closed Tw	Tw 3 1920 parked after an accident
10-12	Laconia Car	1901	75 seats, open tw
14th	John Stephenson	1901	75 seats, open tw
15-16	John Stephenson	1901	60 seats, open sidecars	Rebuilt into railcars around 1908
20th	Laconia Car	1901	flat freight trailer
21st	Laconia Car	1901	Work and freight railcars	from 1916 also used as a snow plow
?	Peckham	1901	snow plow	Sold to the Grand Trunk Railway in 1915
?	Taunton	?	snow plow	Bought from the Springfield, Massachusetts tram in 1915 , parked in 1916

The passenger vehicles were initially maroon with cream-colored side stripes. Like all other vehicles in 1912, the work car 21 was painted yellow.

literature

• James R. McFarlane (1994): Traction in Franklin County Vermont: St. Albans Street Railway, St. Albans & Swanton Traction Company. Polo IL: Transportation Trails. ISBN 0-933449-21-6