Any Vermont Railroading Fans Out There?

[Fr.Al]

I think we discussed this before. When I was back last July, the section from North Bennington to Bennington looked pretty overgrown. No doubt, a lot of work would be needed to restore it.

      Those few who remember the Rutland days are rapidly leaving us, like Jim Shaughnessy. 

[MidlandMike]

One section of the Rutland that the NRHS excursion to Hoosic Junction missed was the Bennington branch, which was out of service.  Vermont is hoping to extend the Ethan Allen past Rutland to Burlington, so you may yet get to ride much of the rest of ex-Rutland.

[Fr.Al]

And I envy you. Though I was fortunate enough to ride from Bennington to Procter in the fall of 1966. Then numerous trips on Steamtown excursions between Bellows Falls and Chester.

[MidlandMike]

As a young kid I lived in half of the New England states, so I am a NE railfan in general.  At the 2015 NRHS convention in Rutland when they had rail excursions to all extant Rutland RR lines I jumped at a probably once-in-a-lifetime chance of riding them.

[Penny Trains]

For the record any time you want to link good music is fine by me! 

[Flintlock76]

Penny Trains

 

 

Flintlock76

I sure wish they'd let Mike in from the cold!

 

 

Amen to that!  Can we start a petition? 

 

I would, but the last time I tried to organize a protest I got moderated for two weeks!  Ah, it was worth it.  You know the story Becky.

Doen't mean we can't have a little musical interlude though.  

"Oh no, what's he gonna spring on us now?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Awug6zeMY  

Wayne

[Miningman]

rcdrye-- Your knowledge of not only the New England States but of all Railroading in general across many topics is encyclopedic and better than any Goggle thingie. 

Easily the most underrated and overlooked Forum member. A valuable resource. How you can retain such minutia and detail on historical happenings is mind boggling. 

So thanks.

[rcdrye]

I live within earshot of the Conn River Line on the other side of the river.  I started out on the Rutland side, but have spent my entire adult life in B&M/CV country.

[Fr.Al]

You folks know I'm a Vermont railfan. Most of my railroad videos are about the Rutland or other VT operations. I never got into the CV much, maybe because I grew up in Western VT, Rutland country. The B&M tapped into Western VT in North Bennington, and the D&H used to meander in and out of Western VT, up to Granville, NY. That trackage is gone, but ex-D&H trackage still brings Amtrak into Rutland.

[Penny Trains]

Flintlock76

I sure wish they'd let Mike in from the cold!

Amen to that!  Can we start a petition? 

[Miningman]

Over the years and over numerous threads we have all learned a lot about Railroading in Vermont from Mike, and throughout New England and into Quebec and the Maritimes. 

[Flintlock76]

I know you're out there somewhere!

These links come to us courtesy of Mike.

The first is a history of Vermont railroading, published by the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in 1942.  There's a history of the Central Vermont by Ed Hungerford (author of "Men of Erie") plus a history of the Rutland by David Sargent, in addition to others.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3866496;view=1up;seq-101  

Whew!

Here's Young Mr. Sargent's Class of '39 yearbook page.

https://acdc.amherst.edu/explore/asc:212157/asc:213860  

And sadly, Mr. Sargent's obituary.

https://www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/magazine/in_memory/1939/davidsargent  

David was a lieutenant in the Marine Corps during WW2 (OOOO-RAH!) which is why I'm sure Mike brought it to my attention.  Lieutenant Sargent, now THAT must have been interesting!  Kind of like Major Major in "Catch-22."

I sure wish they'd let Mike in from the cold!

Amherst College is the only college here in the US named for a British general, but then Lord Jeffrey was well-liked here in the colonies due to his outstanding leadership during the French and Indian War.

General, later Field Marshal, Amherst liked the colonists too, declining to serve here as top British commander during the American Revolution.