Oldest active railroad headquarters in the country? Dating to civil war era-
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/75858479.jpg
It looks better with a train shed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3jprDojT_k&t=4m50s
Excerpt from The Central Vermont Railway: A Yankee Tradition by Robert C. Jones (1981)
The decision to move the Vermont Central’s shops from Northfield to St Albans was an important event in the history of the shire town of Franklin County as it marked the beginning of a period of great growth and prosperity for the community. However, with St Albans functioning as headquarters for both the Vermont Central and Vermont & Canada, office space soon became in short supply. The old building was remodeled and additions were made, but it was obvious that within a few years an entirely new structure would have to be built.
Early in 1862, the officials purchased additional land for new shop buildings just west of the depot. Construction on the machine shop, roundhouses, and the necessary auxiliary buildings was started immediately. By the summer and early fall of 1863, all were completed and ready for service. Included in the complex were a machine shop and blacksmith shop, a passenger car house, and two round houses containing 38 stalls. The machine shop and blacksmith shop consisted of a main building 200 feet long and 78 feet wide, with two wings, each 200 feet long and 62 feet wide. The passenger car house was 400 feet long and 29 feet wide. One engine house measured 350 feet in length, while the other was 250 feet long. Both were 62 feet wide.
All of these new buildings were solidly constructed of brick. Some of them, fortunately, still stand today. In addition to these brick structures, the company built a wood frame freight depot. The main building measured 232 feet long and 30 feet wide. To this building a 120 by 30 foot wing was attached. Nearby a frame paint shop 132 feet long and 50 feet wide was also constructed at this time. By the early 1860s these facilities required a payroll of 360 persons – and the railroad became St. Albans’ largest employer, a situation that was to remain in effect for the next one hundred years.
The new shop complex served to point out how inadequate the passenger depot and main office facilities had become. The Smiths decided that a new, larger structure would have to be built, and work was started in the summer of 1866. A year later St. Albans boasted a very impressive three-story brick building that was 120 feet long and 70 feet wide that housed the general offices. Attached to it was a brick structure 263 feet long and 27 feet wide containing a waiting room, baggage room, ticket, express, and telegraph offices, and other facilities. The entire building contained 46,000 square feet of floor space, more than twice the office space of the original building.
In addition, a 350-foot long, covered train shed ran the length of these buildings, through which trains ran on four through tracks. The main building still serves as the headquarters of the Central Vermont Railway although, unfortunately, the massive train shed was razed in 1963. It seems eminently fitting that this structure still serves the railroad today, as it thereby continues as a living memorial to the three generations of Smiths and the contributions they made to their home town. Occupancy of these buildings took place in the fall of 1867, and the management decisions of the railroad have been made here continuously in the ensuing 114 years.
1866 to be exact on date. The old floor creak under your feet. G&W dispatches its network of short lines out of this building so its not just former CV.
I really enjoyed the old film on youtube BTW thank you
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.