The Rutland Road:
Then and Now


Thumbnail of New Haven, 1946
Thumbnail of New Haven, 2003

Then and now on the Rutland Railroad in New Haven, Vermont

 

One of my favorite books is Jim Shaughnessy's Rutland Road (Howell-North Books, 1981). It presents a lively history and a wealth of photos of the Rutland Railroad, which operated in Vermont and New York state until its 1963 abondonment. The book also covers the railroads that took over the Rutland's lines.

Many of the photos in "The Rutland Road" date from the 1940s and 1950s. On May 16, 2003, I travelled to Vermont with my father and took photos from some of the same vantage points. This page presents "then" and "now" railroad views in the following Vermont towns:

Brandon

Leicester Junction

North Bennington

Rutland

Vergennes

Danby

New Haven

Proctor

Shoreham

New as of March 2007: Words from a former Rutland brakeman. My thanks to former Rutland brakeman and later radio announcer George Cameron, who sent me information I have placed in the Rutland and Vergennes sections.

Please note that to obtain the images from "The Rutland Road" for this page, I re-photographed the photos in the book with a digital camera. The quality of the photos in the book is better than their reproductions here.


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Brandon

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In the 1950s, Brandon, Vermont, still had a substantial station and an operator who gave train crews their orders.

Brandon, 1958

The station at Brandon on June 14, 1958.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 308, by permission of the author.)

Brandon, 2003

And here is the site of Brandon station on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond).



Danby

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Our next stop is Danby, Vermont.

Danby, early postwar era

The station at Danby as photographed by the late Boston & Maine dispatcher, Donald S. Robinson, in the early postwar era.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 293, by permission of the author.)

Danby, 2003

And here is Danby station on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond).


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Leicester Junction

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The Addison branch to Larabee's Point joined the Rutland Railroad's main line at Leicester Junction, Vermont.

Leicester Junction,  1951

The station at Leicester Junction as it looked on May 21, 1951. The white notice tacked to the station announces the end of service on this date to the Addison branch. This was the last train to pass through Shoreham and its covered bridge.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 164, by permission of the author.)

Leicester Junction,  2003

Here is Leicester Junction station on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond).


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New Haven

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Shaughnessy devotes a fascinating spread of photos to the meet of two Rutland trains at New Haven, Vermont, in 1946.

New Haven, looking north, 1946

In the first photo of the spread, milk train 88, powered by Pacific No. 80, has just arrived from the north. The semaphone blades, lowered by the station agent, indicate that the crew should pick up orders, and they are walking toward the station.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 268, by permission of the author.)

New Haven, looking north, 1976

The same spot as it looked in 1976. The semaphore blades are gone, the station windows boarded up. This excursion train, composed of Steamtown equipment, is celebrating the Bicentennial.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 357, by permission of the author.)

New Haven, looking north, 2003

And here is New Haven station on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond). It has returned to life as a office building.

 

Looking to the south from New Haven station

New Haven, looking south 1 of 3, 1946

Moments later on that same day in 1946, the station agent has given the crew of train 88 their orders and raised the semaphore blades; train 88 departs New Haven station as a northbound train approaches.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 268, by permission of the author.)

New Haven, looking south 2 of 3, 1946

The northbound train, a local freight, has cleared the main line, and train 88 accelerates southward toward Rutland.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 269, by permission of the author.)

New Haven, looking south 3 of 3, 1946

The northbound is pulled by Consolidation No. 14 and will switch the sidings here in New Haven.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 269, by permission of the author.)

New Haven, looking south, 2003

Here's the same spot in front of the New Haven station as it looked on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond).


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North Bennington

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Here are two shots of the station at North Bennington, Vermont, and its trains as they looked in the late 1940s.

North Bennington station, late 1940s, 1 of 2

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 281, by permission of the author.)

North Bennington station, late 1940s, 2 of 2

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 298, by permission of the author.)

North Bennington station, 1981

Here's the same spot in June 1981. The Vermont Railway took over this part of the railroad following the Rutland's 1963 abandonment.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 350, by permission of the author.)

North Bennington station, 2003

And here's North Bennington station on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond).

 

The view from the North Bennington station platform

from North Bennington platform, 1965

Here's a shot of action at North Bennington in July 1965. Diesels have long since replaced steam.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 351, with permission of the author.)

from North Bennington platform, 2003

And here is the very same spot on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond).


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Proctor

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"The Rutland Road" tells the story of the great flood of November 1927 and its aftermath.

Proctor during 1927 flood, looking north

Proctor station at the height of the flood...

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 134, by permission of the author.)

Proctor after 1927 flood, looking north

...and afterwards.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 138, by permission of the author.)

Proctor, 1962, looking north

Here is the same spot in 1962.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 134, by permission of the author.)

Proctor, 2003, looking north

And here is the same spot again on May 16, 2003. The station buildings are long gone. (Photo George Raymond.)

 

The view at Proctor to the south

Proctor 1927, looking south

Here is the aftermath of the November 1927 flood in Proctor, looking south.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 139, by permission of the author.)

Proctor 1962, looking south

Proctor station after dieselization of the Rutland Railroad, in 1962.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 317, by permission of the author.)

Proctor 2003, looking south

Nearly the same spot on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond).


 

Rutland

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"The Rutland Road" traces the changes in the railroad's namesake city through the decades.

Rutland 1880s, looking north

Here was the view from the River Street bridge in Rutland, Vermont, looking north in the 1880s.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 32, by permission of the author.)

Rutland 1957, looking north

The same spot in 1957.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 315, by permission of the author.)

On February 28, 2007, George Cameron sent me this information: "I worked on the Rutland from 1940 to 1952 with a hiatus in 1945 when I worked as a passenger trainman on the New Haven. My first job on the Rut was a summer baggageman in Burlington. Worked as a yard clerk in Rutland 1941 to 1943 then as a brakeman. For a time I drummed the 3 pm switcher in Rutland yard. Rutland yard was a closed yard. Bid in and stay in. When the first strike happened in 1952 they pulled a switcher and I was bumped totally out of a job. I worked all the runs on the Rut as a spare brakeman and held the milk train for a while in the mid 40s. It was not a desireable job because it layed over in Ogdensburg for a day. ...I'm an old man but still have my marbles. Left railroading and went into radio announcing and had a successful career as an a partner in a couple of stations."

Rutland 1962, looking north

Here is the yard just five years later, in July 1962, after a year of inactivity during the strike that preceded the Rutland's abondonment.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 188, by permission of the author.)

Rutland 2003, looking north

And here is the Rutland yard site on May 16, 2003. A huge store and its parking lot have taken over (photo George Raymond).

 

The view southward from Rutland's River Street bridge

Rutland 1880s, looking south

Here's the 1800s view from the River Street bridge in Rutland, this time looking south.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 32, by permission of the author.)

Rutland, late steam era, looking south

Here's the same view in the late steam era. Note the sign on the Howe Scale Co.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 297, by permission of the author.)

Rutland 1957, looking south

Now we are in the early diesel era (1957).

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 314, by permission of the author.)

Rutland 1962, looking south

Five years later, only walkers have touched the snow during the Rutland's final strike on January 14, 1962.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 194, by permission of the author.)

Rutland 1981, looking south

This is the Green Mountain Railroad in June 1981. It took over operations on the ex-Rutland line between Bellows Falls and Rutland in 1964.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 372, by permission of the author.)

Rutland 2003, 1 of 2, looking south

Here are two shots south from the River Street bridge in Rutland on May 16, 2003. A modest revival is evident.

Rutland 2003, 2 of 2, looking south

The smokestack in the backround still bears the name of the Howe Scale Co., although the building now seems to have another occupant. The Vermont Railway, the Rutland Road's 1964 successor north of Rutland, is at work. (Both photos George Raymond.)


 

Shoreham

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A fine example of the illustrations in Jim Shaughnessy's "Rutland Road" is this spread of the final train to pass Shorham, on May 21, 1951, on the Addison branch from Leicester Junction to Larabee's Point.

Shoreham 1951

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, pages 164-165, by permission of the author.)

Shoreham after 1951

Shaughnessy: "After service ceased on the branch, tracks were removed, time passed, and nature did its work. A few years later the right of way was nearly obliterated while old Shoreham depot and the covered bridge moldered in the Vermont sunshine."

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 165, by permission of the author.)

 

Shoreham bridge in 2003

Here are photos my father and I took at Shoreham on May 16, 2003.

Shoreham bridge sign, 2003

The sign says it all (photo George Raymond).

Shoreham bridge 2003, looking west

The trains have been gone for half a century, but the bridge is still solid (photo George Raymond).

Shoreham bridge 2003, looking east

Doesn't the red house on the left also appear in the first of the photos above from Shaughnessy's book? (Photo George Raymond.)

For more on the Shoreham bridge, see the Vermont Covered Bridges website.


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Vergennes

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Here's how Jim Shaughnessy opens his pictorial chapter on the Rutland's dieselization.

Vergennes, 1955

This was Vergennes, Vermont, on September 17, 1955.

(Above photo reproduced from The Rutland Road, page 306, by permission of the author.)

On February 28, 2007, George Cameron sent me the following information: "The name of the Rutland Railroad brakeman in this photo is Fred Sabourin... I knew Fred Sabourin very well. He was an immaculate dresser even in his work clothes and was neat as a pin. His brother Charlie was a brakeman too and a spare yardmaster in Rutland for a while." A few days later, on March 10, Mr. Cameron added, "that photo really took me back a long long long way to an entirely different world, and not necessarily a worse one. "

Vergennes,  2003

Here is my shot of the same spot at Vergennes on May 16, 2003 (photo George Raymond).


Comments on this page are welcome; you can send them to George Raymond.

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This page last updated September 15, 2008

Copyright © 2008 George B. Raymond, Jr. 

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