Vermont Classics
Vermont Rail System's legendary septuagenarian diesel number 405 poses for photos at the Lower Bartonsville Road grade crossing at MP B8.45 while leading a three car Trains magazine charter special over the Vermont Railway's Bellows Falls Subdivision (the ex Green Mountain Railroad née Rutland mainline).
This is one of the most iconic locations on the old Rutland at the famed covered bridge across the Williams River. The bridge is a lattice truss style with a 151-foot span, carrying Lower Bartonsville Road over the Williams River. It was built in 2012, replacing a similar bridge built in 1870 by Sanford Granger. The 1870 bridge, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was destroyed in 2011 in flooding caused by Hurricane Irene. That historic bridge itself was a replacement for an even older one located about 1/4 mile upstream that was destroyed after the great flood of 1869 that changed the course of the river.
This line traces its history back to 1849 when the Rutland Railroad's mainline from the Connecticut River town to Burlington opened by way of its namesake community. The venerable Alco RS-1 rolled out of the Schenectady plant in November 1951 as one of a half dozen of the model and served the erstwhile Class 1 until it shut down for good in 1961. While her siblings were scattered to the wind she never left her home state being picked up by Nelson Blount (founder of Steamtown) and then staying with the Green Mountain Railroad in freight service even after Steamtown left in 1983. She has remained in service on her home rails for 73 years and still occasionally is called up to freight duty, though now largely enjoys an easier life on excursion and passenger duty such as this.
Rockingham, Vermont
Saturday September 28, 2024
Vermont Classics
Vermont Rail System's legendary septuagenarian diesel number 405 poses for photos at the Lower Bartonsville Road grade crossing at MP B8.45 while leading a three car Trains magazine charter special over the Vermont Railway's Bellows Falls Subdivision (the ex Green Mountain Railroad née Rutland mainline).
This is one of the most iconic locations on the old Rutland at the famed covered bridge across the Williams River. The bridge is a lattice truss style with a 151-foot span, carrying Lower Bartonsville Road over the Williams River. It was built in 2012, replacing a similar bridge built in 1870 by Sanford Granger. The 1870 bridge, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was destroyed in 2011 in flooding caused by Hurricane Irene. That historic bridge itself was a replacement for an even older one located about 1/4 mile upstream that was destroyed after the great flood of 1869 that changed the course of the river.
This line traces its history back to 1849 when the Rutland Railroad's mainline from the Connecticut River town to Burlington opened by way of its namesake community. The venerable Alco RS-1 rolled out of the Schenectady plant in November 1951 as one of a half dozen of the model and served the erstwhile Class 1 until it shut down for good in 1961. While her siblings were scattered to the wind she never left her home state being picked up by Nelson Blount (founder of Steamtown) and then staying with the Green Mountain Railroad in freight service even after Steamtown left in 1983. She has remained in service on her home rails for 73 years and still occasionally is called up to freight duty, though now largely enjoys an easier life on excursion and passenger duty such as this.
Rockingham, Vermont
Saturday September 28, 2024