Main Street Monochrome Monday
For Monochrome Monday here's anotner frame of this busy scene from the little capital city of the Green Mountain State.
After coming down the switchback route from the quarry in Websterville and stopping in Barre to pick up more cars Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew head into Montpelier with more than a dozen loads of granite armor rock from the Northeast Materials quarry. They set off their whole train on the old CV main, where they were temporarily left and are now running light engine down to Montpelier Junction to pull empties from the NECR interchange and make room for the outbound loads they'll bring down later.
A trainman flags the busy Main Street crossing in the center of the little capital city as red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) and green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) roll over a short stretch of street running at about MP 1.4 on the Washington County Railroad's M&B Division.
These particular rails are ex CV, first laid in 1849 by CV predecessor Vermont Central. In 1958 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased them and he quickly consolidated the parallel CV and old Montpelier & Wells River routes between this point and Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for abandonment, and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally settling on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.
The large square brick building at right which now serves as a bank was once the Montpelier & Wells River Railroad station and headquarters building. Built in 1876 as the Murray Block, it was purchased and refurbished by the M&WRR in 1881 for $8,000.
Montpelier, Vermont
Friday August 1, 2025
Main Street Monochrome Monday
For Monochrome Monday here's anotner frame of this busy scene from the little capital city of the Green Mountain State.
After coming down the switchback route from the quarry in Websterville and stopping in Barre to pick up more cars Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew head into Montpelier with more than a dozen loads of granite armor rock from the Northeast Materials quarry. They set off their whole train on the old CV main, where they were temporarily left and are now running light engine down to Montpelier Junction to pull empties from the NECR interchange and make room for the outbound loads they'll bring down later.
A trainman flags the busy Main Street crossing in the center of the little capital city as red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) and green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) roll over a short stretch of street running at about MP 1.4 on the Washington County Railroad's M&B Division.
These particular rails are ex CV, first laid in 1849 by CV predecessor Vermont Central. In 1958 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased them and he quickly consolidated the parallel CV and old Montpelier & Wells River routes between this point and Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for abandonment, and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally settling on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.
The large square brick building at right which now serves as a bank was once the Montpelier & Wells River Railroad station and headquarters building. Built in 1876 as the Murray Block, it was purchased and refurbished by the M&WRR in 1881 for $8,000.
Montpelier, Vermont
Friday August 1, 2025