Barre Transfer
Another wide angle shot of this scene just cause I think it's pretty cool to see a little bit of long abandoned railroad reborn.
Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew has run thru downtown Montpelier and is arriving at Barre Transfer at about MP 3.2 on the WACR's Montpelier and Barre Division with a cut of empties pulled from the NECR interchange yard at Montpelier Junction. They are in the process of setting them over on the old main (track to left) and then they will return to retrieve the loads they'd brought down from Barre and left in town earlier and deliver them to the NECR yard.
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) are the assigned power on this little outpost which is isolated from the rest of the Vermont Rail System network.
Historically this location was known as Barre Transfer because here the rails of the Central Vermont, Barre Railroad and Montpelier and Wells River all met. The train arrived here via the nearly mile and a half stretch of trackage which was rebuilt on the former M&WR right of way four years ago (the track in center). This grade had been bereft of rails for 55 years when trains returned in 2021, and this was my first time photographing it. You can read more about why this happened here: vrs.us.com/reviving-a-historic-route-to-improve-service/non
The trackage coming in from the left is ex Central Vermont, first laid in 1875 when the 1849 branch into the capital city was extended to Barre. The track diverting to the right once led another 35 miles east to a junction with the Boston & Maine / Canadian Pacific Conn River Mainline at Wells River. Opened in 1873, trains ran until November 1956 when the route was abandoned and the rails removed except for an 1800 ft stub on this end extending east from this switch to a couple long closed customer sidings in East Montpelier.
In 1957 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased the CV branch and he quickly consolidated it and the old Montpelier & Wells River (later Barre & Chelsea) routes between downtown Montpelier and Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for total 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.
Check out this shot from five years ago. In it you can see the abandoned right of way that is now rebuilt:
Montpelier, Vermont
Friday August 1, 2025
Barre Transfer
Another wide angle shot of this scene just cause I think it's pretty cool to see a little bit of long abandoned railroad reborn.
Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew has run thru downtown Montpelier and is arriving at Barre Transfer at about MP 3.2 on the WACR's Montpelier and Barre Division with a cut of empties pulled from the NECR interchange yard at Montpelier Junction. They are in the process of setting them over on the old main (track to left) and then they will return to retrieve the loads they'd brought down from Barre and left in town earlier and deliver them to the NECR yard.
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) are the assigned power on this little outpost which is isolated from the rest of the Vermont Rail System network.
Historically this location was known as Barre Transfer because here the rails of the Central Vermont, Barre Railroad and Montpelier and Wells River all met. The train arrived here via the nearly mile and a half stretch of trackage which was rebuilt on the former M&WR right of way four years ago (the track in center). This grade had been bereft of rails for 55 years when trains returned in 2021, and this was my first time photographing it. You can read more about why this happened here: vrs.us.com/reviving-a-historic-route-to-improve-service/non
The trackage coming in from the left is ex Central Vermont, first laid in 1875 when the 1849 branch into the capital city was extended to Barre. The track diverting to the right once led another 35 miles east to a junction with the Boston & Maine / Canadian Pacific Conn River Mainline at Wells River. Opened in 1873, trains ran until November 1956 when the route was abandoned and the rails removed except for an 1800 ft stub on this end extending east from this switch to a couple long closed customer sidings in East Montpelier.
In 1957 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased the CV branch and he quickly consolidated it and the old Montpelier & Wells River (later Barre & Chelsea) routes between downtown Montpelier and Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for total 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.
Check out this shot from five years ago. In it you can see the abandoned right of way that is now rebuilt:
Montpelier, Vermont
Friday August 1, 2025