Mount Mansfield Electric Railroad

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The Mount Mansfield Electric Railroad was an intrastate railroad in central Vermont. It ran from Waterbury, Vermont to Stowe, Vermont, a distance of approximately 12 miles.

[edit] History

A railroad between Stowe and Waterbury, through which the Central Vermont Railway ran, was authorized by the legislature of Vermont in 1865, 1872, 1888, and 1894. Not until 1897 were sufficient funds raised and construction started. A power plant was built in the village of Waterbury Center, Vermont, and service began in 1898. The line operated a small number of passenger cars, which were trolleys, and a freight motor, which was basically an open-air trolley. A unique doubled-ended rotary snowplow also saw some service, though the unit damaged the track and neighboring structures, and was retired after only a few years of use.

Traffic on the line was never heavy. Damage from the 1927 hurricane-related flooding was minimal, but traffic declined further in the early 1930s, and the line was sold to the state of Vermont in 1932, which promptly turned much of the roadbed into a road that eventually became a portion of Vermont Route 100.

[edit] Stations

An 1897 timetable listed the following stops from south to north:

• Waterbury, Vermont
• Stowe, Vermont

At some point later a small station was built in the village of Moscow, Vermont, and trains stopped at the power plant in Waterbury Center.

[edit] References

Jones, Robert C., Railroads of Vermont, Volume II, 1993.