St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad
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St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad (StJ&LC) was constructed in the 1870's as the Vermont Division of the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway to connect the Great Lakes with the seaport of Portland, Maine. The westerly connection with the Great Lakes was never made. The eastern end of the Vermont Division was leased to the Maine Central Railroad in 1912, and the remainder of the line became a subsidiary of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The Boston & Maine operated their segment as the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad after 1925. This segment was reorganized as the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad in 1948.
Freight traffic was 30% inbound commodities, 20% outbound dairy products to Boston, 15% outbound forest products, and 25% outbound limestone, talc and asbestos. The remaining 10% was bridge line traffic (westbound paper and eastbound feed) for the Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division. Six 70-ton General Electric Diesel locomotives replaced steam locomotives over the line's light rail and covered bridges. Passenger service ended in 1956. Trucks had taken all of the milk traffic by 1961, but bridge line traffic had increased six-fold following the 1953 dissolution of Maine Central's joint operating agreement with Boston and Maine Railroad. Light rail and covered bridges prevented the line from accepting new heavier "incentive" freight car loadings. The covered bridges were replaced so worn out light diesel locomotives could be replaced by larger locomotives; but track conditions deteriorated under the heavier loads.
The State of Vermont purchased the line in 1973. The line was subsequently operated as the Vermont Northern Railroad and the Lamoille Valley Railroad and now the Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway.
[edit] Route
Milepost 0: St. Johnsbury interchange with Maine Central Railroad and Canadian Pacific Railway.
Milepost 1.4: Fairbanks Scales factory
Milepost 11.5: Danville
Milepost 19.7: Walden
Milepost 27.8: Greensboro Bend
Milepost 34.7: Hardwick junction with Hardwick and Woodbury Railroad. 98-foot covered bridge built 1909 over the Lamoille River burned 1959.
Milepost 39: Preserved 90-foot Fisher covered bridge built in 1908 over the Lamoille River was strengthened in 1968 to be the last covered railroad bridge in service.
Milepost 41: Wolcott 120-foot covered bridge built 1909 over the Lamoille River replaced by steel bridge about 1968.
Milepost 48.9: Morrisville was the most important shipping point on the line.
Milepost 51.6: Hyde Park
Milepost 56.4: Johnson Eastern Magnesia Talc
Milepost 64.6: Cambridge Junction with Central Vermont Railroad. 113-foot covered bridge built 1899 over the Lamoille River replaced by steel bridge about 1968.
Milepost 78.4: Fairfield
Milepost 83: Sheldon
Milepost 84.6: Sheldon Junction with Central Vermont Railroad
Milepost 90.9: Highgate
Milepost 94.7: East Swanton junction with Central Vermont Railroad. Three-span 369-foot covered bridge over the Missisquoi River built in 1898 was on the main line between East Swanton and Swanton. It was preserved by routing StJ&LC trains over the Central Vermont Railroad.
Milepost 96.1: Swanton Swanton Lime Works and interchange with Central Vermont Railroad
[edit] Locomotives
| Number | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 2-6-0 | 1909 | 33394 | ex-Montpelier and Wells River Railroad #11 purchased 1926 |
| 21 | ALCO Manchester | 0-6-0 | 1909 | 46339 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #286 purchased 1947 scrapped 1949 |
| 22 | ALCO Manchester | 0-6-0 | 1909 | 46338 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #285 then Montpelier and Wells River Railroad 2nd #11 purchased 1944 |
| 23 | ALCO Manchester | 0-6-0 | 1908 | 45125 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #272 then Montpelier and Wells River Railroad 2nd #9 purchased 1940 soldd 1944 |
| 24 | ALCO Manchester | 0-6-0 | 1908 | 45131 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #278 purchased 1930 scrapped 1949 |
| 25 | ALCO Manchester | 0-6-0 | 1908 | 45118 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #265 purchased 1929 scrapped 1941 |
| 26 | ALCO Manchester | 2-6-0 | 1906 | 38990 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #1419 purchased 1929 |
| 1st #27 | ALCO Manchester | 2-6-0 | 1910 | 47629 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #1485 purchased 1929 |
| 2nd #27 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 0-6-0 | 1923 | 56033 | ex-McKeesport Connecting Railroad #27 purchased 1949 scrapped 1955 |
| 28 | ALCO Manchester | 2-6-0 | 1910 | 48961 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #1491 purchased 1929 |
| 30 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 0-6-0 | 1924 | 38990 | ex-McKeesport Connecting Railroad #30 purchased 1949 scrapped 1953 |
| 31 | Schenectady Locomotive Works | 4-6-0 | 1899 | 5171 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2040 purchased 1929 |
| 32 | Schenectady Locomotive Works | 4-6-0 | 1898 | 4714 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2035 purchased 1930 |
| 33 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1901 | 25052 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2350 purchased 1930 wrecked 1944 |
| 34 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1911 | 49001 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2421 purchased 1930 |
| 35 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1911 | 49007 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2427 purchased 1930 scrapped 1938 |
| 36 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1910 | 47648 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2404 purchased 1932 scrapped 1949 |
| 37 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1911 | 49005 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2425 purchased 1932 |
| 38 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1902 | 25073 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2357 purchased 1934 wrecked 1944 |
| 39 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1902 | 25072 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2356 purchased 1936 |
| 40 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1911 | 49000 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2420 then Montpelier and Wells River Railroad #18 purchased 1939 |
| 41 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1907 | 42843 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2388 purchased 1946 scrapped 1948 |
| 42 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1910 | 47645 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2401 then Montpelier and Wells River Railroad #19 then Barre and Chelsea Railroad #19 purchased 1946 |
| 43 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1910 | 47656 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2412 then Barre and Chelsea Railroad #22 purchased 1947 |
| 44 | ALCO Schenectady | 2-8-0 | 1911 | 49003 | ex-Boston and Maine Railroad #2423 then Montpelier and Wells River Railroad #20 then Barre and Chelsea Railroad #20 purchased 1947 |
| 46 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1948 | 29297 | sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1973 |
| 47 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1948 | 29298 | sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1956 |
| 48 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1948 | 29299 | sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1973 |
| 49 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1948 | 30022 | scrapped 1963 |
| 50 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1949 | 30184 | sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1957 |
| 51 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1951 | 30844 | sold Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad 1972 |
| 52 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1947 | 29087 | ex-Barre and Chelsea Railroad #13 purchased 1955 sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1973 |
| 53 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1951 | 31168 | ex-Mississippi Export Railroad #48 purchased 1958 sold 1960 |
| 54 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1953 | 31724 | ex-Mississippi Export Railroad #50 purchased 1958 sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1973 |
| 55 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1949 | 30175 | ex-Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad #11 purchased 1963 sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1973 |
| 56 | General Electric | 44-ton | 1943 | 17929 | ex-Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company #5 purchased 1965 sold 1966 |
| 1st #200 | General Electric | 70-ton | 1947 | 29092 | ex-Unadilla Valley Railroad #200 purchased 1960 scrapped 1965 |
| 2nd #200 | EMD | GP9 | 1956 | 20973 | ex-New York Central Railroad #5960 purchased 1967 sold 1973 |
| 201 | EMD | GP9 | 1957 | 23589 | ex-New York Central Railroad #6056 purchased 1967 sold 1973 |
| 202 | American Locomotive Company | RS-3 | 1951 | 78937 | ex-Reading Railroad #523 purchased 1968 sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1973 |
| 203 | American Locomotive Company | RS-3 | 1953 | 80498 | ex-Great Northern Railroad #229 purchased 1968 sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1973 |
| 204 | American Locomotive Company | RS-3 | 1950 | 78292 | ex-Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad #4 purchased 1970 |
| 205 | American Locomotive Company | RS-3 | 1950 | 78369 | ex-Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad #10 purchased 1971 sold Montpelier and Barre Railroad 1973 |
| 206 | American Locomotive Company | RS-3 | 1952 | 80163 | ex-Delaware and Hudson Railroad #4073 purchased 1972 |
[edit] References
- Hartley, Scott (1984). New England ALCOS in Twilight. PTJ Publishing. ISBN 0-937658-10-3.
- Johnson, Ron (1986). New Hampshire and Vermont Railroads. Portland Litho.
- Lewis, Edward A. (1974). Vermont's Covered Bridge Road. The Baggage Car.
