Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad

Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad
Locale Massachusetts
Vermont
Dates of operation 1886–1971
Predecessor Deerfield River Railroad
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge ; originally 3 ft (914 mm) gauge
Length 25 miles (40 km)
Headquarters Wilmington, Vermont (1884-1937)
Readsboro, Vermont (1937-1971)
Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad
Legend
0 Wilmington
3 Mountain Mills
6 Jacksonville
8 Hagers
10 Whitingham
14 Readsboro
16 Sherman
18 Monroe Bridge
25 Hoosac Tunnel-Fitchburg Railroad

The Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad was an interstate railroad in southwestern Vermont and northwestern Massachusetts. It ran from the Hoosac Tunnel in Massachusetts to Wilmington, Vermont, a distance of approximately 25 miles (40 km).[1]

History

The Deerfield River Railroad was chartered in Vermont in 1884; on July 4, 1885, it celebrated the opening of 11 miles (18 km) of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge track from Readsboro, Vermont to a junction with the Fitchburg Railroad at the east portal of the Hoosac Tunnel in northwestern Massachusetts. (The 4.75 miles (7.64 km) Hoosac Tunnel was opened in 1875 and is currently used by Pan Am Railways.) In 1886 the proprietors of the railroad incorporated the Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad (HT&W) in Massachusetts; it acquired the Massachusetts portion of the line and leased the Vermont part, with which it was consolidated in 1892. By then the line had been extended north from Readsboro to Wilmington, another 13 miles (21 km). The entire line was converted to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in 1913.[2]

The New England Power Company purchased the railroad in 1922 and began construction of a dam across the Deerfield River that required relocation of the north end of the line — after an initial proposal by the power company to substitute a carferry on the lake that the dam would create. The power company sold the railroad to local interests in 1926.[2]

The world's first organized railroad fan trip was held on the HT&W. Members of the Railroad Enthusiasts chartered a train ride the length of the line on Sunday, August 26, 1934. They were the first rail passengers on the line since floods in 1927 had caused the substitution of bus service for the passenger trains.[2]

After additional floods in early 1936 the railroad was sold to the H. E. Salzberg Company; ownership soon passed to Salzberg's son-in-law, Samuel M. Pinsly. He abandoned the line north of Readsboro but thought the remainder could be operated profitably. A hurricane did substantial damage to the HT&W in September 1938, but Pinsly rebuilt the line. In 1941 the HT&W made its first profit in 15 years, and continued to be a profit maker. Pinsly decided to dieselize the line in 1949.[2]

Business fell off in the mid-1950s and profits turned to deficits. In the late 1950s the HT&W received a new customer in the form of a nuclear power plant at Monroe Bridge. HT&W hauled in much of the material for construction on the plant. Another power plant, the Bear Swamp Hydroelectric Power Station, would have required extensive relocation of the HT&W and resulted instead in abandonment on October 13, 1971.[2]

The northern 18 miles (29 km) of the HT&W roadbed was converted for use as a rail trail.[3]

Stations

Massachusetts

Vermont

Popular nicknames for the HT&W included "the Hoot, Toot, and Whistle" and the "hold tight and whimper."[4]

References

  1. ↑ Carman, Bernard R. (1963). Hoot Toot & Whistle: The Story of the Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad. Brattleboro, Vermont: Stephen Greene Press.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Drury, George H. (1994). The Historical Guide to North American Railroads: Histories, Figures, and Features of more than 160 Railroads Abandoned or Merged since 1930. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 153–155. ISBN 0-89024-072-8.
  3. ↑ nemba.org/ridingzone
  4. ↑ Carman, Bernard R. (1963). Hoot Toot & Whistle: The Story of the Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad. Brattleboro, Vermont: Stephen Greene Press. ISBN 0-89024-072-8.

Further reading

External links