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Rutland Railroad: Map, Rosters, History, Logo

Last revised: September 24, 2026

By: Adam Burns

The Rutland was the railroad Vermonters called their own. Reporting mark RUT. Headquarters in the city the company was named for. Timothy Follett chartered it, as the Champlain & Connecticut River Rail Road, on November 1, 1843, so his Lake Champlain steamboats would have a railroad to the Connecticut River. The first train ran from Bellows Falls to Burlington on December 18, 1849. Marble, lumber, and milk were the freight that belonged to the line. Bridge cars, and for a few years a fleet of lake boats, were the freight that paid the bills when they paid at all. After November 1, 1950, the company was the Rutland Railway, and the Alcos wore forest green and yellow under the slogan The Green Mountain Gateway.

The last Rutland train ran on September 25, 1961. Vermont bought the lines worth keeping, and the Vermont Railway opened on January 6, 1964.

Rutland Alco RS3 203 with a milk train on the marble causeway across the northern islands of Lake Champlain in the 1950s

Rutland RS3 #203 on the marble causeway across South Hero, Grand Isle, and North Hero, with what appears to be a milk train, in the 1950s. Tom Stewart photo. The fill is the Island Line Rail Trail.

On this page: At a glance · Follett and Paine · July 9, 1867 · The islands and Ogdensburg · The Corkscrew · New York Central years · System map, 1940 · The Whippet · Flyer and Mount Royal · Steam after 1900 · Six RS-1s, nine RS-3s, one 70-tonner · 1953, 1960, 1961 · What Vermont kept

At a glance

Rutland Railroad logo

The Rutland Railroad logo. Author’s work.

ItemDetail
RailroadRutland Railroad, then Rutland Railway from November 1, 1950. Mark RUT
HeadquartersRutland, Vermont
GenesisChamplain & Connecticut River Rail Road, chartered November 1, 1843. Renamed Rutland & Burlington November 6, 1847
First trainDecember 18, 1849, Bellows Falls–Burlington
ReorganizedRutland Railroad, effective July 9, 1867
Last trainSeptember 25, 1961
AbandonmentICC approval September 18, 1962. Effective date postponed to May 20, 1963
StatesVermont, New York. A short reach into Quebec at Noyan
Route-miles415 (1930). An upside-down L, Chatham to Alburgh, then west to Ogdensburg, plus the original main line Rutland–Bellows Falls
Gauge4 ft 8½ in
SloganThe Green Mountain Gateway
Steam since 190074 locomotives. Drury’s grid is below. Last steam: Mountains 90–93, March 1955
Diesel6 Alco RS-1s, 9 RS-3s, 1 GE 70-tonner. All below
SuccessorState of Vermont, August 1963. Vermont Railway from January 6, 1964. Green Mountain Railroad on Rutland–Bellows Falls

Follett and Paine

Timothy Follett already ran steamboats on Lake Champlain. He wanted a railroad from the Connecticut, up the Williams River, through Mount Holly and Rutland, and north along the lake to Burlington. The Vermont General Assembly chartered that idea on November 1, 1843. The same session chartered Charles Paine’s Vermont Central on a more northerly line, through Northfield, Paine’s own town, by way of the White and Onion river valleys. The two men stayed rivals. The two railroads stayed rivals for the rest of the century. That other company is the Central Vermont.

On November 6, 1847, Follett renamed his road the Rutland & Burlington, which is what he meant to build. Construction finished in 1849. To mark it, the railroad raced a team of horses with the mail between Bellows Falls and Burlington. The train won, by a good two hours. The first train over the whole line ran on December 18, 1849.

Traffic did not follow the grading. Jim Shaughnessy’s verdict in The Rutland Road is that the railroad connected nowhere with nowhere, and Paine’s Vermont Central refused a friendly interchange. Mortgage trustees took the property on November 19, 1853. On June 25, 1867, the owners reorganized it as the Rutland Railroad, effective July 9. John Page became president in 1868.

July 9, 1867

Page went looking for railroads that would actually trade cars. The Cheshire, later Boston & Maine, was the partner at Bellows Falls. The Rensselaer & Saratoga, later a piece of the Delaware & Hudson, was the partner toward Whitehall and Troy. Across the lake, the Whitehall & Plattsburgh was trying to build its own line north into Canada. The Rutland leased that road’s Ticonderoga–Port Henry segment on September 26, 1870, leased the Vermont & Massachusetts on December 1, and leased the little Addison Railroad, Leicester Junction to Larrabee’s Point, on December 7 for 99 years. In 1852 the Rutland & Burlington had bought the Champlain Transportation Company. The boats came and went. The idea of a water connection did not.

The Vermont Central answered by leasing the whole Rutland. The lease is dated December 30, 1870, for 20 years from January 1, 1871. On December 31, 1890, the Central Vermont renewed it for 99 years from January 1, 1891. Charles Clement was president of the Rutland from 1884. His father, Percival W. Clement, took the chair in 1888. The Central Vermont went into receivership and handed the Rutland back to its owners on May 7, 1896. The feud was over. The building was not.

The islands and Ogdensburg

Between Burlington and the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain at Rouses Point there was open lake and a string of islands. The Rutland-Canadian closed that gap in 1899: about 40 miles, built in a year, leaping South Hero, Grand Isle, and North Hero on a marble causeway riprapped against the ice, then a short crossing from Alburgh to Rouses Point. The Rutland leased the new company on July 1, 1899, and consolidated it on January 21, 1901.

The Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain, Alburgh to the St. Lawrence at Ogdensburg, came in at the end of October 1901, consolidated October 26–28. Online freight on that line was thin. Milk and other farm products were not, and Ogdensburg was a port. Until the boats were taken away, Chicago freight moved across the lakes in ships of the Rutland Transit Company and then the length of the railroad. At Norwood the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg, later New York Central, took cars. At Malone the Mohawk & Malone, also later Central, did the same. A short branch off Alburgh reached Noyan, Quebec.

Rutland Alco RS3 205 passing the covered bridge at Bartonsville Vermont in the early 1950s

RS3 #205 passes the covered bridge at Bartonsville, on the Williams River, in the early 1950s. Jim Shaughnessy photo. The 1870 bridge, 151 feet, went out in the flood from Hurricane Irene on August 28, 2011. A new bridge opened January 26, 2013.

The Corkscrew

South of Rutland the railroad still ended in the air. The Bennington & Rutland, Rutland to Bennington, was consolidated on September 6, 1901. The Chatham & Lebanon Valley, the rest of the way to the Boston & Albany and the New York Central at Chatham, New York, was consolidated December 23–24, 1901. Together they were the Chatham Division. Trainmen called it the Corkscrew: 263 curves, steep grades, and the only southern outlet the Rutland owned. Commodore Vanderbilt had already guessed it would be a hard railroad to run. He was right. Passenger trains came off the division on June 25, 1932. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved abandonment on May 20, 1953, 57 miles, and scrap crews pulled the iron that summer, reaching Bennington on August 7. The division has its own page, the Corkscrew.

New York Central years

Dr. W. Seward Webb, William H. Vanderbilt’s son-in-law and the builder of the Mohawk & Malone, became president on May 1, 1902. In 1904–05 the New York Central & Hudson River bought control. From 1905 to 1913, Rutland locomotives carried Central numbers and were built to Central designs, a step behind the engines Schenectady was building for the parent. In February 1911 the Central sold half its Rutland stock to the New York, New Haven & Hartford. The two roads together held about 52 percent until 1941, when both sold out to private investors.

The good years were real. By 1906 the accounts were strong enough to pay for new locomotives and cars. Dividends started in 1909. An express milk train ran the length of the system, filled out to more than 40 cars at Rutland, and sent some of them east on the Boston & Maine at Bellows Falls and most of them south over the Corkscrew to New York. The lake boats made Ogdensburg a Chicago port. On July 1, 1914, the Panama Canal Act’s rule against a railroad competing with itself by water took the Rutland Transit Company away. The docks at Ogdensburg went quiet. The Central’s interest thinned with them.

The United States Railroad Administration ran the property from December 28, 1917, to March 1, 1920. The 1920s brought the milk business back up. Then the Great Flood of November 3–5, 1927, tore up long stretches of the railroad. On May 5, 1938, the company went into receivership. Vermont, its towns, and a “Save the Rutland” club formed that July put up money and forgave taxes. In August the unions took a wage cut that kept the trains moving.

Official 1940 system map of the Rutland Railroad

An official system map of the Rutland Railroad, 1940. Author’s collection. Chatham is still on the map. It came out in 1953.

The Whippet

Online customers were never enough, so the traffic department went after bridge freight. On January 9, 1939, the railroad put on The Whippet, a timed fast freight from the Boston & Maine at Bellows Falls to the New York Central at Norwood, via Rutland and the Ogdensburg line. To advertise it, shop forces skirted Consolidation No. 28, a 1913 Alco classed G-34d, and painted her black and silver with the name on the tender. One of the print advertisements pictured a Southern Pacific Daylight 4-8-4. Early in the war the skirting came off, the steel was turned in, and the name was dropped. The fast schedule stayed. The train’s own story is the Whippet.

Flyer and Mount Royal

The Rutland’s named passenger trains were the Green Mountain Flyer and the Mount Royal, New York and Boston to Montreal with the New York Central, the Boston & Maine, and Canadian connections. Ten-Wheelers and Pacifics were the usual power. After 1946 a Mountain sometimes drew them. The Central Vermont had its own north–south railroad across the state, and the Rutland never owned that market. The three-week strike that began June 26, 1953, was the first in the company’s history. When the men went back, the passenger trains did not.

Rutland Railroad yard and terminal at Rutland Vermont looking north in the late steam era

The yard and terminal at Rutland, looking north, late 1940s or early 1950s. American-Rails.com collection.

Steam after 1900

In 1913 the railroad renumbered and reclassed what it owned. Drury’s chapter counts engines built since 1900. Americans, the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Consolidations of 1897 (later 10–12, class G-14, retired in the first half of 1934), and the nineteenth-century Moguls inherited from the Bennington & Rutland sit outside that grid. The Moguls that were still on the books after 1913, including those older engines, are the Mogul page. Only two Moguls in the since-1900 list survived into the Rutland’s own numbering as a pair: E-1-d 144 and 145, Schenectady, 1900, retired in 1946.

Ten-Wheelers were the dual-purpose engine, and they have no separate article. Two groups arrived in 1902. F-12s 40–49, ten engines from Schenectady and Manchester, were the passenger engines: 69-inch drivers, about 156,000 pounds. F-11s 50–57, eight Schenectady engines, were the dual-service engines, with 63-inch drivers. Many of the F-12s were gone by the early 1930s. The rest, and the F-11s, lasted into the diesel years. Four more came in 1910, class F-2h, later 70–73 (they had been 2036–2039): 63-inch drivers, inside piston valves, Stephenson gear, about 10,000 pounds heavier than an F-12. Numbers 70 and 71 were superheated in 1913 and 1914. Numbers 72 and 73 received Walschaerts gear in 1920. Six of 1912, class F-2j, later 74–79 (they had been 2074–2079), were the modern Ten-Wheelers: superheated, piston valves, Walschaerts, fireboxes over the rear drivers, 198,000 to 211,000 pounds. They worked through dieselization. A 1912 engine of this family was still in service when the Alcos arrived.

Rutland 4-6-0 76 on the Armstrong turntable at Bennington Vermont April 12 1952

Ten-Wheeler #76 on the Armstrong turntable at Bennington, April 12, 1952. Steven Payne photo. She is one of the 1912 F-2j engines, 74–79.

Consolidations came first with the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain. In 1897 that road bought three from Schenectady, later Rutland 10–12, class G-14, about 123 tons and roughly 31,000 pounds tractive effort. They were retired between January and June 1934. Built in 1897, they sit ahead of the since-1900 grid below. The engines bought new from 1907 to 1913 were the heavy freight power until the Mikados: about 210,000 pounds, wide fireboxes over the rear drivers, and, even on the last of them, inside valves and Stephenson gear. They were classed G-34. In the 1913 numbers they are 14–31. G-34a is 18–23 (1907), G-34b is 14–17 (1910), G-34c is 24 and 25 (1911), and G-34d is 26–31 (1913). The 1911 and 1913 engines were superheated when built. Numbers 14–23 were superheated between May 1915 and January 1926. In 1939, during the campaign to keep the bankrupt railroad, No. 28 briefly wore running-board skirting for the Whippet. The last of the G-34s left the roster in 1952.

The United States Railroad Administration assigned the Rutland six USRA light Mikados in 1918, the same design the New York Central used. Schenectady built them. On the Rutland they were class H-6a, numbers 32–37. They carried the freight trains for thirty years and were retired in 1951 and 1952. That roster is the Mikado page.

Three Pacifics of 1925, class K-1, numbers 80–82, were about the size of a USRA light Pacific and had 69-inch drivers. Three more, class K-2, numbers 83–85, came from Schenectady in 1929: 73-inch drivers, 292,500 pounds, and a 28-inch piston stroke where the New York Central’s K-14 used 26. They were close to that Central class in most other dimensions, with a front-end throttle, cast trailing truck, and paired air pumps on the pilot. They drew the Flyer and the Mount Royal, and the hot milk. The class page is the Pacifics. Retirement ran from 1951 to 1953.

Rutland 4-6-2 84 class K-2 at the Rutland Vermont station in 1951

Pacific #84, class K-2, moving slowly in reverse at the station in Rutland in 1951, likely heading for her train. Ralph Phillips photo. Schenectady built 83–85 in 1929. The three K-2s were retired between 1951 and 1953.

At the end of the Second World War the power was worn out. In 1946 the road found the money for four Mountains, class L-1, numbers 90–93, from Schenectady. They had 73-inch Boxpok drivers, 26-by-30-inch cylinders, and weighed 348,000 pounds, a little under a USRA heavy Mountain. They were light enough to go anywhere on the railroad, and they often worked passenger trains. Delivered in dark green, they later went to black. The smokebox front and the air-pump shields echoed the 4-8-4s of the Toledo, Peoria & Western and the Union Pacific. Number 93 was the last of the four, and the four were the last 4-8-2s built by a commercial builder in North America. Neighbors were already buying road-switchers. Four years on, a steam shop kept open for four engines had no arithmetic left in it. The Mountains were retired in March 1955 and cut up. Their page is the L-1 Mountains.

Switchers. Most of the 0-6-0s had 51-inch drivers, slide valves, and Stephenson gear, and differed mainly in weight. B-9s 102–104, Manchester, 1902, were gone in 1945 and 1946. Cooke built 100 and 101 in 1907. Manchester built 105 in 1913. Number 106, Schenectady, 1914, was bought after Central control ended and had piston valves and Walschaerts gear. Number 107, also Schenectady, 1914, had 57-inch drivers and weighed 168,000 pounds. The Rutland bought her secondhand from the neighboring Clarendon & Pittsford in 1946, for $500, and kept her until 1953. Two USRA 0-8-0s, class U-3, numbers 109 and 110, were built at Pittsburgh in 1918. They had been allotted to the Rutland, went to the New York Central instead, and reached Vermont after the war. They were retired in 1951.

TypeClassNumbersQtyBuilderBuiltRetiredNotes
0-6-0B-2-a100, 1012Cooke19071951, 1952
0-6-0B-9102–1043Manchester19021945, 1946
0-6-0B-2-b1051Manchester19131951
0-6-0B-2-c1061Schenectady19141951Piston valves, Walschaerts. Bought after NYC control ended
0-6-0B-31071Schenectady19141953To Rutland 1946 from the Clarendon & Pittsford, $500. 57-inch drivers, 168,000 lb
0-8-0U-3109, 1102Pittsburgh19181951USRA. Allotted to the Rutland, diverted to the NYC, arrived after the war
2-6-0E-1-d144, 1452Schenectady19001946Only Moguls in the since-1900 grid. Older engines: Mogul page
2-8-0G-34a18–236Schenectady19071939–1951No. 28 skirted for the Whippet, 1939
2-8-0G-34b14–174Schenectady19101948, 1951
2-8-0G-34c24, 252Schenectady19111950, 1951
2-8-0G-34d26–316Schenectady19131951, 1952Superheated when built
2-8-2H-6a32–376Schenectady19181951, 1952USRA light Mikado. Mikado page
4-6-0F-1150–578Schenectady19021946–1951Dual service. 63-inch drivers
4-6-0F-1240–4910Schenectady, Manchester19021932–1951Passenger. 69-inch drivers, about 156,000 lb
4-6-0F-2h70–734Schenectady19101951, 1952ex-2036–2039. Inside piston valves, Stephenson gear
4-6-0F-2j74–796Schenectady19121951–1953ex-2074–2079. Superheat, Walschaerts, firebox over the rear drivers
4-6-2K-180–823Schenectady1925195269-inch drivers. Pacific page
4-6-2K-283–853Schenectady19291951–195373-inch drivers, 292,500 lb, 28-inch stroke
4-8-2L-190–934Schenectady19461955Last commercial 4-8-2s in North America. Mountain page. Retired March 1955

George H. Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, pp. 281–282. Built since 1900. Retirement years are Drury’s. Month-level dates, where a class page has them, stay on that page.

Six RS-1s, nine RS-3s, one 70-tonner

The reorganization of November 1, 1950, made the company a railway and put Gardner A. Caverly in charge of making it cheaper to run. The steam engines, the Mountains aside, were old, tired, and expensive. Scrap from the steam fleet was the down payment on nine Alco RS-3s, one of them the builder’s demonstrator, six RS-1s, and a General Electric 70-tonner. The RS-1s were 1,000-horsepower road-switchers, class DRS-1, numbers 400–405, good for the way freights and the passenger trains that were still running. The RS-3s were 1,600-horsepower, classes DRS-6a, DRS-6b, and DRS-6c, numbers 200–208. Number 200 had been Alco demonstrator 1601, built September 13, 1950. The 70-tonner, No. 500, class DES-2, was a 600-horsepower branch engine, serial 31175, order 281-7040, outshopped in December 1951. Sixteen locomotives replaced the steam roster. The Mountains outlasted the purchase. They were gone in March 1955.

ModelClassNo.BuilderSerialOrderBuiltNotes
RS-3DRS-6a200Alco-GE78252September 13, 1950ex-Alco demonstrator 1601. To L&N 256, April 1963
RS-3DRS-6a201Alco-GE78594May 1, 1951To L&N 257
RS-3DRS-6b202Alco-GE78880June 7, 1951To L&N 258
RS-3DRS-6b203Alco-GE78881June 8, 1951To L&N 259
RS-3DRS-6b204Alco-GE78882June 12, 1951To L&N 260
RS-3DRS-6c205Alco-GE80155August 13, 1952To L&N 261
RS-3DRS-6c206Alco-GE80156August 13, 1952To L&N 262. Shipped from Ogdensburg
RS-3DRS-6c207Alco-GE80157August 13, 1952To L&N 263
RS-3DRS-6c208Alco-GE80158August 14, 1952To L&N 264
RS-1DRS-1400Alco-GE793491951Sold September 1956 to the Tennessee Railroad as No. 4. Later Arkansas & Missouri 20
RS-1DRS-1401Alco-GE79350October 19, 1951Vermont Railway, 1964. Later Consumers Power, Essexville, Michigan
RS-1DRS-1402Alco-GE79572October 30, 1951Vermont Railway. Later Coopersville & Marne, Michigan
RS-1DRS-1403Alco-GE79573November 8, 1951Vermont Railway. Sold 1972 to the Sabine River & Northern
RS-1DRS-1404Alco-GE79574November 16, 1951Norwood & St. Lawrence, 1964
RS-1DRS-1405Alco-GE79575November 21, 1951Leased 1964 to Nelson Blount. Sold April 1, 1965, to the Green Mountain Railroad. Still there
70-tonDES-2500GE31175281-7040December 1951Sold August 1962 to the Clarendon & Pittsford. Later Vermont Railway, then Kelley’s Creek & Northwestern 11

Builder numbers and RS-3 / RS-1 dates: Rutland Railway Corp. chart of July 31, 1962, in the Rutland Railroad Historical Society Newsliner (Robert W. Adams), except RS-1 400, from the society’s diesel roster. GE serial and order: The Diesel Shop. Dispositions: Rutland Railroad Historical Society. Alco specification numbers were not on those lists. The nine RS-3s went to the Louisville & Nashville in April 1963 as 256–264, in order, and were traded back to Alco and to Electro-Motive about 1964–66.

1953, 1960, 1961

Dieselization, the loss of the Corkscrew, a cut that took the payroll from nearly 1,200 people to about 400, and a new fleet of freight cars were the railway’s attempt to live inside its traffic. Milk was leaving for the highway. On June 26, 1953, the unions struck, the first time they ever had. The shutdown lasted three weeks. Freight came back. Passengers did not. The later 1950s were briefly kinder. By 1960 the only cut left was in the work rules.

President William Ginsburg wanted two operating divisions instead of three. Crews had long changed at Rutland: Bellows Falls or Bennington into Rutland, Rutland to Alburgh, Alburgh to Ogdensburg. The new plan met the trains at Burlington and ran them through. The men walked out on September 16, 1960. A federal injunction under the Railway Labor Act ended that strike on November 1, after 41 days, and started a year of cooling off. The year changed nothing. On September 25, 1961, the strike resumed, and the last Rutland train ran that day.

The company applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission for abandonment of the entire railroad on December 4, 1961. Hearings ran seven days in Rutland and two in Malone in March and April 1962. On September 18, 1962, the Commission approved abandonment effective January 29, 1963. The Railway Labor Executives’ Association won an injunction in Cleveland on January 28, and the effective date moved to May 20, 1963, so Vermont could find a buyer. In mid-June the unions and the company did settle. The railroad was already gone.

Former Rutland RS3s at Louisville Kentucky after sale to the Louisville and Nashville April 4 1963

Former Rutland RS3s at Louisville, Kentucky, April 4, 1963, after the sale to the Louisville & Nashville. American-Rails.com collection. Eight of the nine left via the Delaware & Hudson at Rutland. No. 206 was shipped from Ogdensburg. On the L&N they were 256–264.

What Vermont kept

On May 29, 1963, the legislature passed a $2.7 million bill so the state could buy pieces of the Rutland and lease them to operators. The purchase of the Vermont lines closed in August 1963: Burlington south through Rutland toward Bennington and White Creek, and the line from Rutland to Bellows Falls. The Ogdensburg extension, and the causeway from Burlington across the islands to Alburgh, were left out and taken up. The causeway is the Island Line Rail Trail. A 31-mile piece of the old Ogdensburg line, Norfolk to Ogdensburg, came back under the Vermont Rail System in 2002 as the New York & Ogdensburg.

The Vermont Railway was incorporated October 25, 1963. Jay Wulfson, from the Middletown & New Jersey, was the first president. The first train ran January 6, 1964, on 128.6 miles the state had bought south of Burlington. Nelson Blount took operating rights from Rutland to Bellows Falls, called the railroad the Green Mountain, and in 1964 leased RS-1 405, which the Green Mountain bought outright on April 1, 1965. She is still in Vermont. The two roads, and the green and yellow that came off the Rutland’s Alcos, are the Vermont Rail System.

Related reading on American-Rails.com

Sources

  • Drury, George H. Guide to North American Steam Locomotives. Revised ed. Waukesha: Kalmbach, pp. 281–282. Since-1900 class table; NYC numbers 1905–1913; Ten-Wheelers; Consolidations and Whippet No. 28; USRA Mikados; Pacifics including K-2 in 1929 and the 28-inch stroke; Mountains 90–93 as the last commercial 4-8-2s, retired 1955; switchers, including 107 from the Clarendon & Pittsford in 1946 and USRA 0-8-0s 109–110; diesel purchase as scrap down-payment on nine RS-3s (one a demonstrator), six RS-1s, and a GE 70-tonner. Recommended reading named there: Jim Shaughnessy, The Rutland Road, second edition
  • Rutland Railroad Historical Society timeline. Charter November 1, 1843; first train December 18, 1849; reorganization effective July 9, 1867; leases of 1870; Central Vermont lease and the return on May 7, 1896; 1899–1901 consolidations; Webb May 1, 1902; NYC control 1904–05; New Haven half-interest February 1911; Panama Canal Act water rule July 1, 1914; USRA December 28, 1917–March 1, 1920; flood November 3–5, 1927; Chatham passenger June 25, 1932; receivership May 5, 1938; Whippet January 9, 1939; stock sold by NYC and New Haven in 1941; Railway November 1, 1950; Chatham abandonment May 20, 1953; strike June 26, 1953; strikes of September 16, 1960, and September 25, 1961; ICC dates through May 20, 1963; Vermont funding bill May 29, 1963
  • Rutland Railroad Historical Society diesel roster, and the July 31, 1962 Rutland Railway Corp. chart published in the society Newsliner (Robert W. Adams, “How Rutland RS1 #405 Became GMRC #405”). RS-3 serials 78252–80158 and build dates; RS-1 401–405 serials 79350 and 79572–79575; demonstrator 200; L&N 256–264; RS-1 and 70-ton dispositions. RS-1 400 serial 79349 from the society roster
  • The Diesel Shop, John Komanesky, GE 70-ton production roster. Rutland 500, serial 31175, order 281-7040, December 1951. Same figures on the American-Rails 70-tonner page
  • Shaughnessy, Jim. The Rutland Road. Second edition. Howell-North. The “nowhere to nowhere” line, the milk trains, and the operating narrative behind the society timeline. Railroad magazine, November 1922, p. 130; August 1946, p. 33; April 1970, p. 26. Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin No. 101, p. 82. Trains, March 1946, p. 34
  • Railfan & Railroad. “Silence in Rutland: Epilogue.” The 41-day strike of 1960, the cooling-off year, RS-3s stored at Rutland, No. 206 shipped from Ogdensburg, and the April 4, 1963, delivery to the Louisville & Nashville

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    Great Northern steam locomotives built since 1900. Drury quantity column 1,376. Rebuilds counted once, 1,178 frames. Last steam run was in August 1957.

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  12. Illinois Railway Museum Adds Three Burlington Gallery Cars

    Nov 13, 26 01:54 PM

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    The Illinois Railway Museum says Burlington gallery coaches 702 and 709 and cab car 791 arrived on November 11, 2026.

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  13. Great Northern Railway: Map, Logo, Rosters, History

    Nov 13, 26 01:41 PM

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    James J. Hill and the Great Northern, from the St. Paul and Pacific to the last spike near Scenic on January 6, 1893, and into Burlington Northern at 12:01 a.m. on March 2, 1970. Steam and diesel rost…

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  14. West Chester Lists Its 2026 Holiday Trains

    Nov 13, 26 01:25 PM

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    The West Chester Railroad lists a 2026 Christmas Tree Train at 8 a.m. and a separate Santa Express of 75 minutes. The event pages do not print a calendar.

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  15. Burlington Northern Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Nov 13, 26 12:49 PM

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    Burlington Northern diesel roster of locomotives bought new from 1970 through December 30, 1996. Electro-Motive and General Electric, with builder serials and order numbers. Predecessor fleets stay on…

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  16. Atherton Train Station Museum Opens in the Old Depot

    Nov 13, 26 12:21 PM

    The Almanac reports that the Atherton Train Station Museum opened October 18 with six dioramas in the old depot beside Town Center.

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  17. Manheim and Lititz Study a Strasburg Excursion

    Nov 13, 26 12:15 PM

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    LancasterOnline reports that a working group and the Strasburg Rail Road are studying passenger trips between Manheim and Lititz if a line purchase goes through.

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  18. Berkshire Scenic Railway Works to Replace Burned RDC

    Nov 13, 26 09:53 AM

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    A fire on October 24, 2026 damaged New Haven 41 at the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum. Volunteers are trying to finish Boston and Maine 6126 for the Tinseliner.

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  19. Conway Scenic Lists the Winter Mountaineer

    Nov 13, 26 12:37 AM

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    Conway Scenic Railroad lists Winter Mountaineer trips from North Conway on select dates from November 28, 2026, through March 2027.

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  20. Burlington Northern Railroad: Map, Logo, History

    Nov 12, 26 05:29 PM

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    Burlington Northern, formed at 12:01 a.m. on March 2, 1970 from the Hill Lines. Powder River coal, the Frisco merger of November 21, 1980, and the Santa Fe combination of 1995–96. The diesel ros…

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  21. Age of Steam Roundhouse Receives Chesapeake & Ohio 1308

    Nov 12, 26 04:05 PM

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    Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1308 has arrived at the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in Sugarcreek, Ohio, from Huntington, West Virginia.

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  22. Hoosier Valley Santa Trains Begin November 21

    Nov 12, 26 03:59 PM

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    The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum lists Santa trains on five Saturdays from November 21 through December 19, 2026, leaving North Judson, Indiana.

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  23. Strasburg Rail Road Closes for Track Replacement

    Nov 12, 26 12:44 PM

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    The Strasburg Rail Road homepage says the railroad is closed for track replacement until November 21, 2026.

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  24. Union Pacific Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Nov 12, 26 12:22 PM

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    Union Pacific diesel roster with builder serials and order numbers. Alco, Baldwin, Fairbanks-Morse, Electro-Motive, and General Electric. Merger partners keep their own roster pages.

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  25. Escanaba & Lake Superior Weighs a Trail on the Wells Grade

    Nov 12, 26 12:15 PM

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    Michigan and the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad are discussing a sale of 60 miles of inactive grade between Wells and Channing for a trail, with the grade kept for possible rail use.

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  26. Oklahoma Railway Museum Repaints Santa Fe FP45 90

    Nov 12, 26 11:58 AM

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    The Oklahoma Railway Museum is repainting Santa Fe FP45 90 in the blue-and-yellow Freight Bonnet it wore as 5990. The museum does not plan to operate the locomotive.

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  27. Pullmans Move Toward a Chicago Home With a Norfolk Southern Switch

    Nov 12, 26 11:49 AM

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    Friends of the Pullman National Historical Park held a spike-setting on November 9, 2026. Norfolk Southern has installed a switch and committed $250,000 toward a future rail connection.

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  28. Sloss Furnaces Entrance Gets a Norfolk Southern Grant

    Nov 12, 26 11:44 AM

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    Norfolk Southern awarded a $146,460 Thriving Communities grant to the Sloss Furnaces Foundation for the 32nd Street entrance in Birmingham.

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  29. Union Pacific 2-10-2 5511 Passes Its First Steam Test

    Nov 12, 26 12:12 AM

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    Union Pacific 2-10-2 5511 passed a steam test at Silvis, Illinois. Railfan and Railroad reports a summer 2027 target. A November 6 Trains report had no immediate operating plan.

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  30. Union Pacific Steam Roster

    Nov 12, 26 12:03 AM

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    Union Pacific steam locomotives built since 1900. Oregon Short Line, Los Angeles and Salt Lake, and Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company numbers, with the 4-12-2s, Challengers, Big Boys…

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  31. Union Pacific Railroad: Map, History, Logo

    Nov 11, 26 11:56 PM

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    The Union Pacific, from the Pacific Railway Act of July 1, 1862, and Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, through E. H. Harriman and the mergers that built the modern railroad. Steam and diesel rosters…

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  32. Texas and Pacific Railway: Map, History, Timetables

    Nov 10, 26 10:33 PM

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    The Texas & Pacific Railway, the federally chartered southern transcontinental that stopped at Sierra Blanca and became the Missouri Pacific's Texas and Louisiana main line. Merged October 15, 1976.

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  33. Texas and Pacific Steam Locomotives: Texas Types and Mountains

    Nov 10, 26 10:30 PM

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    Texas & Pacific steam: 70 Lima 2-10-4 Texas types, 600-669, classes I-1 through I-1d, and 10 Mountains, 900-909. No. 610 is at Palestine.

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  34. Texas and Pacific Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Nov 10, 26 10:29 PM

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    All-time diesel roster of locomotives built for the Texas & Pacific. 246 units: E7s, E8s, 83 F7A and 35 F7B, NW2s, SW7s, SW8s, SW9s, GP7s, GP9s, GP18s, and GP35s. Serials and order numbers.

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  35. Santa Fe-Southern Pacific Railroad: Merger, History, Paint Scheme

    Nov 10, 26 10:07 PM

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    The proposed Santa Fe-Southern Pacific merger, from the 1980 attempt and the 1983 holding company through the ICC denial, the Kodachrome paint, and the sale of the Southern Pacific.

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  36. CSX Santa Train Will Feature Locomotives 250 and 2026

    Nov 10, 26 01:51 PM

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    The CSX Santa Train will feature locomotives 250 and 2026 on November 21, 2026. The 84th running covers 110 miles from Shelbiana, Kentucky, to Kingsport, Tennessee.

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  37. Denton County Asks to Extend Stadler Car Relief

    Nov 10, 26 01:05 PM

    Denton County Transit Authority has asked the FRA to extend a waiver for its Stadler diesel multiple-unit cars. Comments run to January 11, 2027.

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  38. FreightCar America Reports Third-Quarter Results

    Nov 10, 26 01:02 PM

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    FreightCar America reported third-quarter revenue of $76.5 million and 662 railcar deliveries. Backlog stood at 2,660 cars valued at $284.5 million.

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  39. Amtrak Has Filed a Train Control Amendment

    Nov 10, 26 12:53 PM

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    Amtrak asked the FRA on October 26, 2026, to amend the safety plan for its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System. Comments are due November 30, 2026.

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  40. SunRail Signal Waiver Is Open for Comment

    Nov 10, 26 12:25 PM

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    FRA has asked for comment on a petition to extend signal-testing relief on the Central Florida Rail Corridor. The notice names both the corridor and CSXT. Comments run to January 11, 2027.

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  41. Cars and Units Rose With BNSF Third-Quarter Earnings

    Nov 10, 26 12:18 PM

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    Berkshire Hathaway reports that after-tax BNSF earnings increased 19.3 percent in the third quarter of 2026, with car and unit volumes up 3.9 percent.

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  42. Amtrak Chicago Platforms Are Moving Toward Level Boarding

    Nov 10, 26 12:13 PM

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    Amtrak says construction is underway soon on the first level boarding platforms at Chicago Union Station, a 112 million dollar, 30-month project.

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  43. Maryland Has New Penn Line Times on November 16

    Nov 10, 26 12:07 PM

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    MARC Penn Line schedules change on November 16, 2026, after Amtrak trains return to regular schedules. Weekend southbound trains are unchanged.

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  44. Building Contract for Metrolink Sidings Goes to Granite

    Nov 10, 26 12:00 PM

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    Granite says Metrolink awarded a 51.5 million dollar SCORE contract for sidings near downtown Los Angeles and in Rancho Cucamonga.

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  45. EMD "F2" Locomotives: Specs, Roster, History

    Nov 10, 26 12:22 AM

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    EMD F2, the 1,350-horsepower bridge between the FT and the F3. 104 locomotives, July through November 1946. Spotting features, specifications, and the production roster.

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  46. Southern Pacific Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Nov 10, 26 12:08 AM

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    Southern Pacific diesel roster with builder serials, order numbers, Texas and New Orleans numbers, and the 1965 renumbering. Alco, Baldwin, Fairbanks-Morse, Electro-Motive, General Electric, Krauss-Ma…

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  47. Southern Pacific Steam Roster: Post 1900

    Nov 09, 26 11:56 PM

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    Southern Pacific steam locomotives built since 1900. Pacific Lines, Texas and Louisiana Lines, cab-forwards, the GS 4-8-4s, and five narrow-gauge Ten-Wheelers. The quantity column counts the rows as p…

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  48. Canal Street Yard Assessment Stays Open Through December 7

    Nov 09, 26 01:07 PM

    The FRA signed the Canal Street Yard environmental assessment on November 6, 2026. Public inspection runs through December 7, and meeting dates are not confirmed.

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  49. NS Legacy Cab-Signal Comments Are Due November 9

    Nov 09, 26 01:05 PM

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    The FRA must receive comments by November 9, 2026, on a Norfolk Southern plan to drop legacy cab signals on 14 line segments and rely on positive train control.

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  50. Elimination Grant of $27.8 Million Reaches Scott Road in Allen County

    Nov 09, 26 12:53 PM

    Allen County received $27,878,116, also stated as $27.8 million, to design and build a grade separation where Scott Road crosses Norfolk Southern.

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