The Rutland Railroad, The Green Mountain Gateway

The Rutland Railroad was a fabled system located in the New England area. Based out of Rutland, Vermont the railroad is best remembered for the large amount of milk and dairy products it moved over its system and its classic forest green and yellow livery. The railroad finally succumbed to a long battle of money troubles in the early 1960s when a strike collapsed any hope of the Rutland Railroad staying solvent as it shutdown operations in 1961. Today, happily, much of the former Rutland Railroad system is still operated by successor Green Mountain Railroad, which hauls both freight and excursion passenger service over the line, much to the delight of the thousands of passengers which arrive annually to ride aboard its popular trains.

The Rutland & Burlington in 1867 reorganizes itself into the now well-known Rutland Railroad. From this point forward the Rutland would marginally grow through leasing railroads like the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Railroad and the Addison Railroad, and purchasing the 50-mile Chatham and Lebanon Railroad.

With leased lines included the Rutland Railroad extended just over 400 miles in total on a system that looked a bit like an upside-down “L”; extending from Chatham, New York to Alburgh, Vermont with a western extension from Alburgh to Ogdensburgh, New York. The railroad’s one major branch line extended from Rutland southeasterly to Bellows Falls where it connected with the B&M.

For all of the fondness and status that surrounded the Rutland, particularly by the people of Vermont, the railroad struggled to survive for most of its life. Trouble first began in 1871 when it was leased to the Central Vermont, which held control of the Rutland until the CV entered receivership in 1896 allowing the railroad to regain its independence.

However, it again fell under the control of an outside railroad when the New York Central gained control of the Rutland in 1904 selling half its interest to the New Haven Railroad in 1911. Together both owned 52% of the railroad’s common stock until 1941 when they sold their interest in the company.

Things took a turn for the worst in 1927 when that year major flooding in the Vermont region heavily damaged large sections of the Rutland’s right-of-way. Then, in May of 1938 the railroad entered receivership and was on the verge of total shutdown until the unions agreed to a wage reduction in August that kept the railroad operating.

However, just 15 years later the Rutland Railroad was in trouble again (having already reorganized in 1950 to become the Rutland Railway), this time with a strike as the railroad’s organized workers would not comply with a new change in operational practices, which was to move the center of the railroad’s operations from Rutland to Vermont's larger city of Burlington.

The grant was approved in September of 1962 and on January 29th, 1963 the Rutland ceased to exist. Thankfully, in a proactive move the State of Vermont purchased all of the remaining Rutland property and today it is under the direction of the Vermont Rail System which includes the Vermont Railway and Green Mountain Railway, both of which derive their livery from the Rutland.

While the Rutland Railroad was never a large carrier, even in its own region, it was in many ways the face of Vermont itself and is remembered for its classic green and gold livery and long trains of milk. To learn more about the Rutland please visit one of the below websites:

During the Rutland Railroad’s over 100-year history it owned quite an interesting collection of locomotives. It’s steam locomotive fleet, while never large, featured everything from Mikados to Pacifics.

The Rutland also owned a small fleet of diesels, although because the railroad shutdown in 1961 it was very small. Interestingly, the Rutland must have been very pleased with Alco during its operation of steam locomotives as it stuck with the builder when it replaced its steam fleet with diesels.

For an all-time diesel locomotive roster of the Rutland Railroad please click here. Also, please click here to locate preserved Rutland diesel locomotives.

The American Locomotive Company

General Electric

For information regarding surviving Rutland steam locomotives please click here.

Following the shutdown of the Rutland in 1961 it was resurrected just a few years later in 1964. That year F. Nelson Blount created the Green Mountain Railroad. Using a forest green and yellow livery inspired directly from the Rutland (it’s virtually identical) the Green Mountain was started by Mr. Blount to operate his collection of steam locomotives. While Mr. Blount passed away a few years after creating his new tourist railroad, which eventually became part of the National Park Service’s Steamtown, USA located in Scranton, Pennsylvania the Green Mountain Railroad lived on and split off as its own operation. Today, the railroad hauls both passengers and freight and has been widely acclaimed as the top tourist railroad in New England with its spectacular views of Vermont's Green Mountain Range and onboard train services.

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