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Vermont Railroads and Railfanning In "The Green Mountain State"

While Vermont railroads once featured celebrated lines like the Rutland Railroad, Boston & Maine, Central Vermont Railway and the Delaware & Hudson, unfortunately it carries a similar statistic that most New England states would rather not have, it now longer includes a large, Class I railroad. However, the Green Mountain State continues to be served by two, Class II regionals, a handful of shortlines, and is a major tourist attraction with excursion trains like the famous Green Mountain Flyer carrying riders through the breathtaking Vermont countryside. If you are interested in visiting the state and seeing its trains there are few others that such beautiful topography. And, if the time is available, I would certainly recommend taking a ride aboard one of Vermont's excursion trains. Also, please be aware that as a means of providing more information there are additional links to other pages here at the site which relate to Vermont railroads.

Vermont railroads date back to 1843 when the Vermont Central Railroad was chartered to connect Windsor with Burlington, a distance of roughly 103 miles. The first segment was completed in June of 1848 connecting White River Junction with Bethel, and the entire line was opened on December 31st, 1849. The railroad eventually became part of the Central Vermont Railway, a fabled New England line that eventually connected northern/central Vermont with central Massachusetts, reaching as far south as New London, Connecticut.

At the railroad's height of independence it controlled the Rutland Railroad but bankruptcy in the late 19th century forced it to lose control of the nearby company. Soon after in the early 20th century the Central Vermont came under the control of the Grand Trunk Railway, a Canadian National subsidiary. It remained under CN control until 1995 when it was sold to the New England Central Railroad, an important shortline system in the region.

While Vermont was home to railroads like the B&M, Central Vermont, and D&H perhaps its most legendary railroad was the Rutland Railroad, which even named itself after the state, The Green Mountain Gateway. To learn more about all of the classic lines to serve Vermont please check out the links below.

Rutland Railroad

Central Vermont Railway

Delaware & Hudson

Boston & Maine

Today, Vermont railroads, along with the Vermont Rail System are the realm of regionals and shortlines like the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Claremont Concord Railroad, Clarendon & Pittsford Railroad, New Hampshire Central Railroad, St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railway, Vermont Railway, Washington County Railroad, New England Central Railroad and Pan Am Railways. For more information concerning Vermont's current railroads please click here to visit the state's career page, which provides brief overviews of each company.

Additionally, passenger service can still be found in the Green Mountain State with Amtrak operating the Vermonter between St. Albans and Washington D.C. and the Ethan Allen Express between Rutland and New York City. Historically, Vermont was never home to any important or significant streamlined passenger trains although lines like the Rutland, D&H, and Boston & Maine offered local/regional service to the state. To learn more about Amtrak's current services in Vermont please click here to visit their website.

Lastly, Vermont railroads offer some of the most spectacular excursion trains in the country with the Green Mountain Railroad offering splendid views of the Vermont countryside aboard one of its many tourist trains. Also, be sure and visit the New England Transportation Museum to learn more about Vermont's railroad history.

Today, Vermont railroads operate over 500 miles of track although at one time the Green Mountain State featured a rail network of nearly 1,100 miles. While not a particularly large number the state was once an important agricultural producer, particularly in milk and related products which sustained the Rutland for years. Today, many of the state's secondary and branch lines that served these farming interests have long since been abandoned as it retains just 52% of its original rail infrastructure (which is about average for most states, which have seen similar declines). For more information on Vermont railroads in terms of route mileage over the years please refer to the chart above.

Finally, for more about Vermont railroad museums and excursion trains please click here. The guide is broken down by state and covers most such facilities found around the country. Also, for great reading about a few now-abandoned Vermont rail lines please click here. Lastly, the links below provide a bit more history regarding Vermont railroads.

Vermont Interurbans

Surviving Vermont Train Stations

Please Click Here To Return To The Main States Section

For more reading about New England's railroad history you might want to consider a copy of Lost Railroads of New England (2nd Edition) by author Ron Karr, which is an update to the original 1989 edition. As the title implies the book explores the history of railroads that once served the region and has been given excellent reviews by readers. Another book of Mr. Carr's covering the subject is The Rail Lines of Southern New England: A Handbook of Railroad History, which has also been given very good reviews. In any event, if you're interested in perhaps purchasing one, or both, of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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