History of the Rutland railroad and its connection to New York City

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Rutland railroad in the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s traveled to many places in Vermont, and also expanded to more populated, dense cities in other states. Some of the more populated places the Rutland Railroad traveled to were parts of Canada, Boston, and New York. The railroad to New York became more popular over time with many tourists traveling from New York to Vermont and many traveling from Vermont to New York. To late 1800’s early 1900’s New York’s population was almost 2 million. Not only did the Rutland Railroad take people from Vermont to New York, and vice versa, the Rutland Railroad was also known for carrying infamous dairy products from Vermont. Cheese, milk, and other specialty dairy products from Vermont were a high demand in New York City.

Images

Rutland train in Chatham, New York

Old Rutland train

Modern day Rutland train

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The main line of the Rutland Railroad ran from Bellows Falls, Vermont to Rouses Point New York. This mainline connected to Boston via the Boston and Maine. Rouses Point connected with the Canadian National that went to Montreal, Quebec. A smaller hub from North Bennington ran south to West Creek that connected to the Boston and Maine and the New York Central to New York City. The railroad ran across upper New York from Alburg to Ogdensburg on the St. Lawrence River, and from Bennington to Chatham, New York. Chatham was a major junction of connections via the New York Central to New York City and the Boston and Albany Railroad Service to Massachusetts. In 1904, the Rutland Railroad was even sold to the New York Central Railroad for a brief amount of time before selling half of its shares to the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad in 1911. After being bought by New York Central Interests, the Rutland railroad expanded and continued to expand. During this time when the Rutland railroad was expanding, it created a bigger industry for the railroad. Expanding into parts of Canada and parts in Massachusetts, including Boston, the Rutland railroad has become the most popular railroad in Vermont, because of the New York Central Interests.

Not only Rutland, but other popular railroads in Vermont also had a major role in the booming industry of railroads in Vermont. The Bennington railroad was also a major railroad used to travel to populated cities. The Bennington railroad traveled a lot through the Rutland train station on its way to New York City.

In conclusion, the Rutland railroad has a long and large history. It's been around for over 100 years. More specifically, the Rutland railroads ties with New York and New York City helped expand the railroad into other states and cities because of the growth of its popularity. The Rutland railroad is one of the most popular and famous historical things and sites of Vermont. With the help of New York City, the Rutland railroad became a booming business in Vermont that is still famous to this day.

Sources

Bibliography:

“Rutland R.R.: When Rail Was King.” Sun Community News & Printing, 21 Dec. 2017, https://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/the-vermont-eagle/rutland-r-r-when-rail-was-king/.

“Rutland Railroad.” American, https://www.american-rails.com/rutland.html.

“Rutland Railroad.” Rutland, http://www.r2parks.net/RUT.html.

“Rutland Railroad.” American, AmericanRails, https://www.american-rails.com/rutland.html.

“Rutland Railroad Archive.” Rutland Railroad Archive, WordPress, http://sites.middlebury.edu/rutlandrr/.