Rutland Railroad

Rutland Railroad
Company type	Railroad
Industry	Rail transport
Predecessor	Rutland & Burlington Railroad
Founded	1843
Defunct	1963
Fate	Abandoned; assets acquired by State of Vermont and operated by Vermont Railway
Headquarters	Rutland, Vermont, United States
Area served	Northeastern United States (Vermont, New York)
Key people	Charles Linsley (legal counsel and board member; first Vermont railroad commissioner)
Products	Passenger and freight rail services (notably dairy products freight)

The Rutland Railroad served the northeastern United States, with its main operations centered in Vermont and extensions reaching into New York. After halting operations in 1961, segments of the line were acquired by the State of Vermont in 1963 and are currently operated by the Vermont Railway.

Construction and early years

Initially chartered in 1843 as the Rutland & Burlington Railroad to link Rutland and Burlington, Vermont, the company transitioned into the Rutland Railroad by 1867. Charles Linsley played a significant role during this period, holding legal responsibilities and board membership, and was appointed as Vermont’s inaugural railroad commissioner in 1855, underscoring the railroad’s early prominence.

From 1871 until 1896, Rutland was leased to Central Vermont, regaining autonomy after Central Vermont entered receivership. The New York Central Railroad briefly took control in 1904 but divested half of its shares to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in 1911, illustrating strategic industry alliances.

A notable infrastructure achievement occurred in 1901 when Rutland completed a series of causeways and trestles spanning Lake Champlain through the Champlain Islands, connecting Burlington to Rouses Point, New York. This provided an independent route to Canada without reliance on rival railroads. The company also shared a distinctive gauntlet track bridge over the Richelieu River with Central Vermont to maximize infrastructure efficiency. This causeway has since been repurposed as the Island Line Trail for recreational use.

Rutland's rail network extended southeast from Rutland to Bellows Falls on the Connecticut River and southward to North Bennington and Chatham, New York. Chatham served as a vital interchange for routes to New York City and Massachusetts via major railroads until the North Bennington-Chatham branch was abandoned in 1953; passenger services on this branch had ceased by 1931.

Among its passenger offerings were prominent trains such as the daytime Green Mountain Flyer and nighttime Mount Royal, which connected Montreal with New York City through Rutland’s lines.

The railroad’s freight business was heavily oriented toward dairy products, especially milk. At its height, Rutland’s system formed an inverted “L” shape stretching from Chatham northward to Alburgh, Vermont, then westward to Ogdensburg, New York on the St. Lawrence River, with its northern end reaching Noyan, Quebec. In 1925, Rutland reported freight revenues amounting to 259 million net ton-miles and passenger traffic of 38 million miles over a network comprising of road and track miles. By 1960, freight ton-miles had declined to 182 million across 391 route-miles and 476 track-miles.

Decline

Due to financial instability, Rutland entered receivership in 1938. To improve its financial position, various cost-saving measures were introduced, including reductions in wages. In March 1939, Vermont temporarily suspended tax obligations for two years to support recovery efforts. Although World War II brought a temporary increase in traffic revenue, subsequent declines intensified pressure to reduce operating expenses further. The loss-making Chatham Division—nicknamed the "Corkscrew"—was abandoned and dismantled in 1953, eliminating connections with New York Central lines at Chatham; freight traffic was redirected through Troy, NY. A corporate restructuring in 1950 resulted in renaming the company as Rutland Railway. A strike in 1953 terminated longstanding passenger services, while all steam locomotives were retired and scrapped by 1955 as a revenue-generating measure.

In early 1961, following additional strikes triggered by unaffordable wage demands and operational shifts relocating central activities from Rutland to Burlington—which entailed employee relocations and longer run times—the company sought approval from the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon its entire line. Permission was granted promptly, leading to cessation of operations that year. These labor disputes reflected resistance against divisional changes that national unions accepted too late to prevent closure.

The State of Vermont persuaded bankruptcy court in 1961 to postpone selling the railroad for scrap metal for two years while seeking a new operator. Ultimately, much of the line was purchased by the state in 1963 to maintain potential rail service.

Following formal abandonment proceedings completed in 1963, Vermont acquired most remaining rights-of-way, tracks, and facilities. However, a stretch measuring 132.4 miles between Burlington’s Union Station and Norwood, NY—including routes through Hero Islands, Alburgh, Rouses Point, and Malone—was closed in 1961, abandoned two years later, and dismantled by 1964. This resulted in Malone losing rail service after earlier abandonment of New York Central lines there. The westernmost portion of the Ogdensburg Division—26 miles between Ogdensburg and Norwood—remains intact and is operated by Vermont Railway; thus all remaining Rutland trackage is consolidated under one operator. Ownership along the Norwood-to-Burlington corridor is fragmented: a 21-mile segment from Norwood to Moira has been converted into the multi-use Rutland Trail; other abandoned sections have become parts of the Hudson and Delaware Rail Trail, Corkscrew Rail Trail, and Alburg Recreation Rail Trail. Since summer 2022, Amtrak has restored passenger service on this corridor between Rutland and Burlington via its extended Ethan Allen Express.

Steamtown

Prior to its relocation to Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Steamtown Foundation managed heritage train operations near the Bellows Falls endpoint, offering rides between the museum location and Chester, Vermont. Following Steamtown’s transfer, multiple tourist trains continued to operate utilizing the original Rutland equipment.

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Construction and early years

Decline

Steamtown

See also

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External links