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In 1916 There Were 14 Passenger Trains a Day Running Through Vermont; Their History is FascinatingLongtime Amtrak employee and lover of all things railroad,Bill Brigham, gave a speech in Randolph about the history ofwhat would become The Vermonter route from Washington,D.C. to Montreal.Compass Vermont thanks Ginger Brigham Cook for sharingher father’s speech with us so that we could share it with you.Welcome.There is interesting history here in Randolph.In 1845 there was a movement headed by Governor Paineof orthfield to build the railroad from hite iver to ssex, but the other proposal was to go through the east sideby way of illiamstown ulf.overnor aine had land and business in orthfield so itwas built his way and through est andolph. y skippingMontpelier and Barre there were investors in those towns thatweren’t happy to be on a branch line instead of the mainline.There was a small station built in 1850 along with a freighthouse on the other side of the tracks. Parts of the originalfreight house were moved across the tracks to be incorporatedinto a new structure,The new station was built in similar in design to randon and St. Armand, Quebec. The freight house was built onthe other side where we know it now. est andolph becameRandolph and the town grew towards the railroad.The new station incorporated a bay window for the operatorto see the trains coming and also the west side of the interiorwas for women and the east side was for men. The clock wasgiven to the station by the local grange and they maintained ituntil 1941 when it was given to the town.It was a manual wind and wound by a town employee oncea week.People were eager to have a good passenger train servicebecause of dirt roads and bad tires.In there were passenger trains a day through andolph. In 1931 there were 10 trains a day.In between, there was the flood which tore out a lot oftrack on the railroad. entral ermont couldnt afford to rebuild and it was sold at auction to the anadian ational ailroad who financed the reconstruction and service was restored.There were businesses that used the freight services Salisbury Furniture, the three milk plants oods, hiting, andUnited Farmers, grain and farm supplies astern States,Dustin, and irthmore, L.. reenwood got farm euipmenton flat cars.The freight house received damaged freight from the CV inSt. Albans and it was auctioned off here in Randolph under thecanopy at the station.e bought a bathtub and my wifes desk at those auctions,but I remember how my father got a case of Corn Flakes thatseemed to go on forever.Over the years there have been special movements. One thatcomes to mind is a train made up of 39 Pullman cars that weregoing to Halifax to pick up stranded passengers because thereBill Brighamwas a dock strike in New York.In 1965 there were still six passenger trains a day. One eventthat I remember occurred when my sister and I were on thetrain to Bethel where we went for piano lessons each week.There were often four or five men in three piece suits and hatswho would get on here in Randolph and get off in Bethel.hen my lesson was over I would walk back to the stationand they would be sitting against the fence with paper bags.I would go into the station to hear the telegraph and the bellthat would ring when a train cleared Roxbury, and read oldtimetables from other railroads.The train would come in and we and the men would get onthe train. The men then would proceed to give the conductor ahard time all the way to Randolph.Later I learned andolph was a dry town and ethelwet. After a few minutes, the conductor would open the cardoor and call out andolphandolph. ack then there wasa gum machine on the side of the station which for a pennyyou could get a wrapped piece of gum.There was a guy who would get off the Railway Postal carand pick up the mail from the east and west mailboxes thatwere on each end of the platform. In the springtime chickswould come in (the peep chorus) and be in the waiting roomuntil they were picked up.In 1955 there were three sections of the Barnum and Baileycircus train that came through with steam engines. e went tothe Circus in Montpelier that night.In 1995 the word came down that they were going to closedown the Montrealer and it was fought for but lost. But theState of ermont came up with a plan to run a statesubsidizedtrain from St. Albans to Springfield, ass.I took the last Montrealer south and at St. Albans saw theeuipment for the ew ermonter. The next day it was welcomed at various stations on the route.Later I heard indsor was applying for a stop, I thoughtandolph is halfway between ontpelier Jct. and hite iverJct. and Carolyn Tonelli who represented the village trusteestown government, applied for a stop in Randolph.Senator Aiken had said many people who had moved toermont wanted to travel back to ew York and so that philosophy was in place ... The stop was granted thanks to a heavyRandolph lobbying effort. Train travel is comfortable in wideseats and ample legroom. You can get up and walk. The ride issmooth because of the use of welded rail. If you are going tothe cities on the Northeast Corridor, the Vermonter is the wayto go. hen gas prices rise, it looks more financially attractive. There are snacks and IFI on board. So next time I urgeyou to take the Vermonter, which can take you all the way toashington, D.Compass Vermont will continue to follow this story. 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