When Amtrak was founded in 1971, there were no passenger trains running north of Massachusetts or the Empire Service line in New York State. The were no passenger trains at all in the Adirondacks and northern New England, and the only train connecting the United States and Canada was a non-Amtrak operation between Buffalo and Toronto.
Today the Adirondack runs through the mountains to Montreal (when it does run), the Downeaster trains connect Boston with New Hampshire and Maine, and there are two trains in Vermont: the Vermonter in the eastern part the state and the Ethan Allan Express in the western part. There are profiles of those trains and the areas they serve later in this article.
Expansion in Fits and Starts
Northern New England, including Vermont, lost its passenger trains before many other regions of the country did. Maine had no scheduled passenger trains from 1965 until 2001. The same was true of New Hampshire, except for a short-lived non-Amtrak train between Boston and Nashua, Manchester, and Concord for one year in the late 1970s. The Connecticut River Line, with service run jointly on the New Haven, Boston & Maine (B&M), Central Vermont (CV), and Canadian National (CN) Railroads, consisted of two daily trains until 1966: the Ambassador, a day train (with a Boston section at one time), and the Montrealer northbound and the Washingtonian southbound (on the PRR south of New York). Today the CV is the New England Central Railroad, part of the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad system.
For its first five years or so, Amtrak was in an expansionary phase, and the Montrealer came back on September 30, 1972, and I was on the first trip to Montreal. Local politicians and the governor of Vermont welcomed the train at their stops. It carried a dining car and a lounge car with a piano, and Amtrak called the car “Le Pub,” an apparent bow to entertainment in Montreal and to create a party atmosphere for skiers riding to the slopes. The train later became the Montrealer both ways. The route changed from time to time due to poor track conditions and moved onto the southern portion of the CV route between New London and Brattleboro, passing through Palmer, Massachusetts (east of Springfield) in 1989, following a two-year suspension.
The Montrealer came to an end in 1995, when the Canadian portion of the line was discontinued and St. Albans, Vermont became the new northern terminal. The train was renamed the Vermonter and became a day train. It runs between St. Albans and Washington, D.C., and the schedule has changed little in the past 30 years, except that it detoured east from Springfield to Palmer and then north on the CV until conditions between Springfield and Brattleboro improved enough to restore service on that route. At one time there was also a connecting bus between St. Albans and Montreal, but that has been discontinued, too. Today there is talk of restoring the bus connection, and possibly even running through to Montreal again. Both are feasible, but time will tell if either of those events happen.
Like many trains, the daytime and overnight trains in New York State to Montreal ran for the last time on April 30, 1971. With State support, the Adirondack came back on August 6, 1974 on the Delaware & Hudson Railroad (D&H, now part of CPKC) as a day train, successor to the D&H’s Laurentian. That re-established service on the D&H, which the Ethan Allen Express also uses as far as a junction slightly south of Whitehall, New York. That train began running on Dec. 2, 1996. North of Whitehall, it runs on a former D&H branch to Rutland, now part of the Vermont Railway. Originally there was an intermediate stop at Fair Haven, which was moved to Castleton in 2010. It terminated at Rutland until July 29, 2022, when the route was extended north to Burlington and ridership increased dramatically.
Burlington is as close to being a “city” as Vermont has. It is the most-populous municipality in the state, with a population of about 45,000, and it is also home to the University of Vermont (UVM). The term “city” seems to have its own meaning in the Green Mountain State, Vergennes is the state’s oldest “city” with a population of 2553 in 2020. While there were occasional passenger trains of some sort serving Burlington, it and the region to the south did not host scheduled passenger trains from 1953, when the Rutland Railroad discontinued the Green Mountain Flyer and Mount Royal, until the Ethan Allen Express was extended in 2022. There were tourist excursions, and a local service, the Champlain Flyer, which ran only from 2000 until 2003. Today, Burlington’s 1916-vintage Union Station, on the shore of Lake Champlain and at the foot of Main Street, again hosts passenger trains daily.
Vermonter
The Connecticut River serves as Vermont’s eastern border with New Hampshire. The Vermonter train runs near the river, making nine stops in the Green Mountain State: Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Windsor, White River Junction (named after a river junction, but it later became a railroad junction), Montpelier Junction, Randolph, Waterbury, Essex Junction, and St. Albans. It also makes a brief foray into New Hampshire, and Amtrak added a stop at Claremont (Junction), probably to claim that it served the Granite State, before Downeaster trains began serving three communities there on its way to Maine.
I visited Windsor, Randolph, Waterbury and Montpelier on a 2012 trip with a friend who had a camper and was willing to undertake a 12-day ramble with me to see towns on the Adirondack and Vermonter routes and crossing Lake Champlain on a ferry. In August 2022, I stayed in White River Junction for several days, enough time to use the local bus system to visit nearby Vermont and New Hampshire towns, including Hanover, the home of Dartmouth College. The train schedule also allowed excursions to Bellows Falls and Brattleboro for an afternoon of sightseeing in each town. One piece of history that survives in White River Junction is the Coolidge Hotel, built in 1926 and with a provenance dating back to 1849. It was a classic “railroad hotel” located one block from the station, and visitors take the train and stay there today. It was not named after Calvin, who was POTUS 28 during the 1920s, but after his father, John. I took day trips from Burlington to visit the northernmost stops earlier this month.
The towns on the Vermonter route are all similar, yet they all seem to have their own character. They are quaint and attractive, with many old houses and historic commercial buildings in the downtown areas, which are small and easily walkable for able-bodied persons. In addition to being scenic, many of the towns along the route sport art galleries and museums, as well as history museums that tell their stories. The route is also somewhat scenic, with its long stretches of country between towns.
Ethan Allen Express
For the past three years, and after a 69-year absence, there is a train that serves western Vermont and runs as far north as Burlington, Vermont’s biggest city (or town, if you prefer). It comes from New York on the Empire Service line as far as Schenectady, continues on the Adirondack line (historic D&H) almost to Whitehall, and then goes to Vermont, stopping at Castleton, Rutland, Middlebury, Ferrisburgh, and terminating at Burlington’s historic Union Station.
Lake Champlain forms the western boundary of much of the state, although its eastern shore is only visible briefly south of Burlington (its western shore is the location for part of the Adirondack route, which delivers many more views of the lake. The towns along the route are like those on the route of the Vermonter, although they each have their own character, as well. Stone quarrying, especially marble and granite, is a major activity in the region (the state also produces large amounts of slate). The towns are scenic, especially Middlebury, which seems to typify Vermont more than any other town in the state that Amtrak serves. Ferrisburgh is apparently a sprawly town without a significant town center. The Ferrisburgh station (also called “Ferrisburgh/Vergennes”) is slightly more than one mile from downtown Vergennes, another town with old houses and a quaint, historic Main Street. The train terminates at Burlington, Vermont’s biggest city and hub for travel within the northern part of the state.
The route itself is new. Until 1953, the Rutland Railroad (parts of which are now the Vermont Rail System) served Rutland and Burlington from New York, using the old Harlem Line to Chatham in that state (now served by Metro-North for slightly more than half the original route, while the northern part was been converted into a “rail trail”) and getting to Rutland through Bennington and Manchester. When Burlington service was restored in 2022, the Vermont Rail System became the host railroad on the extension, with the station at a junction, which allows the train to change directions (the Rutland Railroad had a station called Center Rutland, which is still standing and is a museum today). The line is not particularly scenic, but Rutland is interesting, and Middlebury appears to typify towns in Vermont.
The consist is like other trains on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), running 1970s-vintage Amfleet I coaches and a snack car that also has business-class seats. There is a unit on each end, which is necessary for two reasons. Northbound, the train approaches the Rutland station from a southwesterly direction and leaves in the northwesterly direction, so it changes direction there. The yard where it ties up at Burlington is south of the station, and there is no opportunity to wye the consist or otherwise change direction at the station itself.
Exploring Northern Vermont
Burlington is worth seeing, and it is served directly by the Ethan Allen Express and indirectly by the Vermonter. The latter train requires a bus segment to and from Essex Junction on the #2 bus to or from downtown Burlington, a ride that takes 30 to 40 minutes. The connection to the morning departure is available seven days a week, but the bus stops running before the northbound arrival on Sundays.
This writer visited Burlington during the week after Labor Day and used local buses to visit eight other towns in the area, as well. Burlington is an attractive town, with a downtown area that encompasses about 20 square blocks. It has many historic government and commercial buildings. Church Street is unusual, in that it has been transformed into an auto-free pedestrian mall, without curbs, but with street furniture installed on the length of the auto-free segment, which contains many restaurants and stores. The streets running south of Main Street contain mostly houses from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Willard Street is the most scenic, with Victorian-era mansions, many of which are now part of Champlain College, a private institution. The University of Vermont (UVM) campus is interesting, too, with Old Mill, the school’s original building, and the Billings Library, designed by famed New England architect H.H. Richardson. The northern part of town has attracted immigrants for more than a century, resembles similar neighborhoods in Boston, and still contributes to Burlington’s multicultural flavor.
The food scene in town was disappointing, with few local specialties. There is lots of good beer, though, much of it made at local brewpubs. Soft ice cream (locals calls the flavors “creamies”) is popular, too, especially the “maple” flavor that is made with local maple syrup.
Bus service to towns beyond Green Mountain Transit’s local range is very limited. There are “commuter” routes to places like Montpelier and St. Albans, but the schedule only includes two runs for commuters and a single midday trip on weekdays only. The trip to St. Albans requires a 6:15 AM departure from Burlington, acceptable for a single visit, but very difficult for any local non-motorists.
Montpelier is the smallest state capital in the country (population about 8,000), and it also has old houses and a historic downtown area. The State House and the Vermont History Museum are worth visiting. Scheduling was tight, but there was also time for a short visit to the nearby town of Barre, which is served by a different bus route. It was tricky, but possible to schedule around the two “commuter runs,” a situation that applied to Middlebury and St. Albans trips, as well as to Montpelier.
Tri-Valley Transit, a different provider, operates the “commuter” service to Middlebury. On the morning run to that town, the driver and the two other passengers allowed me to take about two minutes to photograph the train station at “Ferrisburgh/Vergennes” as Amtrak calls it. Ferrisburgh does not have much of a town center, and the station is located more than two miles from it.
If there is one town that appears to epitomize the picture of a small Vermont town, Middlebury is it. I had about 4½ hours to explore the town and, while there was no time to waste, it was enough. The campus of Middlebury College consists mostly of beautiful, historic white stone buildings. Main Street and other streets in town sport a historic appearance, both houses and commercial buildings. The Henry Sheldon Museum contains interesting memorabilia from a local collector, and I managed to have time for some good food and beer for lunch. The two afternoon bus departures for Burlington were spaced 105 minutes apart, so that’s how much time I had to explore Vergennes. It was worthwhile, and enough.
Winooski, an old mill town, is located next to Burlington. It is served by the #2 bus, one of the busiest routes in the Burlington system. The Champlain Mill, which has been repurposed into an office building, also contains a local history museum and a separate museum about the mill and the textile industry. The bus route continues to Essex Junction and terminates at the Amtrak station there.
For railroad history, the town to visit is St. Albans, north of Burlington. For a full day in town, the last available bus leaves Burlington at 6:15 AM, which allows either 10 or 11 hours before the return trip. There is also a midday run that allows a shorter visit, but there is enough to do in St. Albans to spend all day there. The town was headquarters for the Central Vermont Railway (originally the Vermont Central), and the 1873 railroad office building is still standing. The train shed and much of the old yard that adjoined it are long gone, although the roundhouse to the north is still standing, too. Retired railroaders often gather at 9:15 AM to see Train 56 off as it leaves for New York and Washington. The town’s history museum, housed in an old school on historic Church Street, contains a wealth of information about the railroad and many other local topics, and seems impossible to see it all in the six hours it’s open. The town has some good local eateries, too. I chose to take the earlier of the two buses to Burlington, which allowed a bit of time to see Milton, a small town south of St. Albans, on the way.
History, Individualism, Lack of Transit
Understanding Vermont’s history should be considered part of the preparation to appreciate a visit to the Green Mountain State. The best place to start examining the conditions that made Vermont what it is today is the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier, located less than a block form the State House on State Street (also worth a visit). Vermont was the first state admitted to the Union after the country won its War for Independence. The colonial governments of New York and New Hampshire fought over competing land grants in what is now Vermont. Nonetheless, many Vermonters sided with the forces fighting for independence. Their leaders, especially Ethan Allen, are honored today, although the Ethan Allen Homestead near Burlington is not accessible on local transit. The locals were tired of the fighting between the neighboring governments and effectively declared their own independence (the Old Constitution House is a museum in Windsor). Toward the end of the war, there was a failed attempt to negotiate with the British, but differences were settled after the war was finally won, and Vermont became a state in 1791. Slavery was prohibited, a forward-thinking policy, especially for that era.
Vermonters apparently continue to maintain a strong independent streak. Sen. Bernie Sanders got his start in Burlington, and is still popular, as are his progressive policies. However, one “progressive” policy that is not observed in the state is providing significant transit service. It took a long time to extend the Ethan Allen Express route to its current length. Rail passengers can go between Vermont and points south, but not to or from Montreal, which is the nearest “big city” to many communities in the state. There has been occasional talk about running trains on the old Rutland Railroad through Bennington and Manchester, but no service has come from those efforts. There is also talk of reopening the branch on the CV (now part of CN) between Essex Junction and downtown Burington. Such a route might be a good candidate for the sort of operation proposed by Henry Posner III and others, using his “Pop-Up Metro” system, but the two endpoints are served by one of the most-frequent bus routes in the state, one of the few that runs a full span of service six days a week and daytime service on Sundays.
Several bus providers run routes throughout the state, but the level of service everywhere outside Burlington is very limited. Buses on many routes run three or four times a day, some on Saturdays and others only on weekdays, although they often connect with neighboring providers. Still, whatever access they offer to non-motorists and motorists alike is available only a few times during each service day, at most. Burlington has a relatively comprehensive set of local routes within its limits and a few nearby towns, but service is very limited beyond that local area.
The Burlington trip was interesting, and there was a lot to see. Still, transit is so limited that such a trip is not for anybody uninitiated in using limited transportation options. Like visiting White River Junction, Waterbury and other places in the state served by the Ethan Allen Express and the Vermonter, visitors need to accept Vermont as they encounter it, and as Vermonters like it. It has not been easy to get trains running in Vermont, and advocates such as those at the Vermont Rail Action Network helped get them going. Now visitors and Vermonters themselves appear to be enjoying them.
