Washington County

Company History: The WACR began service in 1980 as the designated operator of the state owned route formally run by the Montpelier & Barre Railroad in the Washington County region of Vermont. This arrangement lasted until February of 1999 when they turned the lease over to New England Central. NECR only ran it until that September when the Vermont Rail System took over the line. They re-established the Washington County Railroad as a wholly owned subsidiary to run it. An industry of note on the line was Bombardier’s transit car plant in Barre. The plant closed in 2002 but WACR has continued to move granite, lumber and silicon carbide on this route.

In 2003, WACR expanded by taking over operations on a route between Newport and White River Junction after the Iron Road Railways group fell into bankruptcy. This route formerly belonged to Boston & Maine and Canadian Pacific. Today the WACR is operated as a more or less seamless part of the greater Vermont Railway System.

Successor/Parent History: The Vermont Railway (reporting mark VTR) is a shortline railroad in Vermont and eastern New York, operating much of the former Rutland Railway. It is the main part of the Vermont Rail System, which also owns the Green Mountain Railroad, the Rutland's branch to Bellows Falls. The trackage is owned by the Vermont Agency of Transportation except in New York, where VTR operates a line owned by the Boston and Maine Corporation.

The Rutland Railway was the only north-south line through western Vermont. A strike shut it down on September 25, 1961. The Government of Vermont purchased the main line south of Burlington, as well as a branch to Bennington, 128.6 miles (207.0 km) total, and the new Vermont Railway, incorporated on Oct. 25, 1963, began operations on January 6, 1964. The company's first president was Jay Wulfson, who came from the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad.

In 1997, the Vermont Railway purchased the Green Mountain Railroad, which ran 52.2 miles (84.0 km) from Rutland to Bellows Falls. This led to the formation of an umbrella company, named the Vermont Rail System, which owned both railroads, as well as several other shortlines in Vermont and New York.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.