Addison

Company History: Addison Railroad was established in 1870 backed by principles from the Rutland Railway who were seeking a way to cross Lake Champlain from Vermont into New York and directly compete against Vermont Central for traffic between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic. Addison ran west from a connection with Rutland at Leicester Junction, Vermont to the lake at a point where it was 1,830 feet from bank to bank. A wooden trestle was built across most of the distance. In the middle was a 300’ pontoon swing bridge that would allow the lake’s boat traffic to pass. The line continued on a short distance to Fort Ticonderoga, New York where they connected with the Whitehall & Plattsburgh Railroad that was building north along the west bank of the lake to iron mines at Port Henry. The grand plans were short lived. Vermont Central leased the Rutland in 1871 to prevent them from completing a through route on the New York side of the lake. The connecting Whitehall & Plattsburgh fell into the hands of Delaware & Hudson. It’s likely the Addison Railroad became a paper railroad under the Rutland flag during this period. In 1900 (with their lease canceled) Rutland constructed another crossing near the north end of the lake at Rouses Point which eliminated most of the through traffic on the Addison. In 1920, a locomotive broke through the pontoon swing bridge and went straight to the bottom of the lake. From that point on, trains would be pushed across the swing bridge then coupled to another locomotive on the other side of the swing span. Rutland appears to have finally merged the Addison Railroad in 1951. The last train ran on this route in 1961.

Successor/Parent History: The Rutland Railroad (reporting mark RUT) was a railroad in the northeastern United States, located primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York at both its northern-most and southern-most ends. The earliest ancestor of the Rutland, the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, was chartered in 1843 by the state of Vermont to build between Rutland and Burlington. A number of other railroads were formed in the region, and by 1867 the Rutland & Burlington Railroad had changed its name to simply the Rutland Railroad.

Between 1871 and 1896 the Rutland Railroad was leased to the Central Vermont, regaining its independence when that road entered receivership. The New York Central Railroad briefly had a controlling interest in the Rutland from 1904, but sold half of its shares to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in 1911.

In 1901, the Rutland Railroad completed construction of a system of causeways and trestles across Lake Champlain, through the Champlain islands, to connect between Burlington, Vermont and Rouses Point, New York. The purpose of this construction was to give the Rutland access to Canada independent of the tracks of the competing Central Vermont. At the final approach to Rouses Point, though, both companies did end up sharing the same bridge over the Richelieu River by using an unusual gauntlet track that allowed sharing without the need for switches.[2] The causeway between Burlington and South Hero built at that time is today maintained as a recreation trail called The Island Line.[3] The company also had a line from Rutland, southeast to Bellows Falls, in southeastern Vermont, opposite New Hampshire, and a line from Rutland south to North Bennington, thence to Chatham, New York. Chatham was a major junction for connections via the New York Central to New York City and the Boston & Albany Railroad service to Massachusetts.

The Rutland's primary freight traffic was derived from dairy products and to many[by whom?] the railroad is fondly remembered for the long trains of milk that used to move over the system. At its peak the Rutland served about a 400-mile (600 km) system that roughly resembled an upside-down "L" running from Chatham, New York north to Alburgh, Vermont (the railroad's northernmost terminus was Noyan, Quebec) and thence west to Ogdensburg, New York along the St. Lawrence River. Never a solid financial operation, the Rutland entered receivership for the first time in 1938. Cost cutting, including wage reduction, brought things around. A reorganization in 1950 changed the name from Rutland Railroad to Rutland Railway.

In 1925, Rutland reported 259 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 38 million passenger-miles on 413 miles of road and 559 miles of track; in 1960 it had 182 million ton-miles on 391 route-miles and 476 track-miles.

In 1961, after devastating strikes, the railroad apparently decided it was no longer viable and applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission for complete abandonment. This was approved, and the railroad closed down on May 20, 1963.

Much of the right-of-way was purchased by the State of Vermont. The Northern Division across the top of New York State from Ogdensburg to Norwood remains in tracks. Interestingly, it is operated by Vermont Railway, so all the remaining trackage of the Rutland is operated by one company. Ownership of the railbed from Norwood to Burlington has been dispersed, but a 21-mile (34 km) section from Norwood to Moira is the multi-use Rutland Trail.

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