The bellows falls to Rutland line is out of action for the foreseeable future. Take a look.
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I have a number of books on the Rutland. Many have photos of the flood of 1947. The present day photos resemble what happened back then.
For some reason, I always thought Vermont was safe from flooding, and was/is one of my ideal retirement places to live. I was surprised to see so much damage, even with the horrendous storm and rainfall. The news showed the beautiful city of Montpelier flooded. Here in Pennsylvania, we get bombarded with tremendous rain events, and flooding is a major problem in some areas...been through some big ones with Hurricane Floyd being the worst I can remember.
Extreme rain storms in California, Eastern Kentucky,
now Extreme in Vermont.
There’s no evidence in the video of support ever being there under the track.
Is the owner of the track New England Central? Seems to me that the B&M and the Rutland crossed at grade right at the Bellows Falls Depot. So is Guilford or Pan Am involved in this? Or, perhaps the state owns the track now and leases it to the railroads.
At one time, it was easy to keep track of lines of B&M, CV, CPR, BAR, and the revived Rutland lines, as they had been in place for decades. I am only asking multiple questions because New England railroading has become difficult for those of us who live far from there, with spinoffs, sales, state takeovers, etc since the late 1970s. Its still changing. And Amtrak runs by trackage rights between Bellows Falls and (I think) Montpelier, so they might be unable to run that territory right now.
So, if you have a good grasp of who currently owns what, I'd be most grateful to know which railroads are severely affected by the flooding.
@Number 90 posted:Is the owner of the track New England Central? Seems to me that the B&M and the Rutland crossed at grade right at the Bellows Falls Depot. So is Guilford or Pan Am involved in this? Or, perhaps the state owns the track now and leases it to the railroads.
At one time, it was easy to keep track of lines of B&M, CV, CPR, BAR, and the revived Rutland lines, as they had been in place for decades. I am only asking multiple questions because New England railroading has become difficult for those of us who live far from there, with spinoffs, sales, state takeovers, etc since the late 1970s. Its still changing. And Amtrak runs by trackage rights between Bellows Falls and (I think) Montpelier, so they might be unable to run that territory right now.
So, if you have a good grasp of who currently owns what, I'd be most grateful to know which railroads are severely affected by the flooding.
These tracks are owned by the State of VT and leased to the Vermont Railway system.
@Paul Kallus posted:For some reason, I always thought Vermont was safe from flooding, and was/is one of my ideal retirement places to live. I was surprised to see so much damage, even with the horrendous storm and rainfall. The news showed the beautiful city of Montpelier flooded. Here in Pennsylvania, we get bombarded with tremendous rain events, and flooding is a major problem in some areas...been through some big ones with Hurricane Floyd being the worst I can remember.
Heck no. The issue with Vermont is all the mountains and the narrow valleys between them. Any heavy rain is funneled into these narrow valleys where the towns are and you get this. While not this bad I remember lots of events like this growing up. Usually they happen in the spring with rapid snow melt or late summer/fall with topical systems, last one being Irene less than ten years ago.
One of our members lives in the Okemo Valley He said half the mountain mud slided down the valley He is usually high and dry but his basement had about a foot of water in it from the torrent coming down
Having had my proverbial *** kicked by Sandy, I really feel for the folks going through this. Takes years to recover, if ever. Thankfully, loss of life appears to be minimal. Stuff can always be replaced; lives cannot.
@Number 90 posted:Is the owner of the track New England Central? Seems to me that the B&M and the Rutland crossed at grade right at the Bellows Falls Depot. So is Guilford or Pan Am involved in this?
So, if you have a good grasp of who currently owns what, I'd be most grateful to know which railroads are severely affected by the flooding.
Tom, my son is currently attending college in VT so my wife and I have been spending a lot of time in the Green Mountain State. I’ve done a lot of railroad exploring in VT over the past year or so.
To answer your questions…there is still a diamond crossing in Bellows Falls between the Vermont Rail System (as Gary mentioned) and the New England Central, which is now owned by parent company Genesee and Wyoming.
The VRS line from Bellows Falls to Rutland was formerly Rutland Railroad, then Green Mountain Railroad before becoming part of VRS. This is the line where the trestle got destroyed in the video. Mostly freight trains travel this line, with occasional Green Mountain passenger excursions.
The Amtrak “Vermonter” train between Washington, DC and St. Albans, VT (located in northern VT, not far from the Canadian border) runs through Bellows Falls via trackage rights over the New England Central from Brattleboro, VT. This line to the best of my knowledge is still operational despite all the recent heavy rains and major flooding. Others can correct me if I’m wrong about that.
As for the diamond crossing in Bellows Falls, the VRS end of the line is just south of the crossing. That last portion of the line south of the diamond is used to access a small tank car transloading yard and then the former Rutland/Green Mountain roundhouse (used now as a VRS maintenance facility) and small yard where some derelict equipment and the Green Mountain passenger excursion cars are stored.
The Railmap app does a good job of depicting the track layout in the Bellows Falls area.
Hope this helps!
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@CNJ #1601 posted:Tom, my son is currently attending college in VT so my wife and I have been spending a lot of time in the Green Mountain State. I’ve done a lot of railroad exploring in VT over the past year or so.
To answer your questions…there is still a diamond crossing in Bellows Falls between the Vermont Rail System (as Gary mentioned) and the New England Central which is now owned by parent company Genesee and Wyoming.
The VRS line from Bellows Falls to Rutland was formerly Rutland Railroad, then Green Mountain Railroad before becoming part of VRS. This is the line where the trestle got destroyed in the video. Mostly freight trains travel this line, with occasional Green Mountain passenger excursions.
The Amtrak “Vermonter” train between Washington, DC and northern VT (St. Albans) runs up the New England Central line through Bellows Falls from Springfield, MA and points south. This line to the best of my knowledge is still operational despite all the recent heavy rains and major flooding. Others can correct me if I’m wrong about that.
As for the diamond crossing in Bellows Falls, the VRS end of the line is just south of the crossing. That last portion of the line south of the diamond is used to access a former Rutland/Green Mountain engine house (used now as a VRS maintenance facility) and small yard where some derelict equipment and the Green Mountain passenger excursion cars are stored.
Hope this helps!
The Vermonter heads north to White River Junction (Yes New England Central) where it heads inland to St. Albans (Old Central Vermont line). I have not heard anything about disruptions but a check of Amtrak website says trains are still running.
Thanks for the good information, fellows. It's heartbreaking to think of the way the floods have changed lives of those in the small towns and even the cities in that area.
In 2008, my wife and I took a rail and motor coach tour of New England that included Amtrak from Boston to Bellows falls and a round trip on the ex-Rutland to Chester behind a beautifully maintained ex-Rutland Alco-GE RS-1. The scenic and historical aspects were very enjoyable. I recall lots of wooden bridges on the old Rutland. Sad to think of this.
@superwarp1 posted:The bellows falls to Rutland line is out of action for the foreseeable future. Take a look.
Gary:
Wow! This looks worse than the washout that occurred on the Durango and Silverton a few years ago that took out a bridge. It took forever to fill in the ground, and repair the track and the bridge. There were some complicating factors, however, particularly a dispute between the Railroad and the U. S. Forest Service, which considerably slowed the process until the dispute was resolved.
Pat
With TCA convention in Burlington, just held the week before this deluge, I just had lunch at Jeff's in downtown St. Albans, but did not, on this trip visit any RR covered bridges. Were any of them damaged? Glad l got out when the getting was good.
Traffic on the Burlington-Rutland VTR Route was supposed to resume today, but the Otter Creek in Middlebury is supposed to crest after midnight tonight, so that may have to wait.
There were some small washouts along the NEC (former CV) line between Richmond and White River Junction. Those should be fixed this weekend.
The Washington County Division of VTR up from Montpelier Junction to Barre is a mess.
The Green Mountain Division between Rutland and Bellows Falls has no time-line for restoration.
Jeff's in Saint Albans is good!
Jon 
As Gary said, the geography of the Green Mountains is very prone to these kinds of events... especially when the storm system travels right up the spine of the Green Mountains and parks there. The water dumped there then has to travel down-hill 4800' in just a few miles.
I've seen Montpelier go under in 1992, 2011, and now this. But nothing compares to the destruction of the Flood of 1927, where the Winooski crested at 50+ FEET. That's close to 30 FEET above this storm.
Next up is the destruction of crops and property along the Lamoille and Winooski rivers down to Lake Champlain.
Jon
Oh... and my basement is dry as a bone!
Vermont is a state of two lane roads. Much of the state's roads/highways are stone/gravel/mud. These roads are subject to heavy rain, and spring thaw brings the mud season.
It seems like VT is similar to PA with regard to mountain and stream valleys...the answer to reduce flooding events in the past, at least here in PA, was to build dams as flood control measures. I live just a few hundred yards from a large earthen dam on the West Brandywine Creek. Having worked as "dam engineer" at one time, I know that all dams leak, and it's how the leaks are controlled and managed that is key, however I was keen not to buy a property below any dam, given my training and experience in dam engineering. Although rare nowadays, catastrophic failure of a dam impounding large water volumes is one scary thing, e.g., the South Fork Dam in Johnstown, PA ~ late 1880s, entire town destroyed, and the loss of thousands of lives.
@KOOLjock1 posted:I've seen Montpelier go under in 1992, 2011, and now this. But nothing compares to the destruction of the Flood of 1927, where the Winooski crested at 50+ FEET. That's close to 30 FEET above this storm.
Jon
Oh... and my basement is dry as a bone!
Exactly!!! the way the media is playing it. This is the worse ever.
My concern relates to any of our fellow hobbyists and forum members who may have been affected by all this tremendous flooding. Would like to hear from them, if there are any (hopefully not). There always are others in this great forum family who are willing and able to assist their fellow hobbyists when things like this happen.
My wife and I just returned to NE Ohio from a vacation at Acadia NP in Maine. We pulled a small travel trailer and stayed at a camp grounds along the way as we made our way to and from the park. Our route took us through both Vermont and New Hampshire. We were very fortunate to have been at Acadia during the time that the heavy rains and flooding occurred over the weekend. Eastern Maine didn't see any rain until 3 a.m. Tuesday morning and it was through the area by 10 a.m. On our return trip through New Hampshire and Vermont the GPS advised us that our route may have delays and / or detours as a result of the severe weather that had occurred previously. Although we didn't have problems, as we drove the stretch of route 4 east of Rutland, especially near the junction of route 100 (just north of Plymouth), there were numerous places on the highway where traffic was restricted to one lane while crews cleaned up the road. Mud was everywhere and all along the banks of the Ottauquechee River there were large piles of tree limbs and debris.
Andrew
