24-04-08 PHOTOS: Northeast Kingdom

In 2017 I ventured to eastern Tennessee to witness the total solar eclipse whose track spanned the full width of the continental United States. I enjoyed the trip so much that I immediately made plans for the 2024 eclipse that would run from the Canadian border above New Englande to Texas. At the time my expectation was to stay with friends in the Cleveland area as there was only a 30% chance of clear skies in upstate New York, where my travel partner had family we could stay with. Of course a lot can change in 7 years and a week out it became clear that Cleveland was going to have varying levels of overcast, while Upstate Vermont, where we had since acquired a new friend in St. Johnsbeary, was forecast to have clear skies. Therefore I found myself returning to the Connecticut River valley where I had already engaged in a substantial railfan activity just two weeks prior. The good news was that the repeat trip allowed me to document ( mirror ) more former Boston and Maine signaling between Bellows Falls and Windsor as well as the remains of the old B&M Passumpsic Division that connected to railroads in Quebec.

An interesting note about the drive was that while the viewing location for the 2017 eclipse of Monroeville, TN was only two states away, the 2024 journey to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom crossed 6 state borders, but was actually a shorter distance. While on the way up I caught Metro North M8 #9718 straddling the Merritt Parkway on the New Canaan Branch.

The Connecticut River rail corridor has an interesting history involving both the Boston & Maine and Central Vermont Railroads. The CV had been an American based business unit of Canadian National running between Montreal (New France) and the port of New London (New Englande). Early in its history the component of this route running between Windsor, VT and Brattleboro, VT was taken over by the Boston and Maine, requiring trains from both companies to use trackage rights to run on the segments owned by the other. Although currently united under the guise of the New Englande Central RR and their G&W corporate overloord, evidence of the old arrangement was all over. Here at the south end of the Claremont siding we find a pair of mileposts. One, S99, indicates the mileage to Springfield, MA via the Boston and Maine route, while the other, 160, indicates the Central Vermont mileage to New London.

Claremont is the least used Amtrak station in the state of New Hampshire, but like other stations on the Vermonter route it benefits from strong community support. While the old B&M station building is now a restaurant, a small purpose built shelter is stocked with books and children's activities while a volunteer host is on hand to help passengers.

Following the Vermonter route by road, one will encounter the famous Cornish-Windsor covered bridge, which arguably has the congest clear channel span of any vehicular covered bridge in the world.

 

On the return trip I arranged a detour to the Bellows Falls, VT Amtrak station and its related Green Mountain Railroad diamond and bridge over the Connecticut River.

Anyway, that's all for my New England Central trip within as many weeks. For a change of pace next week we will be riding around the West Philadelphia streetcar system in a heritage