Thirteen: Vermont
I was up in Bellows Falls, Vermont on Father's Day. My wife said we could eat anywhere I wanted, so I picked Fat Franks in downtown Bellows Falls. Fat Franks is a hotdog lovers' haven and as my little helper likes hot dogs too, how could I go wrong? Bellows Falls is also one of the most interesting train watching places in New England. The New England Central and what's left of Pan Am's Conn River operations cross Vermont Rail Systems mainline (well terminus really) just outside the old depot.
Of course, this is a mere shadow of the way things used to be in the hey day of railroading on the Connecticut River. It used to be that the Central Vermont and Boston & Maine crossed the Rutland at Bellows Falls. Rutland had a yard and roundhouse there and the B&M had a yard and roundhouse across the river in North Walpole, New Hampshire. I never got to see it in its hey day, but I did see it back when Steamtown -- now in Scranton -- was located nearby. I vaguely remember some blue B&M units, as well as Canadian National. Hazy memories from long ago and I can't really be sure.
Until recently, VRS's Green Mountain Railroad used to run excursions out of Bellows Falls and the railroad also operated a really nice gift shop there too. But all of that is gone. The Amtrak Vermonter still stops there.
Anyway, on Sunday, after the town's annual parade to honor its high school grads -- a great tradition by the way and a real nice way to send the kids off into the world and remember the alumni that came before them -- I managed to catch a VRS ethanol train headed up by C&P power backing through the tunnel under downtown.
I didn't mention the tunnel? Well, let's just say it is another thing that makes this place great. Imagine a tunnel under a town that is already one of the nicest places I ever visited (If all that isn't enough, the movie theater is in the town hall.) A throwback to another age. Now if they could only bring the steam trains back.
Of course, this is a mere shadow of the way things used to be in the hey day of railroading on the Connecticut River. It used to be that the Central Vermont and Boston & Maine crossed the Rutland at Bellows Falls. Rutland had a yard and roundhouse there and the B&M had a yard and roundhouse across the river in North Walpole, New Hampshire. I never got to see it in its hey day, but I did see it back when Steamtown -- now in Scranton -- was located nearby. I vaguely remember some blue B&M units, as well as Canadian National. Hazy memories from long ago and I can't really be sure.
Until recently, VRS's Green Mountain Railroad used to run excursions out of Bellows Falls and the railroad also operated a really nice gift shop there too. But all of that is gone. The Amtrak Vermonter still stops there.
Anyway, on Sunday, after the town's annual parade to honor its high school grads -- a great tradition by the way and a real nice way to send the kids off into the world and remember the alumni that came before them -- I managed to catch a VRS ethanol train headed up by C&P power backing through the tunnel under downtown.
I didn't mention the tunnel? Well, let's just say it is another thing that makes this place great. Imagine a tunnel under a town that is already one of the nicest places I ever visited (If all that isn't enough, the movie theater is in the town hall.) A throwback to another age. Now if they could only bring the steam trains back.
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