Ethan Allen Companion Route via Bennington (was: Reroute Mechanicville-Bennington-Manchester)

Interesting proposal for a low population density area, what market are they trying to hit? That line is still full of 10mph track.

Given the success Vermont has had with the Ethan Allen Express and the Vermonter, I think it's a decent idea. Bennington is the fifth-largest municipality in the state (after Burlington and two suburbs plus Rutland), and Manchester has decent tourist/ski traffic. Compared to the current route, using the southern route for the second frequency trades Saratoga Springs and Fort Edwards (both of which already have two a day) and diminutive Castleton for Mechanicsville, Bennington, and Manchester. That puts basically every population center of any significance in Vermont within a few miles of an Amtrak stop. Having two trains a day will be good for Rutland, Burlington, and intermediate stops as well.

Two trains also gives them more flexibility for an extension to Essex Junction once the Vermonter returns to Montreal. Currently, the southbound EAE would be timed well for that extension, but the northbound would be several hours too late. With two trains, you could have 6 or 7 am and 10 am southbound departures from Burlington, arriving NYP at 2/3pm and 6pm, and northbound departures at noon and 2 reaching Burlington at 8 and 10 pm. (Or substitute that later northbound for a morning departure arriving in the early afternoon.)

As far as track work, where are you seeing 10 mph track? ORM indicates a mixture of 25 and 40 mph on the Freight Subdivision and the Freight Main Line, and 30 mph on the VR. That shouldn't require a massive amount of work to support 59 mph passenger speeds.

In fact, I seem to recall a lot of effort to make this route the default one over a decade ago, and I believe Vermont had already done some track improvements.

I can definitely see Vermont being interested in this. Not only would Bennington (well North Bennington) get some boost from this, Manchester (with Hildene and more) is a large tourist destination, especially in the summer and fall.

Add in shuttle busses in the winter to Bromley and Stratton and I can see Manchester generating a lot of traffic.

The EGE wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 7:39 pm As far as track work, where are you seeing 10 mph track? ORM indicates a mixture of 25 and 40 mph on the Freight Subdivision and the Freight Main Line, and 30 mph on the VR. That shouldn't require a massive amount of work to support 59 mph passenger speeds.

On the as mentioned reroute over the B&R... assuming track speeds based off an inaccurate app with tons of gaps and incorrect/outdated info was certainly a mistake.

Two weeks ago a poster elsewhere indicated a run between Rutland and East Dorset taking exactly 2 hours at ~13~ mph, another indicated MAS is still 10 in many spots, if not implying a majority or the entirety of the route.

Greg Moore wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 11:15 pm In fact, I seem to recall a lot of effort to make this route the default one over a decade ago, and I believe Vermont had already done some track improvements.

Yeah, back in 1998, into the early 2000s. That track looked rather unused when I drove along it a few times roughly 15 years ago...

A check of open railway may does show some 10 MPH track east of Mechanicsville. However, 25 & 40 to Hossack junction. Then30 to Rutland. Definitely needs some trackwork. A detailed study of the map will show some more restrictions.

west point wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2024 2:26 am A check of open railway may does show some 10 MPH track east of Mechanicsville. However, 25 & 40 to Hossack junction. Then30 to Rutland. Definitely needs some trackwork. A detailed study of the map will show some more restrictions.

Again, this information is hardly reliable, let alone even true. The track is class I Rutland-Manchester; last I checked that was 15mph for passenger, not 30.

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 20, 2024 9:30 am

west point wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2024 2:26 am A check of open railway may does show some 10 MPH track east of Mechanicsville. However, 25 & 40 to Hossack junction. Then30 to Rutland. Definitely needs some trackwork. A detailed study of the map will show some more restrictions.

Again, this information is hardly reliable, let alone even true. The track is class I Rutland-Manchester; last I checked that was 15mph for passenger, not 30.

The point West Point was making still remains: it need some work to upgrade it.

Understood, that was also my point; it isn't anywhere near ready for 59mph daily runs, as above posts would suggest it is.

The WACR is literally in better shape.

Since no scheduled passenger trains on the noted tracks then that open railway map speeds would be freight MAX speeds.

Let's not forget, the Conn River Line in Mass was down to 10 mph in many sections prior to "The Great Reroute" back in 2014. And the whole ex-B&M up to WRJ was so bad in the mid 1980s that the Montrealer was limited to 10 mph over much of that track before the plug was pulled and buses filled in until 1989.

All it takes is $$$ to bring the line up to snuff. I last rode an excursion from Rutland to N. Bennington/Hoosick Jct in 2012. It was slow going until the southern half of the line, which apparently was upgraded back in the 1990s for a future Amtrak service to Manchester, VT. Manchester->Wallingford definitely needs work.

Honestly, I would give this new route the Ethan Allen name, and retain the existing/original EAE routing to Rutland as a later train. There was a time in the late 90s when the EAE ran in two sections... perhaps that could be brought back.
Or, we call the new train the "Green Mountain Flyer". It would be a straight run-thru to Burlington, eliminating the backup move or the need for two engines (though now you run into the "turning the consist" issue, and with that, you'd probably have to wye the train up in Essex Jct, adding in a whole other set of issues.

I rode the Ethan Allen last week for the first time out of Burlington. It was a good ride and we were some 30 minutes ahead of time coming into Rutland. Heading west, the ride seemed to get rougher west of Castleton to Whitehall... is there still jointed rail out that far? We got delayed in Schenectady as we waited for a disabled train to hitch a ride with us, and by the time we got to NYP, we were 2 hours down.