Wow, that's one heck of a station! It's about 20x more elaborate than your standard 19th Century station in rural New England. Fancier even than North Conway, New Hampshire, since it looks to be brick, not wood.
What gives, then? Was Waterbury a branch junction once, or was the town bigger/richer in ca. 1850 than it is today (something that's not impossible in northern New England)?
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Waterbury VT RR Station
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Ridgefielder wrote:Wow, that's one heck of a station! It's about 20x more elaborate than your standard 19th Century station in rural New England. Fancier even than North Conway, New Hampshire, since it looks to be brick, not wood.
What gives, then? Was Waterbury a branch junction once, or was the town bigger/richer in ca. 1850 than it is today (something that's not impossible in northern New England)?
Only other "rail line" in Waterbury was the Mt Mansfield Electric Railway (or some name similar to that) which ran up to Stowe. I think it was more interurban-style, with no rail connection to the CV/NECR line. Of course Stowe was/is home to Mt Mansfield, which the entire area was a popular resort destination, and still is. The station is definitely brick and was built by the CV. Prior to its restoration, the station lacked the center silver roof and the far right portion of the station (note the end of the original roof). The far right portion was originally an open air baggage room and today is enclosed and houses a [very] small Amtrak waiting area. Amtrak used to have a much larger space in the station but since Green Mountain Coffee Roasters funded much of the renovation, they ended up with 95% of the building. At least Amtrak did just get a brand new platform built to the extreme right of the station, but lacks any canopy on it. Should be interesting come winter.
Shadyjay - yes I believe the popularity of Stowe and Mt Mansfield was the reason why this station is so different.
BTW - Here's some info on Mount Mansfield Electric Railroad I just Googled - interesting!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mans ... c_Railroad
Apparently it is now Rt 100
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/stowes ... 7756?mt=11
1921 Topo Map
http://docs.unh.edu/VT/montgc21nw.jpg
BTW - Here's some info on Mount Mansfield Electric Railroad I just Googled - interesting!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mans ... c_Railroad
Apparently it is now Rt 100
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/stowes ... 7756?mt=11
1921 Topo Map
http://docs.unh.edu/VT/montgc21nw.jpg
I have added a few more links of interest
http://www.vizettes.com/kt/waterbury-depot/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Related Historical Info
http://www.vizettes.com/kt/waterbury-depot/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Related Historical Info
I remember this beautiful station from the 1960's. It was old but it was quite modern inside with a 24 hour agent/operator on duty, the CV still had three daily round trips with passengers and two or three daily freights each way as well. The agent in addition to telephones still had a telegraph key in active use, a dispatcher's phone with a speaker on the desk and a radio too I think. Friendly people as well made it an interesting place at all times.
Thanks for the memories.
Noel Weaver
Thanks for the memories.
Noel Weaver