Ethan Allen Discussion, including Expansion (Burlington)

Of course, the brand new Siemens Venture trainsets will be assigned to the Ethan Allen once the Amfleet Is and Genesis units are phased out of passenger rail service.

Six years four months and 2 days until parole. But whose counting. Maybe just maybe I see those train sets...

When I went into town a week ago to visit friends from Indianapolis staying at Palmer House (and I stayed over myself), there were ten Ventures "just sitting there" at Lumber Street.

Somehow, I don't think I'm the first passenger, Amtrak, BNSF, or METRA, to wonder "why".

This apparent explanation circulated around here of lead residue in the drinking water system is getting "old". Surely that could have been addressed by now and those cars placed in revenue service.

Going in again next week (however, possibly by auto) to the Symphony. We shall see.

I must admit, until looking at a map just now I didn't realize how close Burlington was to Essex Junction. This seems a rather odd extension, with a reverse move out of Rutland to serve right in between the Adirondack and Vermonter routes, without a connection to either.

Pre-Amtrak there was a bus connection, which I think replaced a doodlebug or something, from Essex Jct. for which through tickets were issued by or via the CV; I haven't checked to see whether Amtrak has continued it. I remember a ballad going back many years; the last lines were

I hope in hell his soul may dwell
Who first invented Essex Junction. (I seem to recall that there were several verses, all ending with the same two lines.)

Apparently not a popular arrangement, especially with passengers detraining from the Montreal sleeper at the crack of dawn.

The Winooski sub between Burlington and Essex Junction has a long history dating back to the Vermont Central's decision to strike for the Canadian border in the late 1850s. The poor service to Burlington by the VC and affiliated Vermont & Canada eventually resulted in the Rutland building its own line up through the Champlain islands completed in 1901. Central Vermont ran shuttles from Essex Jct to Burlington into the 1920s, considering Burlington important enough to participate in building Union Station there. After that bus service was offered by a local carrier with CV tickets honored, though the honoring arrangement stopped sometime in the 1950s.
Today's connecting service is provided by Chittenden Transit (Burlington and Essex Jct are in Chittenden County).

The Winooski sub's MAS in the CV era was 25 MPH, with a couple of speed restrictions. Except for VTR's turntable in Burlington, there's no place to turn anything. The track arrangement in Rutland is the reason for the direction change planned for the Ethan Allen.

There is a wye in Rutland but I believe it is FRA excepted track. To go up to Burlington you have to go back to the B&R Jct switch I believe to head north. Its been 15ish years since I ran a train up that way, we still stopped in Fairhaven LOL. So the old Rolodex may not have all its cards for that territory.

Why not expand this train to Montreal along with the Vermonter?

Pensyfan19 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 7:17 pm Why not expand this train to Montreal along with the Vermonter?

Cause we have the Adirondack for that, and it's already suspended until we get service back into Canada. Better chance of Vermonter back to Montrealer and I honestly don't care if that never happens either.

The passenger rail situation is worse in Canada ( believe it or not ). Find it hard to believe that Canada will ever pay their share for Canadian travel part?

I think part of the reason for the extension is to serve western VT. Given the way the roads across the Green Mountains (and the few bridges and ferries across Lake Champlain) work, the route isn't practically speaking very close to either the Vermonter or the Adirondack route except at Burlington, where it is close to the Vermonter route. True, Middlebury and Vergennes are not exactly big cities, but Middlebury is a college town (with big summer programs, too) and both towns are close to a lot of lakefront cottage country with ties (read owners and guests from) to NYC and environs. So there is actually some logic in serving that side of the state with its own train. And it puts Burlington in contact with Empire Service trains, Lake Shore, etc., which is maybe worth something.

The Western side of the state has economic and cultural ties with NYC and the Hudson Valley going right back to the beginning. That's why the river that flows through Manchester, VT is the Batten Kill (kill = river in 17th century Dutch). It makes total sense to restore a rail linkage.

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:17 am

jbvb wrote: ↑Wed Oct 13, 2021 8:52 pm Serving Bennington & Manchester VT via the original Troy & Boston route from Johnsonville to Troy via Lansingburgh is out; it was abandoned in the 1960s. I've seen hints that clearances on the Troy Union RR were poor. An alternative that still existed in the 1970s was the D&H from Albany to Mechanicville; The 1976 Adirondack went that way, passing under the NYC line from West Albany to Rensselaer, backing from D&H track up a ramp to the NYC line and proceeding forward across the Hudson. If that line is irretrievably gone, then we are indeed stuck with going via Schenectady.

This rumor has been around for 15 years or more between the Vermont and the purposed commuter service Saratoga to Albany using the connection between the D&H and NYC aka "Bull Run". It is still there, however it would take an act of congress to get trains running on it again.

A long while back a D&H/CP freight train was short on time and needed to get to Kenwood yard (D&H) the easy way would have been Bull Run, less than two miles. The hard way was up through Schenectady through Mohawk yard out the freight main down to Albany. Way more than thirty. After repeated pleas by the freight crew and I guess dispatcher attempts at getting permission from someone with a higher pay grade the decision was made not today not ever. So the train laid up in Rennselaer.

I just don't see it happening its kinda no mans land now. 24yrs playing trains and I have never seen nor heard of anything going up or down Bull Run

The route from Albany to Mechanicville via the D&H Colonie Main is not a good route for a couple of reasons. The most obvious is that two reverse moves would be needed. The first would be at Bull Run in Albany to get off of Amtrak's ex NYC. The second would be in Mechanicville. At one time there was a wye from the northbound D&H, to the east bound B&M. This is long gone, and Bove heating oil dealership has their yard on the wye's right of way.

The second point is the speed on the D&H. Presently it is class 2. I had heard something at work about the question of putting it back to 30mph. I guess that the running time would have been not have been reduced enough to make it worthwhile. The like is a good 25, and has had rail and ties upgraded over the last few years. It also presently does not have PTC on it.

THe New Haven VT station has been moved away from the tracks, as part of the Ethan Allen expansion to Burlington, and will be preserved by a historical group. Six minute video below. Thanks to Megan James for the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOpibPzkQeg

Looks like July is the date for service will expand to Burlington.

Starting in July, the train will leave Burlington around 10 a.m. and get to New York City around 5:45 p.m. The train will leave New York around 2:20 p.m. and get back to Burlington around 10 p.m.