Lamoille Valley Railway Company

The Lamoille Valley Railroad Company started operations on January 1, 1978, operating the Vermont state owned trackage between Swanton and St. Johnsbury. This was previously the St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County RR. My layout is set in 1980, so I will focus on modeling the LVRC at the height of it's operations.

History of the line

The 96 miles of track across the top of Vermont has been operated by a number of railroads throughout its history. Up until 1925 it was part of the Boston & Maine. Then it operated as the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain. Bankruptcy in 1944 led to a reorganization and a name change to the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County. Orange and cream GE 70 tonners plied the rails until 1967, when Samuel Pinsley purchased the line on the verge of abandonment. Pinsley family red GP9s and RS3s operated the deteriorating railroad until 1972.

The State of Vermont purchased the line to save the rail service for local businesses. The Lamoille County RR operated from 1973 until 1976 using ex-D&H RS3s and then ex-Reading GP7s in an interesting scheme developed by president Bruno Loati. The need for repairing and upgrading the trackage was reaching a critical point with the State and the railroad in a standoff about fixing the right of way.

After much political battling, the state awarded a contract to Morrison-Knudsen to operate the railroad as the state looked for a company to rehabilitate the track. The M-K's Vermont Northern operated the railroad but was mainly interested in the rebuilding contract. Three ex-Long Island Alco C420s were the motive power and yellow 50' IPD boxcars were leased to increase revenue. When the state awarded the contract to rebuild the line to another firm, M-K pulled out.

The Lamoille Valley Railroad Company took over operations from the Vermont Northern starting January 1, 1978. The LVRC was given a 10 year lease from the State of Vermont and the money to rebuild the entire 96 mile rail line. In addition, operating subsidies were provided in an effort get the line up and running.

Motive power again came from the Delaware & Hudson. Four RS3s were repainted into a yellow with green stripe and lettering scheme, a reverse of the Rutland's paint scheme. In addition, 100 50' IPD boxcars were leased, painted into the same yellow and green scheme, assuring cars for local shippers.

The line actively sought to capture bridge traffic from the Maine Central and Canadian Pacific on the east end in St. Johnsbury, and the Central Vermont and CN on the west end in Swanton. However, a longer than anticipated rebuild slowed down these efforts, and trackwork was not completely rebuilt until October of 1979, a year behind schedule. When completed, the line did live up to its promise and helped get MEC cars to the Midwest 1 day faster than CP Rail could at St. Johnsbury.

In addition to serving as a bridge line, the Lamoille Valley also had a few on line shippers. This freight consisted of asbestos, talc, limestone, gravel, grain and feed.

The shut down of the Maine Central's Mountain Division in 1983 really hurt the Lamoille Valley. Interchange with the CP still occurred in St. Johnsbury, but this slowly dwindled through the 1980s. The LVRC acquired the 27 miles of MEC tracks from St. Johnsbury to Whitefield, NH and operated this portion as the Twin State Railroad. The main customer was the paper mill in Gilman, Vermont.

In 1989, when the B&M (Guilford) sold off its lines in northern New Hampshire (Woodsville to Berlin and Groveton), this trackage plus the Twin State RR and LVRC were acquired by CSF Acquisitions and the entire operation became the New Hampshire & Vermont Railroad. The LVRC ceased as a separate railroad entity, although the line west of St. Johnsbury still retained this name and passenger excursions continued for a few more years. No freight customers existed west of St. J.

Proposals for the LVRC line included turning it into a rail-trail for snow mobiles, reviving rail service under a new company, Vermont Rail Link, and starting up a tourist operation using a local 2-truck Heisler locomotive. The tourist and freight operations could operate simultaneously, but the line would again need some reconstruction.

Finally the axe fell on the line when the Vermont legislature granted authority to turn the eastern end, Morrisville to St. J, into a snowmobile trail. All rail and ties were pulled up. Fisher Bridge would remain in place, it being a historic site. The western section, Morrisville to Sheldon, was left as is in hopes of restoring rail service and supporting business and the local economy.

However eventually with no freight prospects the entire line was converted to a "rail trail' offering recreational usage in all 4 seasons. More information can be found on the VT Rail Trails website.

LVRC Operations

Traffic moving west was heaviest with cars from the CP, B&M and MEC being picked up in St. Johnsbury. Train MJ-2, Morrisville to St. Johnsbury, operated 7 days a week to pickup these interchange cars, returning immediately as train JM-1. After any necessary switching in the Morrisville yard, a new crew boards train MV-1, Morrisville to Fonda Jct., which was the interchange point on the Central Vermont. The LVRC used CV trackage to get to Fonda Jct. The LVRC interchanged cars with the CV's #447 to Montreal. Train VM-2 would then head back to Morrisville, switching a few industries on the way.

Eastbound cars were not taken off of #447, but instead were delivered separately by a CV local to Richford. This caused a days delay in getting cars moved east. Because of this, the LVRC and CV modified operations in 1980 to allow the LVRC to run directly into the CV's Italy Yard in St. Albans. This change also allowed the LVRC to store surplus boxcars west of Sheldon Jct. where trains diverted south on CV trackage to St. Albans.

Train sizes varied from one locomotive and 2 cars up to 3 locomotives and 20 cars. In addition to the freight traffic, tourist passenger trains were operated. As the freight traffic slowly declined in the 1980s, these tourist operations became vital to the railroad's well being.

LVRC On My Layout

My layout features selected portions of the LVRC. Starting with the interchange in St. Johnsbury, my layout includes (East to West):

• M-S-U Gravel pit siding in Hardwick
• Fisher Covered Railroad bridge in East Wolcott
• Morrisville yard and shops
• Lamoille Grain Company, Morrisville
• Morrisville Lumber Company, Morrisville
• Vermont Industrial Products (wallboard), Morrisville
• Eastern Magnesia Talc Company, Johnson (LVRCs largest shipper)
• Sheldon Junction, interchange with Central Vermont's Richford branch
• Bordeau Brothers Feed Mill, Sheldon Junction

I don't have pictures or info for all of these industries, so I have tried to model them using available information and form what I can see in the edges of photos. My goal with these locations and customers is to create a reasonable depiction of the LVRC that is also enjoyable to operate.

The Central Vermont provides a small operating job, coming out of staging representing St. Albans to the active interchange with the LVRC. A diamond crossing leads the CV north to more staging representing Richford. The Lamoille Valley part of the layout will leave the St. J peninsula and travel along the outer walls where it will turn back on itself via a connecting track through the closet.

Here are some pictures of the LVRC on my layout.