The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-03-25
LOCAL RAILROAD
KNOT A HARD ONE
So Says The Springfield Republican In
Commenting on the Plan Of the
Boston & Maine to
Make Survey.

More than local interest attended the
| exclusive announcement in The Reiormer
last week regarding the appearance in
Brattleboro of Boston & Maine railroad
engineers under orders to make a survey
from here to Hinsdae, n. H., to determine
the feasibility of line on that side OF the
river The engineers began their work
Monday and will probably be on the job
several weeks. Commenting editorially on
the announcement The Springfield Repub
lican of Sunday had this to say:
1t is an exceedingly hard railroad knot
which exists up the river, and IT an effort
at last is to be made to unite 1T keen
public interest all up and down the valley
will attend the progress of the enterprise.
The present situation is as follows: The
Grand Trunk owns large majority of
fine stock of the Central Vermont, whose
line comes down from the Vermont hills
to White River Junction and continues
from there to Windsor along the Connect
cut river. The Central Vermont leases the
New London Northern, which runs from
Brattleboro to New London, Ct The Bos-
ton l. Maine through lease controls the
river line from this city to South Vernon,
vt. Its trains thence run about eight
miles to Brattleboro over the New London
Northern tracks. They then pass on to
the Vermont Valley railroad, whose stock
is nearly all owned by the Connecticut
River company, leased to the Boston 4
Maine. and 20 to Bellows Falls on the
west side of the river. They then pass on
to the Sullivan County railroad on the New
Hampshire side, which is owned by the
Vermont Valley company, and SO reach
Windsor, and from that point to White,
River Junction they go over the Central
Vermont tracks. From the junction
northward along the river the ROAD again
becomes Boston and Maine through lease
of the Boston and Lowell, which leases the
Connecticut and Passumpsic northward 10
the Canada line. ~, ,os
NOT exist anywhere else in the whole held
If American railroad transportation. 1T
will be a comparatively easy matter LOT the
BOSTON and Maine, or for the New Haven
company. which now controls it, to loosen
itself from the tangle and have an lnde-
nendent line of its own from this city or |
rom South Vernon northward. 1t already |
has q bridge over the Connecticut at South |
Vernon for the Ashuelot branch, and pre-
,umably can build at some expense line
m on the east side of the river eight miles,
,rossinp the river again to reach Brattle-
,oro and get on to the Vermont valley
racks. There would-then remain to De
milf a line from Windsor to White River
Junction a distance of about Is miles, and
+ that point the hills no longer reach
loosely out to the western river bank, ana
DOM would exist for the construction OF
Dad alongside the Central Vermont.
The problem of an independent c S.1nui
ne line down the river for the Central
Termont or Grand Trunk is more difficult.
/ would have to build So miles of new road,
rom Windsor to Brattleboro;; From
Windsor to Bellows Falls, 26 miles, by iol-
wing the west bank of the river, the
obstruction would present few dlfilcui-
les, for the country is fiat and open PACK
,r some distance But not so from PEI
rvs Falls to Brattleboro. There, on the
est side, the hills rise precipitously from
be river over much of the distance, ana
no Vermont Valley road occupies all the
,om there is and often has to cut INTO
,e lodges to get what it has. The situation
= the east side of the river, partly oc-
,pied BY the Cheshire road. part OF the
nston and Maine system, is equally pre-
u;tous and apparently impossible OF &C.
nation by another railroad line except at