the east end and the Chicago gateway on the west end. The early history, while very inter- esting reading, is just a small part of the most delightful story told in these 314 pages which are very clearly a labor of love. Subsequent chapters take us through Railroading on the Fourth District from the 1930s through abandonment; a station by station tour of the line from east to west cir- ca 1915; Cornfield Meets, Derailments and Other Accidents; The Gary Local (the last mixed train in Indiana and a great story all by itself); Special Trains and other Unusual Moves; and much more. Heavily illustrated with maps, diagrams, track charts, freight schedules, blueprints, and dozens of photo- graphs of depots,


persistently door-to-door and the VTR logo of three mountain peaks was designed by a friend of Jay’s. Roadbed was improved, rolling stock repaired and acquired, and new locomotives bought. Switching operations are shown from


trackside and from the cab as the railroad’s customers are described. The Central Ver- mont is shown delivering


cars at the


Burlington interchange and a customer talks about how he was convinced to ship aggregate and salt on the VTR. Eventually GATX TankTrains were added to move gasoline,


diesel, and kerosene daily to interlocking towers,


freight yards, shops, water towers, and junc- tions, not a whole lot has been left out. To a person who is interested in the oper- ations side of railfanning, this book was an absolute delight to read. The author has wisely chosen to cover a single subdivision, as opposed to making the book the “be all and end all” of Wabash history. The author clearly succeeds, and what awaits the reader between the covers is a most enjoyable, very informative, well written, entertaining, and historically accurate guide to one line that was born in a blaze of glory and died a slow, quiet death.


The book finishes with the story of how and why Norfolk & Western rerouted through traffic from the Fourth District and onto the parallel former Nickel Plate by the Norfolk & Western after 1964. He also cov- ers the 1980 application for abandonment of 71 miles of the line, the struggle to keep the line as an independent short line, and the story of how the eastern half became the In- diana Northeastern.


This book delivers a worthwhile and en- tertaining account of what life was like and the action was like on this part of the once- great Wabash Railroad. I give this one two thumbs up, and you don’t have to be a Wabash fan to enjoy it. — FRANK GARON


VIDEO REVIEW


Vermont Railway: 50 Years Tell Tale Productions, P.O. Box 808, Colchester, VT 05446; railroadvideodvd.com; 802/ 862- 3407. Two hours, DVD only. $25.00 postpaid. In its 2014 50th An- niversary year,


the


Vermont Rail System has come a long way from its humble start in 1964. Not coinci- dentally,


Tell Tale


Productions produced this two hour docu- mentary on the Ver- mont Railway (VTR) from its beginnings at


the end of the Rutland through today. The system now runs in four states and hosts freight, its own passenger trains, and Am- trak trains. The VTR was the very first time a state


purchased a rail right of way and hired a pri- vate third party to operate it, and the pro- gram explains how entrepreneur Jay Wulf- son worked a deal with the Governor of Vermont to operate former Rutland track- age from Burlington to Rutland to Benning- ton. A lean team managed first with a Gen- eral Electric 44-tonner before getting the Rutland Alcos to run again. Sales were done


Burlington from Albany, N.Y. The progres- sive VTR tried piggyback service; it did not pan out, but the railroad did develop a large lease fleet of piggyback trailers. The rail- road is also shown working Omya, a firm which ships about 25 cars a day of finely ground marble and could not survive with- out the VTR. Homage is also paid to the dai- ly Bicentennial steam excursions. After Jay Wulfson’s death in 1980, his family (which is interviewed here) contin- ued to improve and grow the system and its traffic and runs the system to this day. Vari- ous passenger operations from the late 1990s to 2002 are covered next including commuter shuttles that ran into Burlington while State Route 7 was under construction. Some freight went to a night-time schedule to allow for daytime passenger schedules. As the years went on, the Delaware & Hudson’s Rutland Branch from Whitehall, N.Y., the Green Mountain Railroad, and the paralleling Clarendon & Pittsford were ac- quired to increase the flow of interchange and online freight. The program includes video of trains on each line in various loca- tions and seasons. The non-contiguous New York & Ogdensburg, also a former Rutland line, is seen in relatively recent operation. Pragmatic chapters end the program and cover the maintenance of locomotives and track, the workings of the sales department, the creation of transloading facilities, and the types of freight hauled — mostly petro- leum products, lumber, wine, salt, and agri- cultural products inbound with limestone and aggregates outbound. VTR’s track war- rant dispatching system is also outlined. Two leased SD90MAC units are shown running in 2013 with a number of freight runbys along the line from Burlington to Hoosick Junction, where the train is turned over to the Pan Am Railway. There’s also cab ride footage taken on some freights. This program is a well-edited presenta- tion of contemporary and historic video, archival movies (b&w and color), b&w and color still pictures, interviews with railroad officers, employees, shippers, and others, plus plenty of train runbys all over the sys- tem (but mainly on the Burlington to Ben- nington line). The program shows various the operations of various customers and ex- plains how the business was developed and is operated. The visual quality varies, de- pending on the source material and its age. Fourteen chapters focus the coverage on im- portant topics and the program generally progresses in chronological order. This is a well done summary history of


the Vermont Rail System which will interest audiences from local Green Mountain Boys (and Girls) to those who would like to under- stand how to create a successful short line. Yankee ingenuity and hard work never hurt anybody. —TOM KELCEC


49


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