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NRHS NATIONAL CONVENTION Vermont Recap BY STEVE BARRY/PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR T


HE BEAUTIFUL GREEN MOUNTAINS were host to the 2015 convention of the National Railway Historical Soci-


ety, with activities based in Rutland, Vt., from June 14 to 21. Vermont Rail System played host to most trips, although the convention did venture into nearby New York State on a couple of trips. Attendees began to wander into Rutland on the Friday and Saturday before the convention, with many arriving on Amtrak’s Ethan Allen Express. The first charter was billed as a pre-convention trip on Sunday, a photo freight from Rutland to Ludlow on the Green Mountain Railway. (The former Rutland Railroad was split following a strike in 1963. The south end from Rutland to Bellows Falls, Vt., and on to North Walpole, N.H., later became the


42 AUGUST 2015 • RAILFAN.COM


Green Mountain Railway. The north end from Rutland to Burlington, Vt., as well as south from Rutland to Bennington, became the Vermont Railway. Both railroads are now reunited as part of Vermont Rail System.) Leading the train was Green Mountain RS1 No. 405, with five covered hopper cars and three passenger cars (two coaches and a table car) trailing. Seven photo stops were held (six in sun) at locations ranging from the easily accessible (near the Okemo Mountain ski resort) to the accessible-only-by-train (a rock cut high on the mountain). On Monday the convention group


left Vermont for a trip on the Saratoga & North Creek in New York. Most travelers opted to ride the morning Ethan Allen Express from Rutland


to Saratoga Springs, where a same- platform connection was made with the S&NC. Once there, BL2 No. 52 powered the round trip to North Creek, with photo runbys held in each direction. The three coaches from Sunday’s trip


were joined by an expanded consist the rest of the week as passenger counts swelled to near 300 for most trains. A super dome leased from the Saratoga & North Creek was at the north end of the train, followed by a Vermont Rail Sys- tem parlor car. Next came two table cars (dining cars without food service), three coaches, and a combine. South of the combine were two premium service cars — the Pullman car Dover Harbor from the Washington, D.C., chapter of NRHS and VRS’s own open-platform observa- tion car MacIntyre.


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