The Rutland Road

MAIN LINE TOUR 01
WHITE CREEK TO RUTLAND

Below you will find the segments of an interactive tour of the Rutland Main Line from White Creek NY to Rutland Yard South VT. Click on the images to see a larger screenshot and more detail.

This has been a two year project thus far and includes close to 800 miles of main line track and sidings. The tour only covers a small portion of this project and about a tenth of the total area. I will be adding some shots as time goes on and including some then and now shots here an there so that the viewer can see the changes taking place in the project.
BRIDGE AT WHITE CREEK NY

Here we will start the tour, just to the east of the Bennington Battlefield and slightly west of the New York and Vermont State lines. State line is about a quarter mile east after the bridge.

This portion is actually a gentle hill until after the bridge where the track rises alongside a mountain. To the right of the bridge is the dam on the Walloomsac River and to the left the river meanders along the side of a moutain to the Battlefield.
THE WHITE CREEK GORGE

About a mile or two after crossing White Creek bridge the line climbs and winds around a mountain then opens up to the White Creek Gorge which flows eastward into the Walloomsac River.

I have since done some work on the Gorge and Gorge basin so the creek is more realistic and narrower like it would be in real life.

The Creek is done with textured tiles and lined up with the Mosaic program from Digital-Rails. I use several programs created by them in my projects, DEMEX being the main interface for the Meshed Terrain and MOSAIC for a good part of the tile texturing. Without them I would be at least five years behind on this project.
NORTH BENNINGTON SOUTHERN BOUNDARY

After crossing the gorge the line slowly climbs on a small grade to the boundary of the town of North Bennington. North Bennington was important on the line as this is where traffic was interchanged with the Boston and Maine railroad, especially in the Pre-Hoosac Tunnel days. Here traffic was interchanged southbound to connect up with Albany NY, Troy NY and eventually to New York City.

Rutland Railroad trains connected here with the Bennington Branch from there access was made to the Corkscrew Branch with several connections with the Boston and Maine.

Northward from North Bennington is the oldest part of the line which runs up to Rutland. This is the path we will take on our journey.
TURNING THE CORNER INTO NORTH BENNINGTON STATION

North Bennington had one of the most beautiful stations on the line. It was done in a Victorian mode and can be seen in the upper left of the screenshot. Today the station is used as a restaurant and is a popular visiting spot for tourists.

The building we are passing on the right is one of the many creameries found along the route. The creameries along all the portions of the route served as the backbone of the railine.
BENNINGTON WYE

Past the station we come up to where the line splits and the freight yard. To the right is the trackage which runs on the south side of Lake Paran and the line straight ahead is the mainline to the north towards Rutland.

On the right side of the screenshot is the freight house which sat on the western leg of the the WYE. Beyond it would be the northern leg which came up from Bennington. There probably was a good deal of switching done here especially in the Pre-Hoosac Tunnel days.
UP THE SLOPE TO SHAFTSBURY

The first town we come up to after leaving North Bennington is Shaftsbury one of those quaint Vermont towns in Vermont.

There was a big mining pit just north of here which the route circles around and a siding located on Shaftsbury Hill. The hill is a fairly good grade and the line will climb the next few miles. It takes a fair amount of power and you need to use a fair amount of sand to keep your speed up the grade.
SHAFTSBURY HILL
Over the top of Shaftsbury Hill and on the downgrade running north now. A good deal of braking is needed coming around these corners to reduce speed as begin the last three turns making our way into Arlington.
ARLINGTON
Arlington is the next big town on the line. I took a screenshot from inside the cab so that you would get a feel of what it looks like from the engineers seat. Lots of braking here to keep the train at yard speed as the rail is sloping downward all through the curve and station.
SUNDERLAND
After Arlington the line meanders along the base of a few mountains and opens up to a valley which is centered by the town of Sunderland. Sunderland was a flag stop along the line which was probably important to the dairy farmers in the area.
NORTH OF SUNDERLAND JUST SOUTH OF RICHVILLE
No stops here but just a screenshot of the countryside north of Sunderland. Beyond the farm the line will run between the Batten Kill and Richville to the east of Manchester.
MANCHESTER DEPOT

We turn left now away from the Batten Kill and pull into Manchester Depot. This was the main stop used by the passenger and freight business on the route serving Manchester VT.

NORTH OF MANCHESTER DEPOT

Pulling out of Manchester Depot the line turns north again crossing a creek and the highway 7 which was on the left overpasses the line and switches to the right side.

I took this screen shot to show the overpass and to demonstrate the work involved in shaping the mesh to make the overpass look real and smooth. It was an extremely tight squeeze here and a lot of painstaking movement of terrain points to get it even near what looked correct.
MANCHESTER LAKES
Just north of the overpass the line continues straight north and just beyond this screenshot is bounded by two good size lakes while climbing a slight grade.
SOUTH VILLAGE
South Village lies on a small lake which is behind the houses you see on the left. To the right are dairy farms. To the north the town of East Dorset lies.
EAST DORSET
Comig up on East Dorset now and just south of Emeral Lake. Train is still in a slow climb which will bring us up to the the winding course around the east end of the lake.
FINAL TURN BEFORE EMERALD LAKE
After East Dorset the line turns to the left and the grade starts to level off a little and we come up to a highway overpass before the final turn which leads to the lake. Directly in front is the swamp area on the south of the lake. The road crossing will turn, descend slightly and run along side the rail line.
EMERALD LAKE
Along the southeastern edge of the lake we join up with Highway 7. The screenshot really doesn't show the bordering two mountains on each side but imagine the lake sitting in a narrow steep valley.
NORTH DORSET

At the north end of the lake lies the town of East Dorset. Its not in yet and a work in progress. Took the screenshot so that you could see the mountain at the end of the valley with its vegetation and texturing.

Beyond this there are several narrow valleys that the line cuts through up through Danby and South Wallingford. The Otter Creek joins alongside the route just north of here and will meander alongside and beneath the railine all the way up to Vergennes where it flows into Lake Champlain.

COMING INTO WALLINGFORD

We are now along the Otter Creek just south of Wallingford. The overpass is Highway 7 crossing and just north of it is the town of Wallingford.

The Otter Creek is just to the left and floods significantly each spring and is dotted with farmlands all through the route.
WALLINGFORD
Wallingford is the last big town before we get into Rutland. The Screenshot is taken as we run past the station.
NORTH END OF WALLINGFORD
Just a screenshot taken to show the vegetation and the houses along the north end of Wallingford. From here the line will cut across the Otter Creek several times as it Oxbows in the Rutland Valley. We will also cross the Mill River and Cold River as we continue our journey into Rutland.
ALFRECHA
Last town or should I say flagstop before Rutland. Alfrecha was never an important stop and was one of the first stations abandoned on the line. I brought it back to life just for the sake of having it there but in reality there is nothing much but the farms and an old shed here which served as some sort of protection from the elements for the passengers.
PARK ST IN RUTLAND
South end of the Rutland yards on the Main Line. The Park Street Wye is to the left just beyond the houses which leads to the present day Vermont Railway engine house and dispatch office. The large factory ahead is the Howe Richardson Scale company with several sidings branching in behind the buildings. The factory lies in the Y where the Main Line converges in Rutland.
RUTLAND YARD SOUTH
And here we are at the destination of the tour. The south yard of Rutland where the Bellows Falls Sub and the Main Line converge. Today this is where most of the switching is done. In the pre-60's years the area beyond the Bridge was the massive Rutland Yard. The east side of the yard now has a shopping plaza situated there with a couple of remaining lines passing behind it. On the other side of the shopping plaza is the downtown core of the City of Rutland.