The final trip of the 2015 NRHS Convention was a Vermont Rail Service passenger excursion between Rutland and North Bennington/Hoosic Junction and return, passing the one-time home of Norman Rockwell and the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln and the president of Pullman Palace Car Company. This would be all new rail mileage for me.
This morning I drove to the Vermont Railway Building to board the train, arriving at 7:50 AM and started working on the Shelburne Museum story then helped Bart move items from the 1313 car to the lower level of the dome car.
Sarah Jennings, whom I will miss working with in the future as this is Bart Jennings' final NRHS Convention when it comes to planning and train management. Bart would resume running his rare mileage trips again which will make a lot of people happy, including me. Thank you, Bart and Sarah, for four excellent NRHS conventions in Iowa, Alaska, Arkansas and this one in Vermont.
Our train to Hoosic Junction today. It then went down to the boarding location in Rutland for the final time. After a last NRHS trip safety meeting, I took my position in Rutland combine 280 then boarded its passengers and waited for the trip to leave.
The TripThe train departed at 10:00 AM for my last time from the Amtrak Rutland station and headed south.
The Amtrak derailment site from last night.
We passed the Rutland Vermont Railroad engine house.
We headed out of the city into the green lands of Vermont.
The train crossed the Mill River bridge.
Mill River.
Mill River Lumber.
The Rutland Railroad Wallingford station built in 1867.
Homer Stone Brook bridge. We stopped at Stafford Pit for a photo runby at MP 40.2.
Reverse move 1.
Photo Runby 1.
The photo line.
Reverse move 2.
The photo line.
Photo runby 2. We all reboarded the train and headed to North Bennington.
My passengers on my last trip of the convention had a little more fun when I took their picture.
View of the mountains to the northwest.
A unique Vermont farm.
A Vermont lake to the east of the train.
The East Dorset Post Office.
Vermont geology.
Goats in a pen.
Beautiful Vermont.
One of the crossings of the Batten Kill River.
The train is coming into Manchester.
The Vermont Railroad freight house in Manchester.
Puffy clouds were ordered for this day.
The mountains to the northwest.
The train crossed Bourn Brook.
The mountains to our west.
More views of beautiful Vermont.
The Arlington Rutland station built in 1913.
A tank on display here.
Later the train arrived in North Bennington. We detrained passengers, most of whom would ride the train to Hoosic Jct. and a few who would wait for our return north out of North Bennington later this afternoon. We set up three photo lines and each could choose which they wanted to be in.
Reverse move.
Photo Runby at North Bennington. After that I visited the station.
The interior of North Bennington station after which I went out onto the platform.
This statue reminds me of the late Ken Ruben, the Official Caller of Let's Talk Trains. Once the engines had run around the train and were spotted, we loaded the passengers then departed for Hoosic Junction.
We crossed the road into North Bennington.
Trees line our route most of the way to Hoosic Junction.
The train took a curve heading to Hoosic Junction.
The H6/MP 1 milepost on this section of railroad.
The train is being reversed to Hoosic Junction.
The H5 milepost on this line.
Rolling down the line to Hoosic Junction.
Crossing the Walloomsac River.
Views of Walloomsac River and road crossing.
The train took a curve.
A ran by the H4 milepost sign.
Walloomsac MP 2.2.
Milepost H2.
Milepost H1.
Another crossing of Walloomsac River. I went to the back of the "Macintyre" and joined most of the NRHS staff there and will share the views of the last mile into Hoosic Junction with you.
The train has reached our turn around point at Hoosic Junction which is the southernmost point on the Vermont Railroad. We then headed north with the power leading.
The train crossed the Walloomsac River.
The North Hoosic Post Office. I finished the Shelburne Museum story and wrote this story on the trip back to Rutland. We stopped at North Bennington and then headed back to the Rutland Amtrak station. I walked the train to say goodbye to everyone aboard then sat on the back of the "Macintyre" for a couple of miles before cleaning the garbage from my car. As we neared Rutland I thanked everyone in my car one last time then we put up the windows before arriving in Rutland at 7:41 PM. This ended my participation in the 2015 NRHS Convention.
A special thank you to the entire NRHS staff aboard the trains and at the Holiday Inn for all their hard work to make this 2015 NRHS Convention in Rutland a major success. Also thanks go to the Vermont Railroad, Saratoga & North Creek, Amtrak and Bart and Sarah Jennings for their leadership and hard work. We will see you in Denver next year!
Robin stayed on the train with me after I cleaned the car and followed the passengers off. I turned in my vest and radio to Sarah and then the train was reversed before it pulled in to the track I boarded this morning and where my rental car was parked. We stopped at KFC before a final night at the Days Inn.
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