Vermont Public
Radio Commentary
by Chester H. Liebs
© 1999 by
Chester H. Liebs, Aired 11/24/99
Made possible by: The Alma Gibbs Donchian
Foundation and the Preservation Trust of Vermont
Keeping Connected
In the 19th century new railroad connections were big news.
So big that when the transcontinental railroad was completed in
1869, officials attached a telegraph wire to the hammer used to
drive the final “golden spike.” Each time the hammer struck
it completed an electrical connection, causing telegraph
receivers to click throughout the country. Click, Click, Click,
then silence. When the last click was heard, newspapers rushed
to print the news. “The nation had been linked by rail”.
In this last year of the twentieth century, an important
railroad reconnection here in Vermont received only a media
whimper. After half a century it was again possible to take a
train, from Burlington to Rutland, and then to New York and
beyond. This new train was called the Ethan Allen Connection. I
read it in a tiny newspaper ad. Could it be true?
When I worked in rural Japan I could travel almost anywhere
by rail. Back in Burlington options for travel are often less
attractive. Especially in winter, a trip down the Champlain
valley, for example, is often a choice between slipping and
sliding on snow-covered roads or risking a white-knuckle flight
with ice covered wings. But now there was another way to go. I
had to try it out.
So one late September day I found myself aboard one of two
silver coaches being pulled out of downtown Burlington by a
gleaming red locomotive. As we picked up speed I caught a
glimpse of Shelburne Road where cars seemed to be backed up for
miles. I was glad to be gliding along on the train instead of
wasting time stuck in traffic.
Through Shelburne and the fields of Charlotte-- now sprinkled
with giant new houses-- we finally put Chittenden county’s
sprawl behind us, and entered the timeless world of rural
Vermont.
Past fields studded with black and white cows, and hills
bursting with the reds and yellows of foliage season, we glided
through Vergennes, zipped by New Haven Junction’s old brick
station, trundled over the Otter Creek trestle, and then stopped
briefly at a wooden platform -- Middlebury’s makeshift
station. It’s old station is now an auto parts store.
Off again, after glimpsing architect Lavius Fillmore’s
beautiful 1809 Congregational church, we reentered the
countryside where a fleet of ducks took flight from a nearby
wetland and cruised beside the train. Past Salisbury, Brandon,
Pittsford, and the marble buildings of Proctor, we eased into
Downtown Rutland’s new station where an Amtrak train waited to
take passengers further south.
On the trip back I chatted with several Burlington-bound
passengers who transferred from Amtrak. Besides Vermonters
taking the new way home, I met a number of cutting-edge tourists
from Albany who, after an overnight stay in Burlington, would
catch the ferry to Port Kent and then take another train back
home. All without a moment in an automobile.
But making arrangements was difficult. Passengers reported
Amtrak was generally clue less about the new service.
Nevertheless everyone agreed the new train was a winner, both as
practical transportation, and a magical trip through great
scenic beauty.
Interested in going? Unfortunately you can’t. The Ethan
Allen Connection has been disconnected. It seems it’s coaches
belong to the State and are slated for the new commuter train
which will serve a small portion of the line to Rutland, from
only Burlington to Charlotte. Since the coaches were delivered
early, and commuter service doesn’t start till next spring,
the State loaned them to Vermont Railway for the Ethan Allen
Connection, but only from mid August to the end of October. Now
the equipment is sitting idle for the winter, just when
Vermonters need the Ethan Allen Connection the most.
Despite its good intentions, what did the State expect to
accomplish by authorizing (and subsidizing) a hopelessly-underpublicized
major transportation link for such a short period. It takes time
to build traffic on any transport system, even highways.
For the sake of better travel, the environment and the
economy, its time to bring back rail travel, not only for
suburban commuters, but for all Vermonters and visitors alike.
We could begin by bringing back the Ethan Allen Connection. And
this time let’s get the modern equivalent of those telegraphs
really clicking to spread the news.
Credit: Author, and observer of the everyday landscape,
Chester Liebs is Professor Emeritus of History and Founder of
the Historic Preservation Program at the University of Vermont
