During the filming, I heard the sound of a train whistle. Sure enough, the lights began to flash and the rails came down to stop traffic. I had been about to cross those tracks to access the depot and instead moved back to my car! It was exciting to watch the Amtrak train chug by! I had expected multiple cars when only 3 rolled by: the engine, a passenger car and another engine. Regardless, you’ll hear my excitement.
“New Haven Junction station is a former railway station at the junction of United States Route 7 and Vermont Route 17 in New Haven, Vermont. Probably built in the 1850s, it is a well-preserved example of a first-generation railroad depot. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as New Haven Junction Depot, and now houses offices.[1]
The former station stands adjacent to railroad tracks just north of the western junction of US 7 and Vermont 17 in the village of New Haven Junction. It is a single-story brick building with a gabled roof. It has Italianate styling, including rounded-arch windows and extended eaves supported by large brackets. The track-facing facade has two entrances, located in the second and fourth of five bays. An original manual semaphore control tower rises through the eave near the center of that facade.[2]
The station’s exact construction date is not known, and is assumed to be in the decade following the 1849 introduction of railroad service to the area by the Rutland and Burlington Railroad. The station was first listed as a stop in that railroad’s timetables in 1854, and the current brick station was completed during August of 1868, replacing a wooden structure across the tracks (which became the freighthouse). The railroad was in the second half of the 19th century an important transportation artery for both the Burlington area’s lumber industry, and the Rutland area’s marble quarries. This building underwent restoration in the late 1970s.[2]
The station must be moved – or else demolished – to accommodate the Amtrak Ethan Allen Express extension to Burlington, as the structure is too close to the tracks to permit trains to run at 59 miles per hour (95 km/h).[3] The town selectboard chose a new site for the building, adjacent to the town office and library, in May 2021. Moving the station is expected to cost more than $600,000.[4] The town has applied for state and regional funding to move the structure.[5]”-https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Haven_Junction_station
Although the State of Vermont knew for YEARS Amtrak’s stance on this station’s position as too close to the tracks, the State did not inform the town of New Haven until January 2021. This left the town scrambling to see if this station could be moved and restored.
Thankfully, it can be both. Although the town had hoped for another location, they have decided to move it to a 3-acre parcel of land they own near the town offices. The plan was to move it in October 2021. I filmed this on Sunday, October 24, 2021 still in its original spot.
