St. Albans station is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

train station in

St. Albans, Vermont St. Albans, Vermont may refer to: * St. Albans (town), Vermont, established 1763, a town in Franklin County, Vermont, U.S. *St. Albans (city), Vermont, established 1902, a city in Franklin County, Vermont, U.S. See also * St. Albans Bay, Vermont, ...

, United States. It is the northern terminus of the daily '' Vermonter'' service. Service to St. Albans on the

Vermont Central Railroad The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, Conne ...

began in 1851. A new station with a large trainshed and an adjacent office building were completed in 1867 as part of major construction of the railroad's main shops. Service under the Central Vermont Railway (later part of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

and

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

) continued until 1966; the station was demolished in 1963.

service resumed in 1972 using a former switch house as a station building. The station has been served by the '' Montrealer'' from 1972 to 1987 and 1989 to 1995, and by the ''Vermonter'' since 1995. The office building is used as the headquarters of the New England Central Railroad, successor of the Central Vermont. The office building and current station building are part of the Central Vermont Railroad Headquarters, which was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974.

History

Construction

The

Vermont and Canada Railroad The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, C ...

, under control of the

(VC), began service between Essex Junction and Rouses Point through St. Albans on January 10, 1851. The original VC combination depot (passenger and freight services in one building) has two platform tracks. In 1862, the VC began construction of a major expansion of its main shops in St. Albans, hometown of VC president John Gregory Smith. Among the buildings constructed were a new station and adjacent office building, which were begun in 1866 and completed in June 1867. The brick station building, measuring by , was attached to a four-track trainshed. The three-story red brick Second Empire office has two square towers at its southern corners. Both the towers and the main building have

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. Th ...

s. The office building included indoor plumbing and hot-air central heating. Most passenger facilities were located in the station building, but the office building included a customs office on the first floor.

Declining service

The Vermont Central was reorganized as the Central Vermont Railway (CV) in 1873. On July 1, 1873, the CV-owned

Missisquoi Railroad The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, C ...

(later the Richmond Branch) opened as a branch line from St. Albans. The struggling CV became part of the

in 1896. The Grand Trunk was in turn merged into the

(CN) in 1923. Four chimneys on the south facade of the office building were removed in 1915. A tower on the southwest corner of the trainshed was removed in 1923. Passenger service on the Richmond Branch ended on November 11, 1938. The CN demolished the station and trainshed in 1963, and passenger service ended with the discontinuance of the '' Montrealer'' on September 6, 1966. A local preservation group was formed in 1970; with the office building and remaining yard facilities placed on the

on January 21, 1974, as the Central Vermont Railroad Headquarters.

Amtrak service

took over intercity passenger service in the United States in 1971. A revived ''Montrealer'' began serving St. Albans on September 29, 1972. A small brick building north of the former trainshed, constructed around 1900 as a switch tower and yard office, was put into use as the new station building. The ''Montrealer'' was suspended from April 6, 1987, to July 19, 1989. It was curtailed to St. Albans as the '' Vermonter'' on April 2, 1995. The ''Vermonter'' uses the remaining wye connection of the 1990-abandoned Richmond Branch north of the station to reverse direction. The CV was sold and renamed as the New England Central Railroad (NECR) in 1995; the NECR continues to use the office building as its headquarters. In March 2020, the station was temporarily closed and ''Vermonter'' service was suspended indefinitely north of , both part of a reduced service plan due to the coronavirus pandemic.

References

External links

*Train Web - USA Rail Guid
St. Albans, VT (SAB)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Albans station Vermont Amtrak stations in Vermont Buildings and structures in St. Albans (city), Vermont Transportation buildings and structures in Franklin County, Vermont Former Central Vermont Railway stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1866 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1972 Railway stations closed in 1987 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1989