Rutland Vermont (Walking Tour)
September 6, 2009

My little tour began on Labor Day 2009 from the junction Allen St and Route 7 (So. Main St).

I'm standing looking northwest towards Route 7 along what was once the Bellows Falls Subdivision of the Rutland Railroad. Today the track is state owned and operated by Vermont Rail. The Rutland yard begins just past route 7 and joins up further north past the Howe Center.

Route 7 (So Main Street crossing and the begining of the Rutland Yard where the tank cars can be seen. To the right is where the electric railway would have terminated at South Station. I'm told the Electric Railway ran all the way out to the hotel at Lake Bomosseen and to Fair Haven on the NY State border.
Start of the Bellows Falls Subdivision section of the Rutland yard. This part of the line was operated by the Green Mountain Railroad after the departure of the Rutland.
There are several local businesses that are situated just to the east of the Yard. The lack of signage indicates the establishment is fairly new or between tennants.
This has always been one of personal favorite buildings due to its architecture. It is all railroad and business and you gotta love those dormers on the roof. The building probably dates back to the twenties and thirties and is situated between the two branches of the yard.
The Howe Richardson Scale Company not only was a large shipper on the Rutland but was known worldwide for its spring type scales. Today the building is known as the Howe Center and there are several businesses located within and beyond the passage located on the center of the photo.
Mintzer Brothers was an important shipper with the Rutland and was occupied both the southwest and southeast corners of Strongs Ave and River Rd. Here you can see the siding still in place which has a significant rise and the siding splits in two just in front of the garage door.
Looking north between Howe Center and the railcars towards the River Street Bridge. I was lucky on this morning as these cars where to be shuttled around the yard in just a few minutes.
Entering the Howe Center is like entering a small little world of businesses, manufacturers, shops and offices. The Howe Center is situated on the Junction of the Main Line and the Bellows Falls Subdivision. The buildings sit parallel to both the lines. Its an interesting walk around in its own right. I even ran across a couple of people residing in the little maze. There are loading docks or all sorts in the middle of Howe Center. Today this is mostly paved over but in the glory days of the Rutland there were sidings that weaved in and out of this area. A Vermont Rail locomotive is backing slowly to connect up with the line of cars seen in the earlier pic at the entrance of the Howe Center. This is just south of River street bridge at the junction of the Main Line and Bellows Falls Subdivision. The cars connected the heading locomotive is ready to shuttled north of the junction of the two lines to do some sorting.
There are three tracks on this part of the yard which runs parallel to the eastside of the Howe Center.
Shot of the junction just south of the River Street Bridge. The Bellows Falls Subdivision coming in from the bottom on the right and the Main ALine on the left.
Close up of the Junction and River Street Bridge. From this location in the days of the Rutland, the Freight House and Station would branch to the right, the engine shops, car shops, etc., would have branched to the left.
At this point the cars that were on the left hand side of the track have been switched on to the train and its ready to roll north to Burlington.
Here the Vermont Rail locomotive is slowly moving northward from the Howe Center.
Heading towards the junction of the two lines the two locomotives and train rumble past me. The train is now operating at yard speed and is heading around the bend behind the Rutland Plaza. From the River Street bridge location the train will turn westward across East creek and proceed westward to Center Rutland where it will turn north along the Main Line up to Proctor, Florence, Brandon, Middlebury and Burlington.
The back end of the east wing of the Howe Center. As I mentioned before it is a small maze of doors and businesses back here. Westminster Cracker Company is headquarted in the middle of the Howe Center and is world famous for the "oyster cracker" although it does make some other types of crackers. One of the many loading docks found at the south end of the Howe Center. The Main Looking south from the end of the Howe Center west wing. There is an engine shed located further south down the line. The Main Line continues south to Dorset, Manchester, Arlington and North Bennington.
Close up shot of the Engine shed along the main line. The other side of the Westminster Cracker Company. At one time they made bread crumbs here also but this was sold off to Pillsbury. Here is a shot of the other side of that building we started with the unique dormers on the roof.  
North end of Howe Center. Rutland Bellow's Falls Sudvision in the foreground.
Mintzer Brothers yard has quite a grade leading up to its warehouse. The siding ran off the Bellows Falls Subdivision section of the yard to the west of Strongs Ave just before River Street Bridge.
Looking southward from the Mintzer Brothers siding.
A few more car switches to take of before heading north, the train is pulling north of River Street bridge behind the Rutland Plaza
Backing up now to pick up a few more cars in the Rutland yard from River Street Bridge.
Another shot of the train backing up under my feet. Note the yard track curving back north towards the depot at the north end of the plaza.
Someone had some work to do this Labor Day and the engineer kept the yard busy for the time I was there.
Note now the train has backed up to the Main Line side of Howe Center now.
The final pick up in the yard came from the eastside of Howe Center.
This cemetary is in the north end of town along Main Street. It is located just to the north of where North Street used to intersect Route 7 (Main Street) below the hill behind the cemetary is the Rotary playground.
This shot was taken from Main Street looking east. The road into Rotary playground lies just in front of the tennis court, which would have been the Phelp's yard and the big storage barn dominated about a third of our back yard on North St. The house beyond the barn and to the left belonged to the Fish family in the years that we lived there. There house was the third house built during the Farnsworth years and was most likely used for some of the extended family and the servants.
The mural on the barn was painted just after we left Rutland. Amongst the overgrowth of trees to the left of the barn there was a small cement pond, which was added in the OJ Main days. We never really used the pond although my father loved to secretly burn leaves there in the fall.
This is the access road into the Rotary playground which bordered East Creek and the backyards of the Fish, Phelps and our house. Rotary appeared to be in a bit of a revival with new tennis courts being installed but in the years I lived there, was home to a softball field, skating rink, tennis courts and handball court.
This is the fence of the backyards of the Phelps and our house. The change in fencing indicates the boundary of the two yards with the hill on the southwest corner of the Rotary playground.
This area was not as overgrown or as shaded when we lived there. The door and the bottom level of the house was used by my father and several other doctors as a billing office. The family room and den were on the left above the door and the master bedroom was to the right above the offices.
This is the west end of the house showing the driveway and large two door garage. The front door atrium is just to the left of what we called the fireplace room which dominated the front door of the house. My sisters bedroom was on the top floor in the center of the shot. The living room (or ping pong room when we lived there) was beneath my sisters room. Close up of the garage doors. The Garage was a building in itself and was extremely large. Interestingly the Fish's house was immediately behind it. The new owners built a covered walkway from the garage to the house which opened to a patio which we used for outdoor eating and BBQing along the eastside of the Garage. The extension jutting out from the house along the right side of the driveway was the dinning room and my room was located directly above this. The kitchen had its own little module directly behind the dinning room. The Farnsworth house which is being repaired was on the corner of North St and Lincoln Ave. It has now been converted to what appears to be apartments and was probably built around 1900 from what I have been able to tell.  
Here is a shot of the backend and Lincoln Street side of the Farnsworth house. Here is a shot of the actual front yard of our house at 23 North St. It probably was not as well groomed when we lived there but it gives you a good idea at how deceiving the house looked from the street. It really gives off the appearance of a small cottage nestled in between several large houses, but actually was probably had as much square footage as the Farnsworth house. A shot of the driveway which ran off North Street. The yard line was just along the trees on the left and the driveway to the Fish's house just on the other side. Their driveway was pretty much an access to North Street along the edge of our yard and the Farnsworth house on Lincoln Street. My guess is that at one time all three properties were one. Shot of 23 North St from the southside of the street. I find it amazing that from whichever angle you look at the house it always seems to change size or appearance.
Bruno's Market evolved into the Beer King in the early 80's. It was a pretty busy beverage outlet on the corner of Crescent and Church Street in the years I lived there and there was a very busy redemption center behind the building.
East end of what was once Rutland High School in the years that I lived in Rutland. The classrooms where on three stories and there were six windows per classroom. The ones on the bottom level were pretty much at ground level and some of us were notorious for simply rolling out the windows to freedom when the teacher wasn't looking.
The side steps at the East End were one of my favorite hang outs. I could often be found sitting on the railing to the right .
Taken from the corner of Church and Kendall Avenue. In the years I was there the driveway did not exist and there were walkways in place.
The front steps of the High School were always an active place during the years I went there.
Taken from Library Avenue a shot of the Greek style architecture and lettering.
Another shot of the lettering above the main doors of the High School. The building no longer is used as a High School.
Along Cottage Street looking towards downtown. Notice the low marble fence. The marble fences and sometimes curbing are pretty common throughout the town if you walk around long enough.
Next few shots were taken of State Street in Rutland. State Street runs parallel one block north of Main Street from Merchants Row to where it merges in with West Street at the east end of Center Rutland.
The Street is dotted with businesses that have come and gone through the years and it really hasn't changed drastically from the years that I lived there and probably even going as far back to the last years of the Rutland Railroad.
There was a bar here at one time when I lived in Rutland but I cannot recall what it was called.
Here is the a pulled back shot showing the entire facade of this State Street building.
The architecture on the street is a contrast to the rest of the town and oftentimes is a reminder to the railroad roots of Rutland. This would have been a blue collar area of the town.
The old and the new is even contrasted on the street itself as this new business at the corner of Pine Street is bordered by a vacant building.
Lo-rise retail dominates this street and obviously by the "Space Available" sign is not a prime location in downtown.
This building is the home of Rutland TV and is located on Strongs Ave. The shot is a bit out of sequence
Walking a bit south at the intersection of Pine Street and West Street. The Post Office and Federal Building would be on my left.
The Main Line overpass with Pine Street curving westward beneath. Shot was taken just to the north of West Street.
Hugh Duffy Coal was around during the steam days of Rutland and is the only remaining one of the companies that the Rutland served for many years.
Another shot of the Hugh Duffy Coal company facade as it appears today.
This is what it looks like today coming in on the main line from the north. Duffy Coal on the left. Merchants Row in the background and the Rutland headquarters on the right.
Just west of the Pine Street overpass in the steam days there would be two other coal company warehouses on the left blocking the view of downtown.
A more modern warehouse is located off West Street where one of the other coal companies would have stood.
West Street intersects with Forest street and is diagonally crossed by the Rutland Main Line. The Main Line actually turns about another five degrees to the west past the blue warehouse in the background and continues in a westerly direction until it branches off from the old Delaware and Hudson tracks at Center Rutland.
Forest Street and West Street Crossing just to the south of West Street. In the years I lived here there was a fair amount of trucking passing across this crossing.
Another view of the crossing taken from the east looking west.
Hugh Duffy Coal Company warehouse taken from just northwest of the curve leading into the Rutland yard.
West Street and the Federal building on the left. Hugh Duffy Coal headquartes in the center and their warehouse to the right taken from the southside of West Street. The Rutland yad pretty much began at this location.
The north end of the overpass as seen from Pine Street.
The south end of the overpass from the northside of Pine street. Notice the cement reinforcements which were added in later years. Most likely after the Rutland years.
Pulled back view of the south end foundation. Note Duffy Coal's warehouse to the right. During the steam years there were three coal company that were all positioned to the north and south of the overpass and would have been a busy mini-yard in itself.
Taken from the Pine Street curve looking west to the overpass with Duffy Coal's warehouse in the background. The intersection to the right in the background is West Street.
Almost like stone granite steps leading up the Pine Street overpass contrasts sharply with the south end of the structure. My guess it had been rebuilt of partially rebuilt one or more times during the lifespan of the overpass.
Here you get a view of the old Rutland Headquarters from Pine Street. This is the lower level which is not seen from the yard.
Pulled back shot of the lower level of the Rutland Railroad Headquarters.
Shot of the Pine Street overpass from the southeast looking towards the Forrest Street crossing.
This bridge is at the north end of the yard spans Pine Street just to the south of West Street. In the distance you can see where Foster Street crosses the tracks to connect with Pine Street. The track continues west to Center Rutland where the main line branches off northward and the old Delaware & Hudson track begins where the Center Rutland station exists today.
Former Rutland Railroad's Headquarters in its final years. I doubt the satellite dish would have been a fixture on the building.
This area would have been all yard in the steam days. Engine shops, Car shops, and all the maintenance you can dream of would have been handled here.
The Main line curves northeastward around the CVPS office which once held the management in the final years of the Rutland Railroad.
The Ethan Allen from the north end switch of the yard. The building on the right is one of the few remnants of the Rutland Railroad.
The Ethan Allen from the north end of Rutland's platform. It was parked here for the night and was the train consist that I took to Fort Edward the following day.
Trackside of the Rutland Depot looking North. The stairs and platform bring you level with the AMTRAK cars and there is also a handicap lift to the upper platform. Obviously this was put in as an afterthought to ease passenger loading.
The Ethan Allen's locomotive directly across from the Rutland Depot. The building in the background was once the headquarters of the Rutland Railroad in the late 1950's and 1960's. While I lived in Rutland it was the home of the Central Vermont Power Service.
Finally this last shot of the Ethan Allen late in the afternoon looking north from the south end of the Rutland Deport yard,