NEB&W Layout Guide - The Causeway

Causeway

On our layout, we are modeling Lake Champlain as if it was turned 180 degrees around, with the narrow deep section on the north end of our fictitious world, and the broad, shallow end at the south end.

In the 1840's, not one but two railroads fought across the Green Mountains of Vermont, to become the major route channeling Boston and New England traffic to upstate New York on Ogdensburg on Lake Erie. From there, feed and grain from the Great Plains could be loaded from Great Lakes ships to into box cars for the trip east, passing westbound trains loaded with finished goods from the humming New England factories. The two railroads engaged in this mortal combat were the Rutland and the Central Vermont. They paralleled each other from Bellows Falls, VT on the Connecticut River to Burlington, VT, on the northern shore of Lake Champlain. However, the CV entered into agreement with a third railroad, with which it later merged. This provided the CV with a route north of Burlington along the east shore of the lake. The CV did everything in its power to provide a poor through-connection in Burlington for the Rutland.

Finally, in 1900, with financial support of the New York Century, the Rutland built north of Burlington by heading out across the widest section of the lake. They built a 30-mile line up through the large islands, connecting them with a series of causeways, including a three-mile one which became known as the "Long Fill."

Although this causeway runs across open water, it is actually built on the ridge of the underwater sand bar that connects the mainland with South Hero island, and the water is only a few feet deep in this area. Even so, it was considered quite an engineering feat for its time and became the Rutland's most spectacular and unique scenic feature. Scrap blocks of marble from the Rutland's many on-line quarries protected the fills from wave erosion, while further heightening the scenic splendor. Some of the marble blocks are as big as Volkswagens, strewn helter-skelter. During winter storms, an engine ran back and forth to prevent ice build-up on the track.

What a trip it must have been to ride a coach over the causeway in its heyday on a sunny summer day, looking out from over the massive white rip-rap to see nothing but flotillas of white sailboats tacking on the miles of sun-sparkling deep blue water on either side, framed by the dark blue rugged silhouettes of the Green Mountains in one direction or New York's Adirondacks in the other.

The swing bridge was operated manually, requiring two men to crank it open or shut. In trying to locate plans of the bridge, we went to the Coast Guard in New York City since Champlain is considered international waters. Their file on the bridge consisted mainly of irate boat owners, complaining how reluctant the bridge tenders were to swing open the bridge. Near the end of the Rutland, when few trains were being run, the bridge was kept open and only aligned for the railroad when a train was due. The bridge tenders only worked during boating season. They occupied most of their days fishing. They would exchange fresh fish with the train crews in exchange for the daily papers and fresh produce.

In 1964, the Rutland ceased operation. The State Vermont picked up the right-of-way, and leased it to a couple of short lines which had formed to operate the remnants of the Rutland. Vermont Railway obtained the line up to Burlington, but decided not to pick up the island line. The tracks, bridges and other structures were ripped up, leaving just the eroding riprap-lined fills as mute testimony to this Victorian marvel of engineering.

For more information, also check out: Rutland's Island Line and the proposal to convert the Burlington-Alburgh Island Line into a rail-trail (including contemporary photos of these sites.