NEB&W Layout Guide - Willsboro Bay (Red Rocks)

Last Update: 2008-11-11

More on Red Rocks and Willsboro in the Red Rocks Photo Gallery.

The village is named after William Gilliland, who starting purchasing land in the area in 1765. (Could have been called "Gillilandland" or "Billsboro", too, but wasn't.)

For seven miles along the shore of Willsboro Bay on Lake Champlain, the D&H RR hugs the rugged cliffs about 100 feet above the dark blue water. This area, known to railfans as "Red Rocks," has long been a favorite for its dramatic scenery, as the trains snake along at 20 m.p.h. The rocks up close are a bright orange-red, streaked with black, but fade to a muted gray in a panoramic view. The painted "water" is temporary until we get the courage to pour the polyester casting resin as has been done elsewhere on the layout.

From Jim Shaughnessy's Delaware & Hudson:

"The Bouquet range meets the lake with high bluffs extending along the bay for 7 miles. Here the drillers had to be let down 100 feet on ropes from the top of the ledge to prepare the blasts. When the charges were fired, tons of rock would cascade another hundred feet down into the black depths of Willsboro Bay. Despite the difficulties encountered, this section is one of the most beautiful and thrilling bits of railroad in the Northeast."

You can still ride through here on Amtrak's Adirondack.