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The St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad (StJ&LC) was constructed in the 1870s as the Vermont Division of the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway to connect the Great Lakes with the seaport of Portland, Maine. The westerly connection with the Great Lakes was never made. The eastern end of the Vermont Division was leased to the Maine Central Railroad in 1912, and the remainder of the line became a subsidiary of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The Boston & Maine operated their segment as the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad after 1925. This segment was reorganized as the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad in 1948.
Freight traffic was 30% inbound commodities, 20% outbound dairy products to Boston, 15% outbound forest products, and 25% outbound limestone, talc and asbestos. The remaining 10% was bridge line traffic (westbound paper and eastbound feed) for the Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division. Six 70-ton General Electric Diesel locomotives replaced steam locomotives. Passenger service ended in 1956. Trucks had taken all of the milk traffic by 1961, but bridge line traffic had increased six-fold following the 1953 dissolution of Maine Central's joint operating agreement with Boston and Maine Railroad. Light rail and covered bridges prevented the line from accepting new heavier "incentive" freight car loadings. The covered bridges were replaced or reinforced so worn out light diesel locomotives could be replaced by larger locomotives; but track conditions deteriorated under the heavier loads.
The State of Vermont purchased the line from Samuel Pinsley in 1973. The line was then operated by Morrison-Knudsen as the Vermont Northern Railroad for a time. In 1978, local shippers took over the operation and it became the Lamoille Valley Railroad. In 1989, the line was leased to a Florida company and was operated by them until major flooding in 1995 and 1997 damaged the line so much that it was not profitable to repair the track. In 2002, the state of Vermont started converting the 96 mile route into a recreational trail and created the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.
Route
Milepost 0: St. Johnsbury interchange with Maine Central Railroad and Canadian Pacific Railway.
Milepost 1.4: Fairbanks Scales factory
Milepost 11.5: Danville
Milepost 19.7: Walden
Milepost 27.8: Greensboro Bend
Milepost 34.7: Hardwick junction with Hardwick and Woodbury Railroad. 98-foot covered bridge built 1909 over the Lamoille River burned 1959.
Milepost 39: Preserved 90-foot Fisher covered bridge built in 1908 over the Lamoille River was strengthened in 1968 to be the last covered railroad bridge in service.
Milepost 41: Wolcott 120-foot covered bridge built 1909 over the Lamoille River replaced by steel bridge about 1968.
Milepost 48.9: Morrisville was the most important shipping point on the line.
Milepost 51.6: Hyde Park
Milepost 56.4: Johnson Eastern Magnesia Talc
Milepost 64.6: Cambridge Junction with Central Vermont Railroad. 113-foot covered bridge built 1899 over the Lamoille River replaced by steel bridge about 1968.
Milepost 78.4: Fairfield
Milepost 83: Sheldon
Milepost 84.6: Sheldon Junction with Central Vermont Railroad
Milepost 90.9: Highgate
Milepost 94.7: East Swanton junction with Central Vermont Railroad. Three-span 369-foot covered bridge over the Missisquoi River built in 1898 was on the main line between East Swanton and Swanton. It was preserved by routing StJ&LC trains over the Central Vermont Railroad.
Milepost 96.1: Swanton Swanton Lime Works and interchange with Central Vermont Railroad