![]() Then, as a long-awaited plan to bring Amtrak service along the tracks came to fruition, the state was told the station was a safety hazard, and would have to move or get demolished. The state ended up leasing the station to a local construction company. “But because it had been hit and it was too close to the railroad and an intersection, it was determined that it was best to use it for commercial purposes,” said State Historic Preservation Officer Laura Trieschmann. It was boarded up it had been run into by a truck a train had derailed in front of it and compromised the structure,” Jones said.Įventually, the state Division for Historic Preservation took ownership of the building, intending for it to be a transportation museum. “The building was abandoned for a number of years. The state took over the building, and it saw some wear and tear. Then, in 1961, the railroad shut down, and the station with it, Jones said. Jones has written a book about the station and the short railroad it once stood by.īesides caskets, other kinds of freight - and passengers - came through the New Haven station for nearly 100 years. VPR Jim Jones of Colchester stands in front of the New Haven train station as workers prepare to move it. “Because in Bristol, they had the Bristol Manufacturing Company, which made caskets.” “The caskets part is the fact that that little six mile railroad from Bristol to New Haven Junction, and then on to the Rutland railroad, carried more caskets than any other railroad in the northeastern United States,” Jones said. He literally wrote the book on it, called New Haven Junction to Bristol Vermont: Crossroads to Caskets. ![]() This station, over 20 feet tall with ornate curved windows, was built in 1868, according to Jones. ![]() So about a mile-and-a-half journey overall,” Jones said. “It's going to go out into a farmer's field and then it'll find its way into New Haven village. ![]() Jones watched as workers prepared to roll it down the highway. Before dawn, it was moved to this spot from its original home next to the nearby train tracks. It was moved to make way for new Amtrak service from Rutland to Burlington, slated to begin later this year.Īmid frigid temperatures Wednesday morning, Colchester resident Jim Jones stood at the edge of the Jiffy Mart parking lot at the corner of Routes 17 and 7 looking at a red brick train station hoisted onto steel beams and a hydraulic wheel system. Earlier this week, an old brick train station rolled down Route 17 in New Haven, Vt. ![]()
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