Randolph station (Vermont) explained

Randolph, VT
Style:Amtrak
Address:South Main Street and Salisbury Street
Randolph, Vermont
Country:United States
Coordinates:43.9228°N -72.6658°W
Owned:Randolph Depot Restaurant
Line:New England Central Railroad
Platform:1 side platform
Tracks:1
Connections: Stagecoach Transportation
Accessible:Yes
Closed:1966
Opened:January 31, 1849 (Vermont Central Railroad)[1]
April 14, 1996 (Amtrak)[2]
Rebuilt:1877
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Nrhp:
Nrhp Type:cp
Nocat:yes
Central Vermont Railway depot
Embed:yes
Partof:Depot Square Historic District
Partof Refnum:75000143
Location:South Main & Salisbury Streets
Depot Square
Randolph, Vermont
Built:1877
Architecture:Greek Revival, Late Victorian, Second Empire
Designated Nrhp Type:May 29, 1975
Mapframe:yes

Randolph station is an Amtrak train station in Randolph, Vermont, United States. The only train that serves the station is the Vermonter, which operates between St. Albans, Vermont and Washington, D.C.[3] The former depot building contains a market and restaurant. On the other side of the tracks is the depot for a non-profit bus company, Tri-Valley Transit, [4] essentially creating an unofficial intermodal transportation center.[5] However, the schedules of the two systems are not aligned in any way.

History

The Vermont Central Railroad was chartered to build a line along the Connecticut River to Lake Champlain, which was to include service to Randolph. The original station was not built until 1848, by which time the VCRR was acquired by the Central Vermont Railway. By the late-1870s (although signs on the depot suggest 1881), Central Vermont moved the original depot and built a new one, converting the VCRR station into a freight house. When Central Vermont was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1896, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway bought the railroad and the station out and kept it afloat throughout most of the 20th Century.

Both passenger and freight service ended in Randolph in 1966. A group of volunteers later restored the stations and the surrounding area, including converting the second station into a café and restaurant.

Randolph Station became a contributing property to the Depot Square Historic District since 1975. In the 1990s local leaders began lobbying Amtrak to make Randolph a new railroad stop, even going so far as to rebuild the original VCRR freight depot into a bus depot for Randolph Stagecoach Transportation, now Tri-Valley Transit. Amtrak began using the station as a stop on the Vermonter in 1996.

Notes and References

  1. News: Railroad Matters . July 25, 2022 . The Vermont Watchman and State Journal . February 8, 1849 . . 2. Newspapers.com.
  2. News: Francis . Eric . Amtrak Rolls into Randolph . July 25, 2022 . The Rutland Daily Herald . April 14, 1996 . 1 - 2. Newspapers.com.
  3. Web site: Randolph Vermont (RPH). TrainWeb. 3 May 2010.
  4. Web site: Existing Railroad Stations in Orange County, Vermont . Camp . M. J. . Railroad Station Historical Society.
  5. Web site: Serving Orange & Windsor Counties Vermont . Tri-Valley Transit . 2017-12-14 . 2023-09-01.