Randolph station (Vermont)

Randolph 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 station also contains a local restaurant. On the other side of the tracks is the depot for a private bus company, Randolph Stagecoach Transportation,[4] essentially creating an unofficial intermodal transportation center. However, the schedules of the two systems are not aligned in any way.

Randolph, VT
Randolph station in July 2006
LocationSouth Main Street and Salisbury Street
Randolph, Vermont
Coordinates43°55′22″N 72°39′57″W
Owned byRandolph Depot Restaurant
Line(s)New England Central Railroad
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Connections Stagecoach Transportation
Construction
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Station codeRPH
History
Opened1848; 1996
Closed1966
Rebuilt1877
Passengers
FY20181,842[1] 0.49%
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
White River Junction Vermonter Montpelier
toward St. Albans
Former services
Preceding station Central Vermont Railway Following station
Bethel
toward New London
Main Line Braintree
toward St. Johns
Central Vermont Railway depot
The 1877-built station in 2006
LocationSouth Main & Salisbury Streets
Depot Square
Randolph, Vermont
Area12 acres (4.9 ha)
Built1877
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Late Victorian, Second Empire
Part ofDepot Square Historic District (ID75000143[2])
Designated CPMay 29, 1975

History

The station, circa 1915

Railway service in Randolph can be traced as far back as 1843 when the Vermont Central Railroad was chartered to build a line along the Connecticut River to Lake Champlain, which was to include service in the city. The original station wasn't built until 1848 though, and by that 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. However a dedicated group of volunteers vowed to restore the stations and the surrounding area, even converting the second station into a café and restaurant.

Randolph Station became the centerpiece of and has been 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. Thirty years after the last Central Vermont train stopped in Randolph, Amtrak began using the station as a stop on the Vermonter, and has maintained that service ever since.

References

Media related to Randolph station (Vermont) at Wikimedia Commons

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