Vintage train still rolls across vintage Vermont

BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. - The hills, woods, and fields of southern Vermont's rural landscape roll by as the Green Mountain Flyer chugs between Bellows Falls and Chester.

The historic train departs near the Bellows Falls canal, among the oldest man-made channels in the country. Rail service began here in the 1840s, ferrying wood, brick, iron, and stone. Passenger service followed and now the Green Mountain Railroad carries freight and passengers on several scenic trains across the state.

Riders embark from a brick depot with high-backed wooden benches. The current depot sits on the site of the original, which was built in 1851 and destroyed by fire in 1923. The Rutland Railroad Co. rebuilt the structure soon after. Besides serving the Green Mountain lines, the station also provides Amtrak service to New York and Washington, D.C.

Passengers on the Flyer can choose from two standard cars from the 1930s or upgrade for a small fee to the wooden 1913 Rutland car constructed by Osgood-Bradley in Worcester. During the two-hour ride (with a half-hour layover in Chester), attendants may sometimes open the rear door to let passengers take photos.

For the first few miles, the Connecticut River is backed by rolling hills, marshes, and high banks on the New Hampshire side. The train travels over a man-made causeway with water on both sides. There is also Riverside, a freight yard where lumber and steel are transferred to trucks. At one time, railroad magnate Nelson Blount kept his steam locomotive collection called Steamtown U.S.A. here. Much of the collection is now at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pa.

Later, passengers are treated to views of the geese, ducks, herons, and egrets that inhabit the marshes of a cove on the Williams River. The train also passes through several rock cuts blasted in the 1840s, which according to a recorded narration caused a number of workers' deaths and injuries.

The river becomes a companion for a spell when the train travels over two trestles. The first stands 62 feet above the waters. But it is the second one that sends passengers scrambling for their cameras. One hundred feet above ground, a waterfall crashes down on one side with a boulder-strewn gorge on the other.

Sightings of moose and bear are rare, but horses and cows are plentiful. The forest and cornfields lead to covered bridges, including the 152-foot-long Bartonsville Covered Bridge in Rockingham, built in 1870.

The bucolic town of Chester is the midway point, where the locomotive is transferred to lead the return trip as riders get out and watch the process. Chester recently served as the setting for the Hallmark Channel movie "Moonlight and Mistletoe" starring Tom Arnold, which is slated for November release. Passengers may admire the 1884 Town Hall on their way to one of the country stores or to a 1941 caboose snack shack for ice cream or chicken tenders.

Then it's time for the soporific clickety clack of the return ride.

Marty Basch can be reached at marty@martybasch.com.