I just sent the following to the NARCOA-Rail Preservation Yahoo group - any comments?

Does anyone here live near Bennington, Vermont? In case you haven't heard, the 4 mile stub of the old Rutland RR (it went on to Chatham, NY until 1953) between North Bennington and Bennington is being pursued by trails advocates. The track has been mostly unused for about 20 years, but was in good enough shape for Vermont Rail Systems to shove some stored boxcars onto it about a year ago.

Until recently, local officials resisted the trails advocates, citing its possible reuse as a rail line, but they recently fell in with the trails people, called the Paran Pathway Coalition (named for Lake Paran, at the west end of the route).

The track is leased to Vermont Rail Systems (Vermont Railway/Green Mountain/Clarendon & Pittsford), which so far has shown intentions to keep it as a rail line (all the former Rutland RR trackage in Vermont belongs to the State of Vermont).

However, with no current or projected business on the line, it is often hard to stop the trails people, who at one recent meeting said "we should just take it". Vermont now has a Republican governor, who is not really enamored of railroads as the previous Howard Dean was. When push comes to shove, these movements (with the help of Rails-to-Trails) can be hard to stop.

I think if a motorcar group could somehow become involved here, it might be saved from the cyclists and snowmobilers. The latter group has a strong lobby, but snowmobiles have been successfully accommodated on other state-owned, summer-only tourist railroads in NY State and New Hampshire, thus appeasing somewhat their voracious appetite for new routes.

I'm thinking that a possible sub-lease might be obtained from VRS (perhaps for a small amount), in exchange for minor maintenance on the line. Eventually, this might evolve into offering public rides on motorcars and trailers, assuming insurance costs were acceptable.

At just four miles long, I think this maintenance would be within reason for a small motorcar group. If I recall, there were even a couple of motorcar sheds standing at North Bennington.

With further vision, it might evolve into a mini-Strasburg sort of tourist railroad. There are nicely-restored depots at each end of the line (N. Bennington is a town hall, Bennington is a restaurant). The locals here are sensitive about looking at old rail equipment, but a few fully-restored pieces would probably be acceptable. There is a wye at N. Bennington and there was once a turntable at Bennington. I believe the latter may be the same length as the former Rutland Bellows Falls table now buried at Chester, Vermont. The route is quite scenic, especially in Fall.

I live within a fairly easy drive of Bennington, but work on the railroad and am gone roughly 90 hours per week, so cannot get physically involved for now.

Bob Yarger

Here are links to a similar group, working on unused trackage of the Middletown & New Jersey, in NY State:

http://www.narcoa.org/excursions/NY.html

http://www.vratrips.org/