Rail to the granite mountain February 4, 2008 Editor's note: This is the latest in a monthly series of articles on the history of central Vermont's granite industry provided by the Vermont Granite Museum. Robeson Mountain in Woodbury is the site of Vermont's largest deposit of building granite. The granite occurs in defect-free sheets large enough to yield quarry blocks for the largest column or shaft. In the early 1870s, Rodney F. Carter opened a quarry on Robeson Mountain that was later purchased by Ernest R. Fletcher. About 1880, Voodry & Town established a quarry on Robeson Mountain that was later purchased by the Woodbury Granite Co. The Vermont Division of the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad was chartered in 1867 to serve as a link in the western rail connection from Portland, Maine, to Ogdensburgh, N.Y. The Town of Hardwick purchased $6,000 shares of railroad stock in 1869 and the first train reached Hardwick from St. Johnsbury on Jan. 1, 1872. The railroad was completed to Swanton in 1877, but the Ogdensburg connection never developed into the hoped-for business. The financially troubled Vermont Division was restructured and renamed the St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain Railroad in 1880. Nevertheless, the railroad continued to serve the transportation needs of Hardwick and its growing granite industry. Hardwick had its low-cost rail transport to the outside world but not to the quarries at Robeson Mountain, where the bulk of the commercial granite lay. Hardwick's streets were being heavily damaged by horse-drawn granite wagons. Finally, in 1892, the St. J. & L.C. constructed the Hardwick Branch Railroad from Granite Junction to Buffalo Crossing. The branch railroad was a step in the right direction, but still was far short of the quarries at Robeson Mountain. In 1888, the 3.5-mile long Barre & Chelsea "Skyline" Railroad was completed from the Barre granite sheds to the quarries at Millstone Hill. The financially stressed St. J. & L.C. was asked but declined to extend the Hardwick Branch to the Woodbury quarries. The idea of a quarry railroad was pursued by the Woodbury quarry owners and their friends, and in 1894 the Hardwick & Woodbury Railroad was chartered. Construction had to commence in two years and be finished in five. The charter authorized the towns of Hardwick, Woodbury, Cabot and Marshfield to issue bonds to buy stock in support of the railroad. In 1895, Hardwick voted not to purchase stock, feeling the railroad would primarily benefit the quarry owners. Woodbury also voted not to purchase railroad stock, probably because the town already had granted Fletcher a substantial tax abatement to build a cutting plant in Woodbury. The roadbed was surveyed in summer 1895, and using a rod locomotive and some flatcars, five miles were graded from Buffalo Crossing to Burnham Hill in 1895; the remainder was graded in summer 1896. Local farmers using picks, shovels and ox carts were hired for grading at $1.25 per day. Construction was not easy, requiring much cutting and filling and many trestles. Two switchbacks were needed to keep the maximum roadbed grade at 7 percent, and track laying began in late spring 1896. Initial capital from Fletcher and other local businessmen was enough to start construction, but not enough to finish. In 1896, John S. Holden and Charles W. Leonard, owners of large woolen mills in Bennington and New Bedford, Mass., purchased the Woodbury Granite Co. Knowing the importance of the H&W to the success of company, Holden and Leonard provided enough funds to complete the railroad, and in the process became the principal (but not majority) stockholders, with Holden as president. The Town of Woodbury was upset by the diminished role of the Fletcher interests since WGC had not expressed any intent to build a cutting plant in Woodbury as Fletcher had. However, the directors of H&W promised equal treatment of all granite companies and promised free construction of spur tracks during 1897. In August 1897, a Shay-geared locomotive was purchased from the Barre & Chelsea Railroad to replace the Hinkley locomotive. The strong-traction Shay could negotiate the steep grades, and by Oct. 1, 1897, had made possible the completion of the track to the Fletcher and Woodbury Granite Co. quarries. Varnum & Gilfillan, a St. Johnsbury-based pioneer in New England steam shovel contracting, was engaged for trestle filling and culvert construction. They brought Italian day laborers from Boston, replacing the less reliable local farmers who frequently left to tend to their farm chores. Ephraim Shay owned a Michigan lumber business. Like granite, logs have a low value per weight, and Shay estimated that 73 percent of lumber cost in his operation was for transportation. The solution was rail transport, which required a locomotive of special design. Use of Shay's patent locomotive reduced transportation costs significantly. The Shay is a low-speed locomotive (about 15 mph maximum) with all of its small 32-inch diameter wheels gear-driven and with swiveling trucks that allowed the use of lightweight rails and a steep and sharply curved roadbed. This cut down on track wear and tear, and maintenance costs. Derailments were frequent for lumber, mine and quarry railroads due to sharp curves, light rails and inadequate ballasting, and rerailer "frogs" were always carried on the locomotives. The Vermont State Railroad Commissioners carried out regular road inspections. The 1901-02 Commissioners' Report uncovered a number of problems including inadequate ballast, poor quality ties, no fencing, no cattle guards, unblocked frogs and switches, unsafe trestle floors, and no bridge guardrails. Nevertheless, operation of the road was allowed since it was designed for low-speed operation. The low-cost construction and increasing traffic led to the need for increased maintenance. Three section crews maintained the main line and the spur tracks at the quarries and shed yards. Ballasting was a continuous job every year. Also, a percentage of ties were replaced annually. Trestle filling (with grout) was continuous until completed in 1904. Sagging and loose rails were a problem requiring constant repairs. George H. Bickford, Holden's son-in-law, became manager of Woodbury Granite Co. and treasurer of the H&W. By the late-1890s, Bickford, Holden and Leonard had decided to sell finished granite for buildings and large monuments rather than rough quarry blocks that the company had previously sold. The growth of the H&W was mostly driven by the greatly increased business of the granite company – especially after the 1903 contract for the Pennsylvania capitol that was by far largest to date for the Hardwick and Woodbury granite industry, calling for 400,000 cubic feet of granite valued at $1 million to be delivered in 24 months. Thirty-eight additional flat cars were purchased in April 1904 to handle this increased traffic. By 1914, H&W's revenue had peaked at $64,670 compared with $16,524 in 1903. Hardwick and Woodbury had become the construction granite center of the nation. Railroad operations consisted of quarry switching, main line hauling and yard switching. Quarry switching involved assembling loaded cars for the downhill run to the sheds. A second Shay locomotive was purchased in 1902 and a third in 1909 – of ever-increasing size and power. In 1907, a second train crew was hired. There were two brakemen for main line hauling – the forward brakeman and the rear brakeman. Train braking was accomplished by locomotive steam brakes (the locomotive always was positioned at the downhill end of the train) and manual flatcar brakes. Two locomotive toots meant more flatcar braking was needed and one toot less braking. Passenger revenue was small – less than 1 percent of freight revenues. Passengers typically rode in the caboose – the H&W leased passenger cars only for special occasions. Quarry boarding houses provided accommodations for quarry workers. The quarry-village railroad connection allowed quarry workers living in the village to commute to work. Monday through Saturday the train left Hardwick at 6:15 a.m. and returned from the quarries at 5 p.m. A warning whistle was blown several minutes before departure. A 50-ride ticket cost $5. Sightseers were attracted by the scenic route – supposedly the highest altitude reached by railroad in Vermont. Summer outings were sponsored by granite company and included quarry visits, baseball games, and picnics. The Commissioners' Reports included an investigation of every railroad fatality. The use of early pin-type, non-automatic couplers and need to run from car to car to operate the brakes meant that brakeman had the most dangerous job on the H&W. Archie Olmstead, brakeman, fell between the cars in 1901 and was killed. A brakeman was severely injured in 1914 when he failed to apply a grout car's brakes in time and the car hit a bumper, upending the car and throwing the brakeman into the air. Unfortunately, the decline of the building granite market started after World War I and intensified during the depression. Building cost became a dominant issue with competition coming from less expensive construction materials, such as limestone, pre-stressed concrete, and glass and steel panels. The H&W was a single-industry railroad with not enough non-granite freight business to sustain the railroad. The road was abandoned in October 1934 and Shays Nos. 2 & 3 and 40 flat cars were scrapped. The scrap proceeds went to help pay down the company's debt to the St. J. & L.C. The rails were pulled up and scrapped in August 1940.
That is an very interesting bit of history. Another one of the small railroads built for one specific purpose, never seeming to be profitable for very long. Post more stories about Vermont Railroads if you get the chance.
