NEB&W Guide to Vergennes, VT

Last Update: 2009-09-10

Layout Photo Gallery Table of Contents

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• Overview
  
• Depot
  
• Freight House
  
• Dairymen's League Creamery
  
• Sheffield Farms Creamery
  
• Ralston Purina Warehouse
  
• Jackman Fuels
  
• Stockyard
  
• Storehouse
  
• Water Tower
  
• Standard Oil
  
• Road Underpass
  
• Shade & Roller
  
• The Background
  
• The Gorge
  
• The Model
  
• Vergennes, Not Modeled
  

Overview

• This area is based on Vergennes, VT on the Rutland RR. Charles Vergennes was the Foreign Minister of France at the time of the American Revolution. He was instrumental in helping to secure aid from France for the Americans, support that was crucial for our ultimate victory.
  • [Chucky Vergennes.]

• Early map, c. 1848. I'm sure it sure is rotated so that north is to the left. Note the branch which ran down to the falls.
  • [Map.]
  • [Close-up.]

• Bird's eye engraving c. 1890. (Unfortunately, the railroad facilities aren't shown.)
  • [Engraving c. 1890.]

• Topographic maps.
  • [Topo c. 1904, showing how the depot area (orange arrow) was outside of town.]
  • [Topo c. 1980's. Note where the old road crossed at grade and the "gorge" at the south end.]

• The Sanborn fire insurance map of Vergennes. Note the highway originally crossed at grade between the two creameries.
  • [C. 1927.]

  • [c. WWII. (Scale at the bottom of the map.) By this time, the Sheffield Farms creamery had been rebuilt and expanded.]

• An overview of the prototype.
  • [Prototype view by John Gardner c. 1950. The stock pens are just to the left of the engine. The storehouse is all box car red, just to the right of the depot.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1972.]
  • [Prototype view c. 2002.]

• On the layout, the scene as it WAS modeled. (As of Sept. 7, 2002, we tore this up and started the reconstruction to more faithfully represent Vergennes.)
  • [Big model view.]
  • [Model photo by James Lauser, of the "old" Vergennes, before we started rebuilding it.]
  • [Model view of the tunnel at the south end of the scene. Photo by Lou Sassi.]

Depot

• Vergennes's unique two-story station.
  • [Prototype view, c. WWI. (Note that back then, the water tower was on the depot side of the tracks.)]
  • [Close-up view of the end, c. 1930's.]
  • [Street side, c. 1940's.]
  • [North end (with Sheffield Farms/Hoods/Kennedy Bros. in the background). Jim Shaughnessy photo probably c. late '50's.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1961. Photo by Jim Shaughnessy. (Note that by this time, the train order board had been upgraded to a three-headed light type.)]
  • [Color view, c. 1972, with the building still in its Rutland colors. (That's Tony Steele in the photo.)]
  • [Prototype view, c. 2002. The building had been painted a red, but the paint was wearing off.]
  • [Prototype view street side, c. 2002.]
  • [Another prototype view, c. 2002.]
  • [Valuation notes, courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [More val notes, courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [Model view of the depot on the "old" Vergennes, before we started rebuilding it.]
  • [Another model view by Lou Sassi.]

Freight House

• The freight house was a pretty basic affair.
  • [Freight house and depot c. 1963. Photo by Steve Mumley, courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [Freight house, trackside, Poulin collection c. '62.]
  • [Same angle, color photo c. '72.]
  • [Freight house, other side, Poulin collection c. '62. (Check out the baskethandle arches in the side.)]
  • [Prototype view of the freight house and depot, c. 2002.]
  • [Another prototype view, c. 2002.]
  • [Valuation notes, 1917.]

Dairymen's League Creamery

• The Dairymen's League (Dairylea) creamery was built in 1926. It continued as an active creamery past the demise of milk trains, switching from milk cars to highway trucks.
  • [Double-headed train No. 20 opposite the creamery, 1947. Courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [The other end c. 1950. Courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [Prototype view, track side, c. 1972.]
  • [Prototype view, track side, c. 2002.]
  • [Prototype view, street side corner, c. 1972.]
  • [Prototype view, street side, c. 1972.]
  • [Model view of the creamery on of the "old" Vergennes, before we started rebuilding it.]

Sheffield Farms Creamery

• The other creamery was originally a Sheffield Farms facility, with the main cinder block section built in 1909 (the year that creameries were constructed all up and down the Rutland line), and the brick addition added in 1931. Sheffield Farms shipped milk to New York City. On July 25, 1950, as rail service deteriorated, this Sheffield Farms creamery became a Hood plant, as the milk run to Boston was shorter. It became Kennedy Bros. July 9, 1959.
  • [Plan, c. '22.]
  • [Sanborn plan c. WWII. By this time, a new annex to the side, set at an angle, replaced the older one which was perpendicular.]
  • [Looking toward the depot, c. 1930, with the little trestle used to bring in coal for fuel. Note the enormous cooling device.]
  • [The crow-step gable end, c. 1930.]
  • [The same end, c. 1972, but as seen from the street side. In the steam-era world, dormers were a necessity to light up the upper floor.]
  • [The plant being switched, mid to late '50's. Photo courtesy Jim Shaughnessy.]
  • [Prototype trackside view, c. 2002. The crowsteps have been removed.]
  • [Prototype street side view, c. 2002.]
  • [A close-up of our model from the track side.]
  • [Another model view. Photo by Lou Sassi.]

• The brick annex was at an angle to the concrete block one. The pilasters stopped short of the top of the wall in an Art Deco style.
  • [Trackside view, 1972.]
  • [Trackside view, 2002.]
  • [Street side, c. 1960's.]

• There were auxilary buildings around Kennedy Bros. which may or may not date back to when it was a creamery.
  • [Little "saltbox" shed, 2002.]
  • [Little "saltbox" shed, 2002.]
  • [Little "saltbox" shed, 2002.]

• An even smaller leanto type shed. Looks like it might have been moved from elsewhere.
  • [Photo c. 2002.]
  • [Photo c. 2002.]
  • [Photo c. 2002.]

Ralston Purina Warehouse

• We modeled the Hood's Farm Store (former Ralston Purina warehouse, built in '38).
  • [Map, c. 1938, courtesy of Bob Nimke's The Rutland, 60 Years of Trying, Vol. V, Part 1 and the Vermont Agency of Transportation.]
  • [Aerial photo, c. 1950's, courtesy Rutland Car Shops.]
  • [Prototype view of the Hood's Farm Store, c. 1972.]
  • [Prototype view of the farm store, changed hands again, c. 2002.]
  • [Our model from the other side.]

Jackman Fuels

• In 1936, Thomas Mack Coal Co. was added on a siding right behind the depot. In 1938, Ralston Purina added a warehouse on an extension of a siding of Mack Coal Co. Thomas Mack became Jackman Fuels in 1946.
  In our rebuilding Vergennes, we are adding a replica of Jackman Fuels. (All prototype photos c. 2002 except as noted .)
  • [Aerial photo, c. 1950's, courtesy Rutland Car Shops.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]

Storehouse

• On the far end of the team track was a little storehouse that probably dates back to when the railroad came through town.
  • [Prototype view by John Gardner c. 1950. The storehouse is all box car red, just to the right of the depot.]
  • [Storehouse, prototype trackside view c. 2002.]
  • [Storehouse, prototype view c. 2002.]
  • [Storehouse, prototype view of the end, c. 2002.]
  • [Storehouse, prototype view of the street side, c. 2002.]
  • [Storehouse, another view of the street side, c. 2002.]
  • [Storehouse, prototype close-up view, c. 2002, showing the narrow clapboard above and the Novelty siding, apparently as a patch, below.]

Stockyard

• Vergennes had a stockyard on the opposite side of the depot. Sometime prior to WWII, it was rebuilt as shown in a 1944 insurance map. (For more on stockpens, see the stockpens section.)
  • [Valuation notes c. 1919. Note the lumber was whitewashed.]
  • [Insurance map, c. '44.]
  • [Prototype view by John Gardner c. 1950. The stock pens are just to the left of the engine.]

Water Tower

• There was a water tower spaced a little ways from the tracks. The locos got their water from a water column, not a spout off the tank.
  • [Prototype view, c. WWI. (Note that back then, the water tower was on the depot side of the tracks.]
  • [Prototype view by John Gardner c. 1950.]
  • [Water column opposite the Dairymen's League creamery, 1947. Courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [The water column is just visible to the right of the loco, c. 1950. Courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [Melanie Sembrat is kitbashing an Atlas tank as a stand-in.]

Standard Oil

• Standard Oil (of NY, a.k.a. Socony) had a small facility and siding right opposite the Sheffield Farms creamery, probably to receive gasoline for local gas stations. (In 1911, Standard Oil was broken up by the Supreme Court into a number of "mini-Standards", including Standard Oil of NY, so it would seem that use of the older name suggests the facility was built prior to '11.) The siding was taken out c. 1931, but we are modeling it anyway. (As highways improved and trucks grew bigger, it likely made more sense to receive the gasoline from a central location like Burlington and distribute it via truck.) Lacking any more information other than on the 1922 track diagram, we are looking for other period facilities. So far, we've found is a Texaco facility at Saratoga, c. 1931 and distance views of a Standard Oil facility there, pre-WWI.
  • [Track plan c. '22, with the oil facility at the bottom.]
  • [Portion of the 1927 Sanborn map which shows this facility. By this time, they had added a third tank, a vertical one.]
  • [Photo c. 1931 of the main building of the Saratoga Texaco facility, from our NEB&W D&H Collection.]
  • [Photo c. 1931 of the tanks of the Texaco facility, from our NEB&W D&H Collection.]
  • [Photo c. WWI of the Standard Oil facility at Saratoga, NY. Photos from our NEB&W D&H Collection.]
  • [Close up of the above Standard Oil facility.]
  • [The side of Standard Oil facility, from our NEB&W D&H Collection. (Note the wood fence - I would have expected a chain link or other more industrial-looking wire fence.)]
  From the Sanborn, I measure the office to be 25 feet long by 18 feet wide. All three tanks are 12 feet in diameter, with one 25 feet long and one 30 feet long. From the track plan, using the 50 foot length for the coal trestle as a known length, the office comes out 24x18, both tanks are 30 feet long and the diameters are 8 feet. (I think we will go with the Sanborn unless we find tanks that are narrower than 12 feet across.)

Shade & Roller

• This was a company located down by the falls and shipped wood products (turned hardwood for, as the name suggests, shades and rollers) from the team track. (Note that on the '27 Sanborn map, there was a large area of stockpiled supplies.)
  • [This c. 1880's engraving of Clapps, maker of "curtain fixtures", I believe was the predecessor to Shade & Roller.]
  • [Engraving c. 1890.]
  • [Engraving c. 1890, from another angle. Note that building no. 4 is Nevius & Haviland, but building no. 5 is Vermont Shade Roller Co. (and the two buildings are connected by an overhead walkway, which implies cooperation, not competitors). I'm thinking that N&H must have had their name spelled out on the roof because none of the other structures depicted have their name there.]
  • [Sanborn map c. 1927 showing the lumber piles.]
  The later map doesn't show the piles but also doesn't show this area. I took this photo c. '79 in Vergennes, but not sure exactly where. This might be the Shade & Roller piles (I think it was and in the general location of '27 map showed the supplies to be), unless it was for Kennedy Brothers.
  • [Photo c. '79. (Anyone recognize the background?)]

Road Underpass

• The original road crossed at grade between the two creameries. In 1908, a small highway underpass was built just north of the area and the highway took a jog to reach it. The bridge was 26 ft. 6 ins. long, with the clear width 21 ft. 6 ins. The distance to the road from the bottom of the rail was a mere 16 ft. 6 ins. Just recently the underpass was rebuilt to modern traffic standards.
  • [Photo by Jim Shaughnessy of a very short train heading north. The tracks in the foreground got to Jackman's Fuels.]
  • [Photo by Jim Shaughnessy of a trainman atop the overpass.]
  • [Photo by Gordon Cutler, courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [View from the side. I think it is looking east. Poulin collection, Aug. '62. (Note the lettering on the girder.)]
  • [View from the side, c. 1980. Looking west.]
  • [Another almost (but not quite) identical, c. 1980.]

• A few years ago, c. 2000, the underpass was rebuilt to modern traffic standards. In doing so, they also moved the road so the grade was gentler and the curve not as sharp.
  • [Aerial photo, c. 1950's, courtesy Rutland Car Shops, showing the old road alignment.]
  • [Prototype view of the Hood's Farm Store, c. 1972. The road ran right next to the building.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 2002 showing the remanent of the old road next to the new one.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 2002 looking in the opposite direction.]

• There was a handcar or tool shed just beyond the underpass. (Rutland Car Shops makes a cast resin kit for this specific building, which we will be using.)
  • [The tool shed at Vergennes, VT. Photo courtesy Jim Shaughnessy.]
  • [Further back. Photo courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [C. 2002, in bad shape.]
  • [Model photo, courtesy Bethlehem Car Works.]

The Gorge

• At the south end of the scene was a 50 foot or so "gorge" shown on the topo. In Sept. 2002, we made a trip to Vergennes to explore this depression. We tried to get down to the bottom on both sides, both from walking along the bottom and by climbing down from the embankment - no luck as the vegetation was so dense. In retrospect, we think there is a small box culvert at the bottom.
  • [Topo.]
  • [View from the track looking west, 2002. Kennedy Bros. is just off to the right.]
  • [View from the field, 2002.]
  • [View from the field, 2002.]
  • [View from the field, 2002.]
  • [View from the field, 2002.]
  • [View from the field, 2002.]
  • [View from the field, 2002.]
  • [View from the field, 2002.]
  • [Distant view from the field, 2002. (Note the smokestack from Kennedy Bros.)]
  • [Distant view from the field, 2002.]
  • [Distant view from the field, 2002.]

• There is a photo in one of the Bob Nimke Rutland books taken at an unidentified location. We have since identified it as just south of Rutland on the main. We are using it as a stand-in for us to model on our layout.
  • [Prototype photo c. 1940's, courtesy Bob Nimke. (Russ Williams thinks that the culvert looks like it was designed for farmers to get their cows from one field to another on either side of the tracks, and it may have been wide enough to get a hay wagon and team through.)]
  • [Prototype photo by Will Gill, 2003.]
  • [Prototype photo by Will Gill, 2003.]
  • [Prototype photo by Will Gill, 2003.]
  • [Prototype photo by Will Gill, 2003.]
  • [Prototype photo by Will Gill, 2003.]
  • [Prototype photo by Will Gill, 2003.]
  • [In progress model photo, Jan. 2004. Dave Forster carved a master on a flat pour of plaster, made an RTV mold, and cast it in Aluminlite. As the resin was starting to set up, he took it out of the mold and bent it fit the scene. He made two, one for the opposite side.]
  • [Another in progress model photo, Jan. 2004.]
  • [And another, Jan. 2004.]
  • [And yet another, Jan. 2004.]

The Background

• C. 2002, there is a row of trees paralleling the road.
  • [Photo c. 2002 looking west from the old road.]
  • [Photo c. 2002 looking west. Note there is a small field between the road and tree line.]
  • [Photo c. 2002 looking west. More field.]
  • [Photo c. 2002 looking west toward the downtown.]
  • [Photo c. 2002 of another scene near Vergennes. We hope to use this for the curved backdrop between Port Henry and Vergennes.]

The Model

• The reconstruction of Vergennes began on Sept. 7th, 2002.
  • [Photo.]
  • [For other views of the reconstruction of our model scene, go to this section.]

See our Layout Guide for Vergennes.

Also see the Vergennes Partnership.

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